What did you do to your Ranger today? (Part Deux!)

[Rick W]

Soooo, today was a honey do day. So I justified working on The Missing Linc and the Road Ranger by installing get ‘er in grab bars for my honey on her side.

Yep, the top one is from a Town Car. The 97 got real Ford handles.

She was not impressed - I’m in the dog house with a much better understanding of what a honey do project is….

Also, the little tongue/latch that hangs off the bottom of the arm rest lid has been gone for decades, supplanted with a bungee. I got some seat covers, so I figured it was a good time to fix that latch. Turns out the lid was actually cracked in half. I just drilled straight through the padded lid and used some pop rivets to secure the loose piece that holds the tongue. I made a tongue out of scrap aluminum from the shed of miracles. It’s L shaped, I slipped it in between the padded top and inside plastic, and then ran a short self tapping screw into the horizontal part through the plastic.

I also did a patch piece on the inside to hold it level. It looks horrible, but after I put the cover on it, you can’t tell, and like usual, it suits the hell out of me!

The orange strap is my doggie restraint/collar seat belt. Long enough he can move around, short enough so he can’t jump out or hit the dash. He wears a harness, not a collar. I pulled the coat hook and installed a ring below/behind it, and put the hook back.

Yeah, my dog is named Lincoln too….

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I think he was trying to be funny, but then you actually had to get all macho and shit. Way to showboat and excellent one-upmanship there.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Hey, just for the record, I’m not trying to one up anyone, I’m just a professional smart ass joking around (blush).

If I could climb trees and cut limbs, my place wouldn’t look like a deferred maintenance poster child!

lil blu ford, you kill it! (& when can you come to Hotlanta?)

For the record, I’m not trying to one-up anyone either and I’m not sure I’m a professional anything yet, but I’m working on it!

As for climbing, it’s not really hard unless you have a real fear of heights and can’t trust your gear. It can be dangerous, but if you have good gear in good shape and follow procedures (always tie off twice to cut, always cut using both hands on the saw, etc), it’s really rather safe. It’s just a bit expensive to get good gear. Most of my gear ended up being top shelf professional. I didn’t plan it that way, but when I got to thinking about it, it really came down to two things. It’s my life on the line here, and I want to be comfortable. When looking at it like that, top-shelf pro sounded like the way to go. I don’t regret spending the money now that I used it. I might have to make my own zip line or something just because, lol.

If I can ever get my green Ranger fixed and any bugs worked out, I wouldn’t mind a road trip. At the moment, I don’t exactly have anything to drive, everything is broke. Including my wallet and myself. But I’m working on it.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I was saying that you (Rick W) were just being funny, and that he (lil_blue_ford) messed it up by getting too serious. I followed it up by tags to show that I was trying to be a funny smart ass as well.

LOL, I'm right there with you on that one. I've got no excuse except for pines aren't good for climbing with the equipment I've got. Even if I had the right stuff, I've got too many tackle and then I'd have to deal with the stuimps and disposal.

Maybe if he can make it to hotlanta to take care of yours, he can keep driving a little further and take care of a few hundred or a thousand planted pines for me. Joking around of course. It's too big of a job for one person to tackle, I need someone with heavy equipment to take them out stump and all. That said if any of you are stopping in the Macon/Warner Robins area, I wouldn't be against a meet and greet.

Ehh, I always mess up somewhere

Rent the equipment, I’ll play with it

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I poked at the green Ranger project (literally with a chipping hammer). I’m not happy with the result. My cladding idea isn’t going to work on the drivers side, I’m gonna have to section the frame. I have a section and a fish plate. I know where the fish plate is, but I don’t remember where the sections ended up (I have both sides). Went looking for them and didn’t find them, so they might be at my buddy’s still since I was expecting to do the work there. I did, however, find a repairable front bumper that I didn’t know I had, so that may resolve my front bumper issue.

 

[Rick W]

They may be in my shed of miracles. There’s no telling what’s buried back in there….

 

[Lefty]

I got real ambitious today. I made two cargo bars and installed them in the bed. Now that it's actually getting getting warmer, I expect to get out there more often.

 

[scotts90ranger]

My persistence yesterday payed off, when I got to the Ranger today I had the wife jump up and cycle the clutch pedal while I was underneath bleeding things, when the fluid looked good I called it, jumped in the seat and pedal was soft but put it to the floor and slipped the foot off a few times and it was perfect... then got the tools and other junk out of the way that'd accumulated over the last month and took it for a drive, success!!! Drives great, 3rd and 5th are silent for now... should have changed the rear bearing retainer plate deal but whatever, it's not a commuter...

I apparently got ambitious this weekend, drained the trans fluid in the F350 today, pretty sure I drained 1.5 quarts where it took just over 3qt so that probably explains why the input shaft has been loud lately... gotta pull it and rebuild one of these days... and really need to look into the oil leaks, it's almost as gross as the '90 Ranger was/is, depends on how you do the math on gross diesel oil mess versus oil/sand mix...

Oh, also pulled out the 4 wheeler out today and got it running (been 6ish months), since it's going to the sand dunes next Friday I figured might as well check... after a few hot laps it runs pretty good, fresh gas helped the idle...

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

They may be in my shed of miracles. There’s no telling what’s buried back in there….

I sure hope I didn’t stash them there! Be a long walk for me to get them

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

In other news, work on anything around here might be touch and go for a bit, got the call that grandma will be moved to full care hospice today. I’ll take any and all prayers and well wishes because I dunno about the rest of the family, but I don’t know I have the strength for this right now. I may go radio silent for a bit.

 

[Rick W]

…work on anything around here might be touch and go for a bit, got the call that grandma will be moved to full care hospice today.

Geez, How hard have you been working the ole gal? Is it gonna be hard to get someone else to work?

Many prayers heading her way and yours. Our strength and endurance, compassion, comes from Him.

 

[Rick W]

Ok, next step of The Missing Linc reveal: lights & electronics

light bar:

First, notice the incredible Craftsmanship of the bar itself. I started with a beat up old truck bed toolbox lid, cut it to the right width, spliced the middle with another piece of toolbox lid, etc. The main uprights are two pieces of aluminum channel I got from the fencing that goes around an escalator in a department store. The angled uprights are a couple pieces from the eight pieces of 1 inch aluminum angle I got on craigslist. And of course Rust oleum.

The two chrome floodlights were harbor freight closeouts at $6.99 each. That amber beacon has been in the shed of miracles for decades. On the back of the lid, the five red lights are set up as running lights, but they have high low brightness. Three center flash three quick, three slow and then solid when I step on the brakes. The two outside red and ambers next to them flash with the turn signals and brakes.

The two mini floods on the bottom, and the clear three-quarter inch LED marker lights work off the reverse switch, but I also have a manual switch to turn them on if I want.

The traffic alert/annunciator bar is one of the rare things that I actually bought brand new, I think it was about $140 on eBay with the light-display controller. If you guys ever get a traffic alert bar, make sure you get it with the light display controller. Otherwise it’s a pain to figure out what pattern it’s flashing which can also be dangerous if you’re stuck in the road.

The cab lights are the triple LED in a smoke housing. I had chrome and amber, but it clashed with the flag logo too much.

I took the face off the ashtray, and used a little piece of scrap aluminum to make a bracket and attach the annunciator controller. That way it’s at my fingertips just above the shift Knob. I also added a dual USB outlet between the shifters below the dash so I didn’t have all those wires sticking out of the cigarette lighter hole.

inside up top:

I cut a chunk out of the box of the truck box to make the switch housing. I had to trim about an inch off the inside edge of both sunvisors, I got rid of the clips on the inside, and now they mount in a hole on the side of the housing, so you can’t swing them to the side. I used cardboard to contour the sides to the ceiling, and then I covered it with black felt.

The little black controller switch on the left shoots out 13 different 2-circuit flash patterns, $11. I have 6-LED amber strobe lights below each headlight, on the front and rear corner sides, and then I have four between the tailgate and the back bumper. Those 6-LEDs are not very bright, but they still really catch the eye.

The switches, left to right, are the amber beacon, a spare, the reverse lights and floods, and then the forward facing floods. Each has an LED above. For the reverse lights, the LED flashes so I don’t forget to turn them off. Everything except the forward facing floods are LEDs, so you don’t need a relay. They are 20 amp switches, so I shouldn’t need it for the floods either. I’m trying it that way with an extra fuse in the line. I’ll add a relay if I need to.

The CB radio is a vintage almost pristine Cobra 148 Nightwatch Sound Tracker. To this day, aficionados believe it’s one of the best you could ever buy. I wanted the vintage look. It’s a 40 channel single side band, and I believe the only modification is that it’s been peaked and tuned when I got it. I added an echo mic. The signal shoots out from 102” whip that I mounted on the left rear fender. Note the funky stainless barrel spring, I got a couple of those mounts who knows where years ago in a garage sale or such.

Can I post a small video here? I wanted to get a shot of the front and the back in the evening with all the lights on. Will that upload?

More to come…

 

[ericbphoto]

Ok, next step of The Missing Linc reveal: lights & electronics

light bar:

View attachment 90563View attachment 90564

First, notice the incredible Craftsmanship of the bar itself. I started with a beat up old truck bed toolbox lid, cut it to the right width, spliced the middle with another piece of toolbox lid, etc. The main uprights are two pieces of aluminum channel I got from the fencing that goes around an escalator in a department store. The angled uprights are a couple pieces from the eight pieces of 1 inch aluminum angle I got on craigslist. And of course Rust oleum.

The two chrome floodlights were harbor freight closeouts at $6.99 each. That amber beacon has been in the shed of miracles for decades. On the back of the lid, the five red lights are set up as running lights, but they have high low brightness. Three center flash three quick, three slow and then solid when I step on the brakes. The two outside red and ambers next to them flash with the turn signals and brakes.

The two mini floods on the bottom, and the clear three-quarter inch LED marker lights work off the reverse switch, but I also have a manual switch to turn them on if I want.

The traffic alert/annunciator bar is one of the rare things that I actually bought brand new, I think it was about $140 on eBay with the light-display controller. If you guys ever get a traffic alert bar, make sure you get it with the light display controller. Otherwise it’s a pain to figure out what pattern it’s flashing which can also be dangerous if you’re stuck in the road.

The cab lights are the triple LED in a smoke housing. I had chrome and amber, but it clashed with the flag logo too much.

I took the face off the ashtray, and used a little piece of scrap aluminum to make a bracket and attach the annunciator controller. That way it’s at my fingertips just above the shift Knob. I also added a dual USB outlet between the shifters below the dash so I didn’t have all those wires sticking out of the cigarette lighter hole.

View attachment 90565

inside up top:

View attachment 90566

I cut a chunk out of the box of the truck box to make the switch housing. I had to trim about an inch off the inside edge of both sunvisors, I got rid of the clips on the inside, and now they mount in a hole on the side of the housing, so you can’t swing them to the side. I used cardboard to contour the sides to the ceiling, and then I covered it with black felt.

The little black controller switch on the left shoots out 13 different 2-circuit flash patterns, $11. I have 6-LED amber strobe lights below each headlight, on the front and rear corner sides, and then I have four between the tailgate and the back bumper. Those 6-LEDs are not very bright, but they still really catch the eye.

The switches, left to right, are the amber beacon, a spare, the reverse lights and floods, and then the forward facing floods. Each has an LED above. For the reverse lights, the LED flashes so I don’t forget to turn them off. Everything except the forward facing floods are LEDs, so you don’t need a relay. They are 20 amp switches, so I shouldn’t need it for the floods either. I’m trying it that way with an extra fuse in the line. I’ll add a relay if I need to.

The CB radio is a vintage almost pristine Cobra 148 Nightwatch Sound Tracker. To this day, aficionados believe it’s one of the best you could ever buy. I wanted the vintage look. It’s a 40 channel single side band, and I believe the only modification is that it’s been peaked and tuned when I got it. I added an echo mic. The signal shoots out from 102” whip that I mounted on the left rear fender. Note the funky stainless barrel spring, I got a couple of those mounts who knows where years ago in a garage sale or such.

View attachment 90567

Can I post a small video here? I wanted to get a shot of the front and the back in the evening with all the lights on. Will that upload?

More to come…

Just put the video on YouTube and post the link here.

Very interesting project.

 

[pjtoledo]

battery died in the 2000 today, Interstate purchased last November.
not sure if it's really the battery or a slow drain.
since it was blocking my other ride, the 2005, I snatched it's battery.
currently (ha ha) it's on a charger and I'll deal with it tomorrow.

 

[superj]

What's an annunciator bar? Is that the one that looks like a police light bar?