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

[JoshT]

Noooo, Use E6000 to glue a 2x4 in the frame. THEN Rustoleum to make it last!

My bad, I forgot the high powered shoe glue. I'll try to remember next time.

 

[Clint's 3.0 ranger]

Took my ranger to the junkyard to gather all parts needed for the manual transmission swap. Will post pictures later.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Filled the rear differential on mom’s 02 Explorer and thus ends my work on it again, for now. Of course the rain we may/may not get appeared when I grabbed a 3/8” ratchet and rag, so that was also the end of working on vehicle progress for the day. I need my garage up…

 

[bobbywalter]

young bob is keepin the cobwebs from getting too heavy.

 

[bobbywalter]

and the hornets.....apparently the wasps and resident hornets in the dash are like.....well.....typical of everything these days. not getting along too well.


i hornet bombed the bastards a month ago or so when i was last home and they were dropping down and crawling on my legs...and smashed the nests out i could see.....


usually after i hose it down with bee spray the shitheads stay out of there for the summer.... but the damn thing is more rust hole then metal these days and we have had a ton of rain this year.... and apparently it must have washed out the spray and is irresistible to the stinging wonders. he sent me a few pics when they got to the race track yeasterday and that is why i posted it........but since then he told me it can be quite the carnival ride for the bee averse because they are back....

 

[sgtsandman]

and the hornets.....apparently the wasps and resident hornets in the dash are like.....well.....typical of everything these days. not getting along too well.


i hornet bombed the bastards a month ago or so when i was last home and they were dropping down and crawling on my legs...and smashed the nests out i could see.....


usually after i hose it down with bee spray the shitheads stay out of there for the summer.... but the damn thing is more rust hole then metal these days and we have had a ton of rain this year.... and apparently it must have washed out the spray and is irresistible to the stinging wonders. he sent me a few pics when they got to the race track yeasterday and that is why i posted it........but since then he told me it can be quite the carnival ride for the bee averse because they are back....

It's been the opposite here for some reason. I've only found one live nest, in the canoe of all places (that was a first). The usual places have been wasp and hornet free. Maybe because of the heat?

 

[JoshT]

Wasn't done to the Ranger but it involves and is for the Ranger.

First, getting more and more irritated at the head porter. So order was placed for this top end back at the end of May (21st IIRC), that was heads, cam intake, throttle body, and EGR elbow, all ported. By June 13th I had everything except the heads. On June 18th they allegedly had one head done and the other almost finished. Awesome! ...Not...

July 8th I have the short block ready to go in, but still no heads. Shoot them a message and on the 10th they said have them "to you in a few days", so I carry on with the swap. Monday the new block is in the hole and I send a message asking for an update or tracking. Here it is the 18th and still no heads or tracking info. Ok, ignoring me, so told everything in a comment on their FB page today, and short time later I get a message blaming it on a storm that hit their area Monday.

If the heads were almost finished on 6/18, and ready to ship before 7/10, why were they still in the shop to get delayed by that storm? I'm not trying to rush the people I just need to know when/if I'm going to get them.soon. If it's going to be next week, great. If it's going to be several weeks, okay. Just tell me so I know to wait or to put the stock heads back on and get the truck running. If it's going to be months, I won't be happy, but at least the truck won't be parked.


...Bitching done for now...


Finally got a tuner ordered for it. FBMP sellers can be a PITA. Why list stuff if you aren't going to respond? Trying to get an X4 tuning device, but didn't want to spend $400+ for a new one, especially when I'll be spending more later for custom tunes. Many sellers listing married devices for $200, but you'll have paid for a new one by the time it gets unlocked. Found a couple unmarried for $200 locally, but people won't reply. Come on, I can see that you read the reply, tell me it's old or take down the listing. Found someone not local that said they were willing to ship, but then wanted to talk about it in a phone call. Talk about what, you told me what you had, I said I'd buy it and pay shipping, I just need an account to send .money to. what more is there to talk about? Finally found a good seller and got it bought even if higher than I wanted to pay. On the plus side it should be an older unit before EPA cracked down on them.

New cruise control buttons ordered for the Ranger. They've been cracking and had the coating peeling for a while. Finally added the to the cart yesterday when I was buying a jump pack on Prime Days.

 

[jp52]

Today it gets a new radio and speakers. And, if I'm feeling feisty, sway bar end links.

Edit, radio took longer than expected. No juice left for the suspension stuff.

 

[Clint's 3.0 ranger]

Started to clean up the parts for the manual transmission swap into my ranger. Hotter than hell here in Arizona. Glad my brother has ac in our garage.

 

[bobbywalter]

ahhhhhh yes....a climate controlled garage is a wonderful sliver of heaven....

 

[snoranger]

An oil change.


I also tried to install my RCI skid plates. Here’s why I say “tried”.

The engine skid plate kit is missing hardware.

The transmission skid plate is missing hardware and came with stuff that aren’t even in the installation instructions.

The transfer case skid plate is missing hardware.


I would HIGHLY recommend you stay away from this company. The packaging is horrible. The finish seems ok at best. This boils down to piss-poor workmanship and quality control.


I said to my wife “How is it possible that in the days of the internet, when everyone can hear your complaints. At the same time, everything and anything can get canceled for no real reason because of a few posts. How is it possible for a half assed, piece of sh!t company to stay in business for years.”

 

[bobbywalter]

Wasn't done to the Ranger but it involves and is for the Ranger.

First, getting more and more irritated at the head porter. So order was placed for this top end back at the end of May (21st IIRC), that was heads, cam intake, throttle body, and EGR elbow, all ported. By June 13th I had everything except the heads. On June 18th they allegedly had one head done and the other almost finished. Awesome! ...Not...

July 8th I have the short block ready to go in, but still no heads. Shoot them a message and on the 10th they said have them "to you in a few days", so I carry on with the swap. Monday the new block is in the hole and I send a message asking for an update or tracking. Here it is the 18th and still no heads or tracking info. Ok, ignoring me, so told everything in a comment on their FB page today, and short time later I get a message blaming it on a storm that hit their area Monday.

If the heads were almost finished on 6/18, and ready to ship before 7/10, why were they still in the shop to get delayed by that storm? I'm not trying to rush the people I just need to know when/if I'm going to get them.soon. If it's going to be next week, great. If it's going to be several weeks, okay. Just tell me so I know to wait or to put the stock heads back on and get the truck running. If it's going to be months, I won't be happy, but at least the truck won't be parked.


...Bitching done for now...


Finally got a tuner ordered for it. FBMP sellers can be a PITA. Why list stuff if you aren't going to respond? Trying to get an X4 tuning device, but didn't want to spend $400+ for a new one, especially when I'll be spending more later for custom tunes. Many sellers listing married devices for $200, but you'll have paid for a new one by the time it gets unlocked. Found a couple unmarried for $200 locally, but people won't reply. Come on, I can see that you read the reply, tell me it's old or take down the listing. Found someone not local that said they were willing to ship, but then wanted to talk about it in a phone call. Talk about what, you told me what you had, I said I'd buy it and pay shipping, I just need an account to send .money to. what more is there to talk about? Finally found a good seller and got it bought even if higher than I wanted to pay. On the plus side it should be an older unit before EPA cracked down on them.

New cruise control buttons ordered for the Ranger. They've been cracking and had the coating peeling for a while. Finally added the to the cart yesterday when I was buying a jump pack on Prime Days.

tough place to be. the holley stuff is pretty good. for the money it is real good if you ever go to a power adder.

there are several new systems that are adaptable and cost effective. like the aces and the base ls system matt started from soppy mechanics.


adapting a later 4.6 system can gain tunability as well.

 

[JoshT]

tough place to be. the holley stuff is pretty good. for the money it is real good if you ever go to a power adder.

there are several new systems that are adaptable and cost effective. like the aces and the base ls system matt started from soppy mechanics.


adapting a later 4.6 system can gain tunability as well.

Not going that far on tuning this one, atleast not for now. For the time being I'm sticking with the factory explorer EFI system on this. I was just looking for an handheld device with preloaded, canned tunes. Preferibly the SCT X4. I'm primarily after the ability to adjust the transmission shifting, but also have the slight performance boost of the canned tunes and have the ability to custom tune for modifications. There will be no power adders for this build. If things change in the future I may invest in a Terminator X Max with controls for the 4R70W, but that is a long way off if it ever happens.

Now on the 85 Ranger, it is most likely getting a custom built 2.3 Lima based turbo motor. I know that a modern EcoBoost would be a better platform, but I want to stick with the Lima in it. That will probably be getting Megasquirt based controls, likely a PiMPxshift.

My F-100 is already running a Holley Sniper EFI on the FE. It's eventually going to need a rebuild, but the sniper will be more than adequate for anything I'm likely to build for the truck. That said I have tossed around the idea of converting an aftermarket aluminum manifold to multiport and running one of their better EFI systems.

Anyhow, for the Ranger I did get an X4 purchased today. About $90 more than I wanted to spend, but it is an unmarried device with full unlocks left (possibly reset), so I'm G2G on that. Now if I can just get solid answers on the rest of my parts. I'd rather not assemble this thing with the old cylinder heads, but if that's what it takes to be ready for the September trip, that's what I'll do.

 

[bobbywalter]

yup....the lima is a beast. and the mega squirt makes em fly. hopefully by the time your ready to go on that there will be some bad ass 300 dollar manifolds for it.

only issue with the factory explorer systems is they are getting to the age where the caps are poppin and they develope trace lamination issues ect.

that said....i see brand new holley systems have board issues as well. but i do like my terminator x stuff. the hp tuners is very useful as well.

i think you will be happy with the sct.

 

[JoshT]

ahhhhhh yes....a climate controlled garage is a wonderful sliver of heaven....

thems life goals right there.

I said to my wife “How is it possible that in the days of the internet, when everyone can hear your complaints. At the same time, everything and anything can get canceled for no real reason because of a few posts. How is it possible for a half assed, piece of sh!t company to stay in business for years.”