1987 Ranger Project

[RobbieD]

Damn. That looks so good, I'd be sorely tempted to mount that bed upside down on the truck, just to show it off.

 

[Awesom-O]

Well, got the first coat on the underside completed today. Box side gusset rods in Herculiner to match (Like Ketchup, I put that shit on everything !) and bolts done up as well. Also installed my LED license plate lights, complete with weather proof plugs in case I have to remove them ever. Seems like I’m always doing that with every step so saving some possible future hair pulling. Then I added my rear diff vent filter breather. Fuel filters work great for that.

 

[Terrys87]

Bed coating looks great and should preserve it for quite some time.

 

[jballard81]

Great read! I'm very impressed with your attention to detail. I'm also VERY jealous of the amount of space (and spouse support) for a fleet of rangers that large!

I'm currently working through my own project (1st time this big of a project) and am eternally grateful for the knowledgeable folks here & Youtube

Truly enjoying the pics and updates, thanks for sharing!

 

[Awesom-O]

Great read! I'm very impressed with your attention to detail. I'm also VERY jealous of the amount of space (and spouse support) for a fleet of rangers that large!

I'm currently working through my own project (1st time this big of a project) and am eternally grateful for the knowledgeable folks here & Youtube

Truly enjoying the pics and updates, thanks for sharing!

Thanks for the kind words man. I’m still learning about these Rangers myself. And yeah, the wife is a car girl herself so it makes it easy to bring home strays all the time. Before I got into these trucks I was focused on 50s and 60s rides. This is her 63 SS her and I built together, it’s her dream ride. Decent starting platform. Pretty much finished but I’m thinking of adding AC and EPAS for her. And to keep this Ford friendly, here’s my temporary bone yard. Once I’m done with building this Ranger, the BII, and probably the grey 91 I will be sending these on down the road to someone else if they need them.

 

[RobbieD]

Chevy IIs are vastly under-appreciated, and that is a NICE one. Please tell me it's running a 327, and are those old-style Americam wheels?

I love how y'all finished it, and it's nice to see seat belts in it (the interior just looks "right", like the rest of the car).


Can I come live in your bone yard?

 

[Awesom-O]

Chevy IIs are vastly under-appreciated, and that is a NICE one. Please tell me it's running a 327, and are those old-style Americam wheels?

I love how y'all finished it, and it's nice to see seat belts in it (the interior just looks "right", like the rest of the car).


Can I come live in your bone yard?

Well, I have a 327 on the engine stand. This is a 283 bored to 304. Runs awesome. Marks its territory with a tiny leak like all Chevys seem to do, but she sounds good with old school solids and true duals wrapped around a 9” Ford that I had to have narrowed.
You can come over to the boneyard anytime if in my neck of the woods. I’ll even provide the beer.

 

[RobbieD]

A 283 is even better. I just have a soft spot for the old 327s.

 

[Awesom-O]

A 283 is even better. I just have a soft spot for the old 327s.

Yep high revving just like a HiPo 289.

 

[Terrys87]

That is great you have a car girl for a wife, makes so much easier for a project needing a home. You did great on that 63. Doesnt really matter to me what it is. I am a Ford Fan but have a 72 Cutlass and would love to have a 69 Chevelle.

The 283 and 327 is getting harder to find. So much easier to work then what is out there now.

 

[Awesom-O]

Yeah her dad had Novas. Mine had Mustangs. My first car was a 66 Mustang coupe with a 289. Then I had an 88 Foxbody 5.0 back in 93. That car is still in the family as my dad now owns and drives it every year. It’s a great survivor car with paint from 94 still on it. I graduated in 2010 to a 67 fastback restomod that took 8.5 years to build. But I like em all too. And I mean all of em. If it’s an old car, I will find something cool about it to me. I restored a French made 1948 Citroen Traction Avant that my brother and I bought as a surprise for my dad. It was the first car his Daddy let him drive as a 12 year old kid back in Portugal. He always talked about it and as luck would have it I found one about 2 hrs from me a few years back. European gangster car!

 

[Awesom-O]

Well. Disassembled the tailgate and pulled a few dents. This is the best rebuildable one I have. Had to wire wheel off some old rubberized rocker panel guard the PO applied. Got it covered in bog before I shut ‘er down tonight. Pulled a few dents on the box and sanded it down and got bog on that as well. Spent a bit of time scraping off the decals and clear rock guard patches. Probably block it all out tomorrow, but perhaps that’s Fridays workout as I’m taking the Xploder to the shop for an alignment, new tires and an AC recharge, so not sure how long I’ll be in town tomorrow. Also prepped the front valance and got it in epoxy primer. Then the Old Man showed up and asked me to change his battery terminals in his Foxbody. Didn’t take many pics today, apologies. But it was a great day in the shop for which I’m full of gratitude.

 

[jballard81]

Man, that's a sweet view you have there in the last pic

 

[Awesom-O]

Man, that's a sweet view you have there in the last pic

Here’s the opposite angle for you.

.

As for progress on the Ranger, there has been some, but I forgot to take pics and really it’s just me re-working the front fender. I had to reshape the door edge as the patch I previously installed was off a bit to get a decent gap. I added some thin metal rod to part of the edge and some weld, the ground it down. Now it’s just a skim of filler and she seems to be sitting decent enough. OEM panel saved. Also got the tailgate blocked out and will block out the small dents in the box. Pulled the deep ones with the stud gun.

 

[Awesom-O]

All I got as an update with pics is the tailgate. Maybe more tomorrow. Blocked and primed. Hopefully I can block the box and the fender tomorrow and update.