1996 2 door flareside TRX KILLER!

[Blmpkn]

Spool gun is pretty much just for aluminum and wire that just isn't structural on it's own, IE you can't push aluminum wire like you can steel (it would get caught up in the liner not to mention contaminated by the iron), they make push/pull guns but that's out of my element... I think I have a spool of stainless wire somewhere I'll find, I brought it up on a forum with more welding people and I got talked more into TIG... I figure I'll learn this winter, I got a 3" stainless DIY exhaust kit so there's going to be extra material to practice on...

Ah I meant aluminum intercooler pipe, probably wasn't clear enough. I'd like to learn how to tig.. don't have the cash or space for another welder though booo.. someday.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Yeah, that too...

Even though I haven't welded the stainless before, I trust what I would do with stainless more than I trust aluminum, plus the stainless kit was cheap...

 

[Blmpkn]

Yeah, that too...

Even though I haven't welded the stainless before, I trust what I would do with stainless more than I trust aluminum, plus the stainless kit was cheap...

Are there not aftermarket intercooler kits for that thing or are you just being chea.. uhh.. having fun with a diy project?

I enjoy building exhausts... snaking charge piping through an engine bay/ core support can get super annoying though in my experience haha. Having a tubing bender makes for a much nicer experience.. I'll probably buy one of those before I get myself a tig.

 

[Roert42]

Stainless is fairly easy to weld, even TIG. Not contaminating the weld, different story.

Major advantage of TIG over the MIG is you can do everything with Argon, Sometime people will use Helium to help with Aluminum but it's not required. MIG, you need a different bottle for every metal, and you need to change the spool of wire out too.

TIG, you just grab a different filler, if you even need filler. A lot of times on thinner metals I don't use filler, just melt the edges together. Downside is it's difficult to work in tight spaces with the massive stinger.


I feel like TIG is probably a better hobby machine because of the versatility, plus you can run stick for anything over 1/16" thickness on the same machine.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Are there not aftermarket intercooler kits for that thing or are you just being chea.. uhh.. having fun with a diy project?

I enjoy building exhausts... snaking charge piping through an engine bay/ core support can get super annoying though in my experience haha. Having a tubing bender makes for a much nicer experience.. I'll probably buy one of those before I get myself a tig.

Yeah, there's a kit for like $900 I think but I already have the early '99 intake spider, intercooler and it was like $130 for the tubing and $60 for the bead roller for the ends... now I just need the time and while it's apart injectors, HPOP and tuner...

Under the hood of the F350 isn't really all that tight, I've seen posts of people doing what I'm planning which is why I went that way.

I've heard stainless isn't bad, just realized I have another bottle of Argon so I just need another regulator to purge the inside and a couple Fernco caps which should help the quality...

 

[Blmpkn]

Gonna be back tinkerin' on this monster this weekend.

Needed to replace the hard lower water pump/rad hose thing.. as both bolt-ears are snapped off the last one. There are 2 options for a replacement.. metal or plastic. I initially bought the metal one.. but it fits about as well as Rosie O'Donnell in a pair of bootyshorts..

The ears for the bolts are bent out many, many degrees.. and even after messing with them.. the end doesn't properly fit in the water pump so it leaks out about as quick as it goes in.

Said f-it and bought the plastic kind.. Hopefully I have better luck with that one. I HATE getting all bound up on something so incredibly simple. Real motivation killer.

Also made myself a proper egr blockoff plate.. @scotts90ranger beer can shim can eat its heart out weight reduction!

And yes.. it was painted with RickOleum. Spray can though.. sorry @Rick W I'm a cheap bastard I gotta at least finish this can lol.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Not sure what's going on with your water pump inlet, I'm not looking forward to looking at mine but I'm curious if my water pump is just fried for my heating issues... it's on the list... not sure what my coworker got, that was a couple years ago now I think... I think it might have been aluminum though?

Yeah, I have a piece of 1/8" aluminum sandwiched in my '90 now...

 

[Blmpkn]

Not sure what's going on with your water pump inlet, I'm not looking forward to looking at mine but I'm curious if my water pump is just fried for my heating issues... it's on the list... not sure what my coworker got, that was a couple years ago now I think... I think it might have been aluminum though?

Yeah, I have a piece of 1/8" aluminum sandwiched in my '90 now...

Not sure what's going on with your water pump inlet, I'm not looking forward to looking at mine but I'm curious if my water pump is just fried for my heating issues... it's on the list... not sure what my coworker got, that was a couple years ago now I think... I think it might have been aluminum though?

Yeah, I have a piece of 1/8" aluminum sandwiched in my '90 now...

I really hope the plastic one works better. Whoever changed it previously used the plastic one.. but it was also all smeared up with gray silicone so idk lol.

By the way... what do you know about the different lima intakes and stuff? A guy might stumble onto a xr4ti intake or something.. is everything more or less swappable?

 

[Curious Hound]

it was painted with RickOleum.

I like that.

 

[Blmpkn]

I like that.

Why they don't give him a deal on their product is beyond me.. he's the literal reason I bought that can. Id always been a krylon guy until Rick joined up and I started to drown in his incessant praise of rustoleum.

I'm impervious to marketing nonsense.. But @Rick W STILL managed to sell me that can.. AT FULL PRICE!

 

[Lefty]

A man can't have too many Rangers, Blmpkn.

 

[scotts90ranger]

By the way... what do you know about the different lima intakes and stuff? A guy might stumble onto a xr4ti intake or something.. is everything more or less swappable?

That's a negatory batman... there's like 5 intake patterns, D port and Oval port for the early single plug stuff if I remember right, I think oval was carbureted and D was early injected, might be missing another... then I think there's two patterns for dual plug, pretty sure in '95 they got rid of the coolant passage in the intake so that changed. So you can swap around intakes some but not back that far...

The biggest flow gains you are going to get are porting the head no matter what you do. If you're thinking on more of a maintenance standpoint yeah, that last manifold design sucks, vacuum lines you can see but not touch and can't get to the back two plugs...

 

[Rick W]

Gonna be back tinkerin' on this monster this weekend.

Needed to replace the hard lower water pump/rad hose thing.. as both bolt-ears are snapped off the last one. There are 2 options for a replacement.. metal or plastic. I initially bought the metal one.. but it fits about as well as Rosie O'Donnell in a pair of bootyshorts..

View attachment 114453

The ears for the bolts are bent out many, many degrees.. and even after messing with them.. the end doesn't properly fit in the water pump so it leaks out about as quick as it goes in.

Said f-it and bought the plastic kind.. Hopefully I have better luck with that one. I HATE getting all bound up on something so incredibly simple. Real motivation killer.

Also made myself a proper egr blockoff plate.. @scotts90ranger beer can shim can eat its heart out weight reduction!View attachment 114454

And yes.. it was painted with RickOleum. Spray can though.. sorry @Rick W I'm a cheap bastard I gotta at least finish this can lol.

Wha? Who?

 

[Rick W]

Why they don't give him a deal on their product is beyond me.. he's the literal reason I bought that can. Id always been a krylon guy until Rick joined up and I started to drown in his incessant praise of rustoleum.

I'm impervious to marketing nonsense.. But @Rick W STILL managed to sell me that can.. AT FULL PRICE!

I’m humbled (which is pretty hard to do). I fool around a little bit, but on the real stuff, I try to shoot straight from the hip.

That’s what you get for leaving your head up!

EDIT: and by the quart, not the spray, and never forget the dollar store brushes

 

[Blmpkn]

That's a negatory batman... there's like 5 intake patterns, D port and Oval port for the early single plug stuff if I remember right, I think oval was carbureted and D was early injected, might be missing another... then I think there's two patterns for dual plug, pretty sure in '95 they got rid of the coolant passage in the intake so that changed. So you can swap around intakes some but not back that far...

The biggest flow gains you are going to get are porting the head no matter what you do. If you're thinking on more of a maintenance standpoint yeah, that last manifold design sucks, vacuum lines you can see but not touch and can't get to the back two plugs...

Thats a bummer. It's a ways off.. but I'm trying to get the beginnings of some plans rolling around in my head... all thanks to a recent purchase..

Messed around with the ranger today. Happy with my progress. My 2nd attempt at replacing the water pump inlet hose went a lot better than the first... my initial purchase was a steel replacement, but it fit like shit. Ordered another one.. plastic this time... and it works a TON better. It might need some additional sealer but thats fine. Miles closer than we were with the metal one!

Also got it started up for the first time since messing with the exhaust. Not running quite right.. kinda comes in and out of it... but when she's 'in'.... it SCREAMS! It's 100% way TF too loud though lol... oh well.. I'm just always glad when something starts again after I mess with it

I'm sure it's not running right because it's got no o2s and no more EGR. Ordering a tweecer to tune out the EGR is on the short list after replacing the coilpacks and installing new o2's.