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

[JoshT]

One of the reasons why I do the majority of my own work anymore. I only trust two shops around me to do a decent job in a timely manner and only those two. Even then, it usually costs more to have them do it than me doing it myself.

I realize not everyone is in the position where they can do that. So, it isn't a judgement. It just eliminates so much frustration and disappointment doing it myself.

Prefab exhaust I'd be installing myself. Those don't exactly exist for a V8 swapped Ranger. Of course if it weren't V8 swapped it also wouldn't be getting anexhaust, I had no problem with the factory system.

Most people don't have pipe benders and space to bend stuff like that if they did. Even if we had the interest and skill to piece a system together from premade bends, we don't have a lift to get it up in the air and work under it. I will do a lot of stuff lying on my back under a vehicle, I'm not about to try planning and fabbing an exhaust system like that.

Exhaust, tires/alignment, and paint/body. Those are pretty much the only things I'll hire out because I don't have the knowledge, space, equipment, and experience. I guerss transmission rebuilds are on that list too, but I'm going to attempt the next one of those myself.

If I needed to have other work done and was unable to do it myself, there is exactly one shop that I would carry it to. I worked with the guy for years on aircraft before he got tired of the govt BS and went back to his roots, and I know his quality of work. He's got his own little one man shop now and stays busy. Unfortunately it's about 1.5 hours to get to his shop and he doesn't build exhaust systems.

 

[JoshT]

Holy cow! That’s pretty unreasonable. Atlanta has a lot of options, so I’m typically looking at price depending on what I’m working on, but I’ve always had exhaust systems done while I wait. A couple times I left cars overnight for my own convenience. Once or twice on real fancy stuff, I took it to a particular place to make sure I maintained the integrity of the car, but that wasn’t on this kind of stuff.

Atlanta is a little too far for me to go for exhaust. Probably would have had it done and back already though.

I considered price as well. There are two dedicated exhaust shop in my area and both had issues.

The closer of the two without even looking at the vehicle said it was going to be a minimum of $1600 and that was with no cat converters. There were several other redflags, but the price was enough. I wasn't looking for tig welded, stainless, or any of that stuff. I know he does all of the hotrods in the area, but this isn't one. It doesn't need show quality fabrication, it needs pipes bent from front to back and mufflers installed. Either he didn't want the work, or he thinks too highly of himself.

The other dedicated shop is where I took it after the initial engine swap. They told me what they were going to do rather than listening to what I wanted done. They would only use the mufflers that they carried in house which was either magnaflow or flowmaster, I don't want either. They also gave me a load of crap about fitment and where they could/couldn't/wouldn't route it. I ended up letting them throw on a magnaflow and dump it under the bed because the truck was (IMO) undrivable without a muffler, and decided that they would never get my business again.

Couple of other little shops that do exhaust work including this one, and it's a side business for all of them. Most just install prefab systems. Maybe two make them. I picked one. Next time, if there is a next time, I'll might try the other.

What I should have done is track down the guy that did my F-100 a few years ago. I used him out of convenience as he was located less than a mile from my parent's house where I was working on it at, but he was primarily an exhaust shop and he did a good job. Unfortunately he moved shop to another town an hour or so away, then closed up shop and retired. I've heard he still does it on the side, but finding him and getting it to him was a problem. If this crap takes much longer, I'll probably do it anyway.

 

[JoshT]

Well still not happy, but the shop regained a little credit. They aren't normally open on weekends, but apparently they went in today to get this knocked out. They just called to talk about routing, and said it should be ready in about two hours.

Unfortunately the said not enough room between the spare and the modified suspension to do a split rear like I wanted. We're going with a dual side exit in front of the passenger rear tire. Maybe someone can take another look after I eventually get the final suspension setup figured out. Still be better than what what its replacing.

 

[sgtsandman]

Prefab exhaust I'd be installing myself. Those don't exactly exist for a V8 swapped Ranger. Of course if it weren't V8 swapped it also wouldn't be getting anexhaust, I had no problem with the factory system.

Most people don't have pipe benders and space to bend stuff like that if they did. Even if we had the interest and skill to piece a system together from premade bends, we don't have a lift to get it up in the air and work under it. I will do a lot of stuff lying on my back under a vehicle, I'm not about to try planning and fabbing an exhaust system like that.

Exhaust, tires/alignment, and paint/body. Those are pretty much the only things I'll hire out because I don't have the knowledge, space, equipment, and experience. I guerss transmission rebuilds are on that list too, but I'm going to attempt the next one of those myself.

If I needed to have other work done and was unable to do it myself, there is exactly one shop that I would carry it to. I worked with the guy for years on aircraft before he got tired of the govt BS and went back to his roots, and I know his quality of work. He's got his own little one man shop now and stays busy. Unfortunately it's about 1.5 hours to get to his shop and he doesn't build exhaust systems.

I forgot about you having a V8 swap. That does complicate things. I agree on body work, alignments, and transmission rebuilds. I'll drop a transmission for clutch work but if there is any internal work, a shop would be doing the job. If it's valve body work on an automatic, I might entertain the idea. The same goes for band adjustments. But internal work, like clutch packs, etc, it would be a shop.

 

[SenorNoob]

Mounted my front receiver. Details in my build thread. Yes I know the center section is upside down. It's intentional.

 

[JoshT]

They just called to talk about routing, and said it should be ready in about two hours.

Well two hours turned into three hours, but I finally got the call to pick it up around 4pm. It's back at dad's workshop. I'll crawl under it tomorrow or Monday when I'm working on the suspension to see how it actually looks. I wanted the truck back and really didn't want to take the risk of being even more irritated with these people today.

While the system did not end up how I wanted it, I think it'll be an improvement over what I had. Just getting the exit out from under the bed I think made a huge difference. I think that the dual turbo mufflers is also a good move for me over the single Magnaflow. Unfortunately I'm pretty certain that I didn't get a good representation of the sound on the drive home. When I delivered the truck I left an O2 sensor out because it was close to the end of the pipe and didn;t want to expose it to thermal shock. I told them that I did this and the O2 sensor was in the center console cup holder. When I picked it up it was still in the cup holder, so I think there was an 02 sensor sized leak in front of the muffler on the drive home.

Ironically the guy mentioned that when he finished the system, he heard a leak on the right side that he thought was the header gasket or the header to pipe flange. It's possible and they didn't touch either of those areas, but I'm guessing it's probably that missing O2 sensor. Either way I wouldn't have left it with him to fix. It will go back though if hook up the smoke tester and find a big leak in his portion of the system.

 

[Saddle Tramp]

I'm glad you got it back.

 

[JoshT]

I'm glad you got it back.

Me too, but it's going back.

Too advantage of a little warmer weather to wrench on the F-250 on Sunday. It needed a GPR, thermosat change, and some attention on the door seals. Got the GPR replaced which was a good improvement. Discovered that some rodent has been chewing on my neew hoses for the cooling system, so that's on hold until more new ones arrive. It was just too dang cold and windy to stand out there and do the door seals.

Just barely broke freezing today, pretty rare for this part of GA, so moved into the shop with some heat to work on the Ranger. Got the axle un-flipped. Did a smoke check on the new exhaust. Found a leak in the new section of pipes. When they wended on the flanges to connect the to the cat pipes, apparently they didn't get a good weld on the flange. Lot of smoke escaping in the weld section. Hopefully since the system is built, it'll be a pretty quick job to patch it up. Also with the suspension back up the clearance is pretty tighte between one muffler and the driveshaft. Might see if they can cut the hanger loose and get about another 1/4 inch of clearance.

In searching for exhaust leaks I discovered why the transmission wasn't shifting properly on the drive back from the shop. The TPS connector was not plugged in. Apparently I didn't reconnect it properly and it fell down against the header and partially melted. I'll still be able to connect it, but getting a new one on order to swap out.

Supposed to be a winter storm coming in tomorrow, so I'll pick back up on the Ranger in a few days. Need to get the previously mentioned O2 sensor installed (they did put a plug in it), install the wideband O2, and want to remove the wheel spacers while I've got it on stands. Then it's back to the shop to see if they can patch up the bad weld.

 

[ekrampitzjr]

Checked the coolant level yesterday after changing the thermostat and temp sensor as described last Friday. The extra quart in the overflow reservoir was sucked back into the block and radiator, so the air has been purged and the reservoir is at the level it was before I drained it on Friday for the work.

All's well that ends well. Nice to have it get up to temperature as it should in the bitter cold we're having here.

 

[ben_2_go]

Had the battery tested this morning. 13.1 volts resting and wouldn't hold a load. My friend at the auto hocker said replace it. I have a charger that has successfully recovered bad batteries before. I'm going to try that first. It all started with two slow starts in subfreezing weather. Here's the charger I have. It automatically detected the battery was bad and went into repair mode.

https%3A//www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09PVFYJSP?ie=UTF8&psc=1&linkCode=ll1&tag=manicycl-20&linkId=65e11a94b49fcf7854df0fd095815bee&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Drove it town and put gas in it.

Was impressed to see now all I can get is regular straight gas, and E15 (use in 2001 and newer vehicles per the sticker) now.

Apparently E10 is gone now.

 

[Rick W]

Had the battery tested this morning. 13.1 volts resting and wouldn't hold a load. My friend at the auto hocker said replace it. I have a charger that has successfully recovered bad batteries before. I'm going to try that first. It all started with two slow starts in subfreezing weather. Here's the charger I have. It automatically detected the battery was bad and went into repair mode.

Smart Battery Charger

link doesn’t open

 

[sgtsandman]

Drove it town and put gas in it.

Was impressed to see now all I can get is regular straight gas, and E15 (use in 2001 and newer vehicles per the sticker) now.

Apparently E10 is gone now.

I'd rather have the straight gas over E10 or E15. But I guess that is just me.

As far as what vehicles to put it in, I know the 2011 owner's manual explicitly says not to run more than E10. The 2019 says not to run more than E15. If I remember correctly, Honda said the same thing for my 1999 and 2001 CR-Vs when I had them.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I'd rather have the straight gas over E10 or E15. But I guess that is just me.

As far as what vehicles to put it in, I know the 2011 owner's manual explicitly says not to run more than E10. The 2019 says not to run more than E15. If I remember correctly, Honda said the same thing for my 1999 and 2001 CR-Vs when I had them.

I always used to but kinda gave it up when I started road tripping. It is hard to find on the road.

E10 used to be the cutoff for requiring flex fuel. Then the government told automakers E15 is ok going back to 01 or whatever.

 

[Brain75]

His link was wrapped inside a URL wrapper that rangerstation adds for quotes and buggered up.... here it is:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09PVFYJSP