anyone put a 3rd gen front end on a 1st gen?

[cammeddrz]

I searched, and searched. and only came up with single pic someone else found.

has anyone here put a 3rd gen front clip onto a 1st gen?

i know anything is possible with any amount of fabrication

 

[BlackBII]

I haven't seen one, but I'm sure you'll need to weld in the Gen 3 radiator support, so you can bolt on the header panel and subsequent headlights, grille, etc

I have no idea if the hood will line up with your cowl panel, and also no idea if the fenders will line up with your doors. I imagine they will be relatively close though, as far as the lines go.

I just quickly glanced at some Gen1 vs Gen 3 trucks, and the fender door line is a lot different

 

[cammeddrz]

this post has been removed by the OP, the dick who caused it knows why

 

[cammeddrz]

it is so much more than just the core support:
1) the 3rd gen hood sits lower "into" the fenders than the gen 1 hood, so gen 1 inner fender is too high,
2) the gen 3 fenders curve/slope downward where as the gen 1 fenders are pretty much horizontal

3) the gen 3 header panel is only like 12" tall counting the hood

4) the gen 3 front end is longer by like 3"

5) the door-to-fender contour is close, but when lined up with the hood it has like a 1" panel-gap

6) the gen 3 fender hangs like 5" lower than the gen 1 fender

i am building tubular inner fenders/core support to make it all fit

the sheet metal work is a bit rough because i didn't realize at first the best way to do it, the passenger fender will use less filler-strips, and will have better lined up cuts.

also i think that the one you posted BLACKB2 was fiberglass, pre-runner style fenders that either a guy, or company made to specifically fit the 1st gen, while using a 3rd gen hood (because the hood lines up, even the hinges)

 

[Insanejughead]

+1 on it being an explorer.

 

[cammeddrz]

yeah it is an explorer....never said it was a ranger clip. it is 3rd gen RBV, onto a 1st gen RBV
(technically a 2nd gen explorer, is a 3rd gen rbv because the explorer didn't come into existance until gen2)

i am planning on using these headlights

they look cooler to me than the same style for a ranger.
i also am planning a blacked out grille, the chrome-leaf plastic grille in the pictures came with the header panel

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

If you want to wimp out:

http://fiberwerx.com/listing/83-92-to-08-ford-ranger-conversion-fenders/

 

[cammeddrz]

yeah, the only ones i could find in aftermarket fiberglass were pre-runner style, i want to keep it narrow, and steel

something about using crack-able fiberglass, and moving it 6" further outward towards the trees, and rocks that will crack them seems like a waste.

 

[ZMan]

Cool, good luck with it.

 

[cammeddrz]

also (i know saying this on a ranger enthusiast site might sound blasphemus) but i just don't like the pre-runner look either.

i want my tires to sit outside my fenders, not the other way around.
also with my fw axles i learned with the bushwacker 6" cut-outs that these type fenders/flares are designed to wrap around wider tires on a stock axle. but my fw axle put the tires interfering with the arch of the fender (in my case the 6" cut out flares)

 

[BlackBII]

Ah, it looks like you are already well under way on this swap. I've been around, I haven't been working on any RBV's lately so I have rarely been here on TRS. But, I have a little ranger now, so I'll be on here more!

Yes, that pic above is from Utah, the guy was in Pleasant Grove. I don't know what ever happened to that prerunner BII.

Good luck on your conversion!

 

[bobbywalter]

also (i know saying this on a ranger enthusiast site might sound blasphemus) but i just don't like the pre-runner look either.

i want my tires to sit outside my fenders, not the other way around.
also with my fw axles i learned with the bushwacker 6" cut-outs that these type fenders/flares are designed to wrap around wider tires on a stock axle. but my fw axle put the tires interfering with the arch of the fender (in my case the 6" cut out flares)

you dont have to have super fat bastard fenders....just some lightly bulgy fenders are offered a few places as well.


those fat fawkes still wont cover my tires, and the pa police want me to have those fenders. but i suspect those would look fine on my junk with just a little tire hanging out. fuggin 60 is a fat bitch.

 

[cammeddrz]

i don't want even a little "bulgy"

also, was that english you were speaking? i got confused reading your post

 

[cammeddrz]

Saw a swap done, check out the link in post #4 in this thread.

I read that link, looks like he used a 3rd gen fender to begin with, and then just spliced in the explorer front 6" to use that header panel

so i wouldn't say "swap done" he didn't put a 3rd gen front-end onto a 1st gen.....he put a 3rd gen front end onto a different 3rd gen

 

[bobbywalter]

i don't want even a little "bulgy"

also, was that english you were speaking? i got confused reading your post

well i read it again... it looks engishy....


i meant Pennsylvania police... they are not fans of my mostly open wheel truck.


iirc the ford 60 is 3 inches wider then the gm axle you have. so my truck looks even more ridiculous then yours and i have bulged oem fenders.

the smaller glass conversion fenders work real well. its the most sensible thing for a street truck. isnt it??

but i also prefer metal. the fenders on my truck are whats left of what rolled off of the assembly line paint and all and i just straighten em up best i can every time they get mangled....where glass units would have been pieces on the trail.

for hard core use you just pop your glass stuff off and leave it at camp and wheel worry free.