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

[LearningStick]

I had a look underneath and noticed some new stuff. A spring leaf broke. There's a foot long rust hole in a frame rail. I studied welding almost twenty years ago, but I never ran a bead overhead while lying on the ground. My memory of what I studied is sketchy. A strong weld probably requires a 220V heavy duty welder to get penetration in the steel. I would need the washing machine's outlet, or a gas powered welder. Maybe I can rent one. Buying one may still be cheaper than having the work done professionally. But I may need pro work to prevent warping of the rail or damage to other parts, or I need equipment I can't set up at home. Repairs may cost more than the truck is worth.

 

[superj]

Everything costs more than trucks are worth. I say fix her up

 

[scotts90ranger]

The frame is less than 1/8" thick, you don't need anything too fancy for that...

 

[scotts90ranger]

Worked on the '97 some more, got the front fiberglass assembly off and straightened the core support with my high tech body work tools (3lb drilling hammer, 1' long 2x2, big amazon sourced slide hammer, 8' long 2x4, 2" ratchet strap to the '90 Ranger...). Hood closes fine, need to tweak the passenger side hood hinge some more to get the body lines a little better...

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I had a look underneath and noticed some new stuff. A spring leaf broke. There's a foot long rust hole in a frame rail. I studied welding almost twenty years ago, but I never ran a bead overhead while lying on the ground. My memory of what I studied is sketchy. A strong weld probably requires a 220V heavy duty welder to get penetration in the steel. I would need the washing machine's outlet, or a gas powered welder. Maybe I can rent one. Buying one may still be cheaper than having the work done professionally. But I may need pro work to prevent warping of the rail or damage to other parts, or I need equipment I can't set up at home. Repairs may cost more than the truck is worth.

Been there, I actually did a half frame swap with a buddy and a generous amount of beer. 98 and up Rangers used two piece frames all rear frame sections are the same as long as it is the same bed length, might even be the same no matter what bed length (I haven’t checked) because it joins at the front leaf spring mount. Did it in the alley in front of my buddy’s garage in town, really wasn’t all that bad at all to do. I’ve also patched the front section and done some patches on my F-150.

As welders go, I first learned Oxy/Acetylene. Then stick (not a fan but I can get it solid). Then MIG. I like my Lincoln PowerMIG, it’s a big 220v monster that holds 44# spools of wire. Arguably a little excessive, but it’s nice. It also only likes clean metal. Usually not a big deal but sometimes it’s hard to get everything clean. Dad picked up a Harbor Freight Titanium wire feed welder and it did surprisingly well but stopped feeding hot after one spool of wire. My buddy has a Craftsman wire feed and like most small wire feeds, only has high and low power settings. Quite often I find myself needing an in between with it. The Titanium welder had a variable power knob and so does my big Lincoln. Just picked up a Lincoln Weld-Pac that has a variable power knob for a 120v small welder and that’s supposed to weld up to I think around a quarter inch so would be plenty heavy duty enough for 1/8 frame.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Went to the junkyard today to get parts, had to go like 45 miles away but got lucky... first off it's half off weekend at that one and second they had everything I needed for the current big issues... The only complete '93-97 front end was real close to the right color (same as the drivers door, must have been a '93-96 color...), might have to buy a turn signal or some extras but it's really close, got the complete grille with headlight assemblies and the front bumper and the fan guard, I also grabbed a sliding rear window for the '90 since one of the slider panels blew last time out... $130 for all that, not too bad.

That was about all the energy I had, I took out the hammer and dollies for a little bit but I'm about pooped... I'll tackle that project tomorrow...

 

[Vindictus]

I used the old girl to pick up 30 bags of wood pellets

 

[racsan]

Backed it out of the garage so I could move the table saw to a useable spot and start working on a wood project. Spent most of the day out there, Been a while since Ive done a wood project.

 

[superj]

I backed it in feont of the garage so i could consider changing the muffler. Decided not to and will just take it somewhere to get a new muffler out on.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Worked on the '97 some more so far, got the new headlights somewhat polished up, between the 4 headlight bulbs on the two assemblies there were 2 good bulbs, so I put those in the good assembly... will likely pull out the full polishing kit for the headlights as they didn't work out as well as I'd hoped with the easy steel wool and soapy water treatment... worked out some dents with the hammer and dolly, test fit the grille assembly and realized the center of the core support needs to be pulled out some more so gotta figure that out... I have some ideas, we'll see how that works out... Oh, and both motor mounts are broken, so I drove it home on pure gravity... good thing the 2.3L doesn't make much torque . I'm guessing the mounts were broken before the accident since they're likely the stock hydraulic units... unfortunately I only bought one new one but I have one left from the '90 when I changed it when it wasn't broken so I should be good to go...

 

[ekrampitzjr]

Worked on the '97 some more so far, got the new headlights somewhat polished up, between the 4 headlight bulbs on the two assemblies there were 2 good bulbs, so I put those in the good assembly... will likely pull out the full polishing kit for the headlights as they didn't work out as well as I'd hoped with the easy steel wool and soapy water treatment.

Steel wool on headlight lenses?

 

[scotts90ranger]

Yeah, 0000 steel wool and soapy water, does a number on light oxidation... if you're goin to do it with fancier stuff it keeps some of the junk out of the sand paper and whatnot... and soapy water and a pinch of steel wool costs nothing... yes I'm cheap... I ran the Harbor Freight headlight polishing kit after that, helped some more...

Tonight I get to continue working on the engine mounts, forgot the frame brackets have to come off the bottom side, I already got the top halves of the mounts off, I don't remember them being lock nuts on the '90...

 

[superj]

I put the camper shell back on. What a difference in the ride quality for something that feels so light. Everytime i mess with it though, i realzie how much work it needs to be right. I think the guy i got it from dropped it on the driver side, or something, because it feels like the sidewall is not connected to the piece that sits on the top of the bed properly.

And it still needs the window the lawnmower broke replaced.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Got the engine mounts installed on the '97, what a pain... took me 2.5 hours tonight and I already had the top halves of both mounts off and the engine lifted yesterday... turns out when the engine is free floating it doesn't want to be where it's supposed to be... the mix of fastener sizes and the RABS tubing makes things interesting... mounts held to the engine crossmember with two nuts with 13/16" heads (20mm didn't feel right and I only had one socket in that size so 13/16" it was) and one with an 18mm head. Other than needing to pop the big dent in the tailgate back out and cleaning up inside it is good to go, will take it to work tomorrow...

 

[JoshT]

Technically yesterday, but scored used a BacFlip G2 for $125, then braved Atlanta rush hour traffic to go get it.