88 Ranger gauge upgrade

[Sighman]

Ok, me and my son (17) are building a 88 ranger and wanted to show how we did the gauges.

We took the old mounting and dremeld out the entire face other than about 1/4 inch all the way around. This is were we will screw the new face plate and provide some support. We are not fabricators to say the least!

I had a friend of mine make the face plate and then powder coat it glossy black. The truck will be black with red highlights (Black Widow) so we ran red pin striping around the edge where all the chrome was. We did this on the entire dash and it does look pretty good. The gauges are held in place my screw on rear bezels. We then did JB weld all the way around the back of the face plate to make sure it was not going to vibrate or fall off. We got a little bit thin on the cut out (my son) so this was the best way to keep it in place.

Here's the finished set.

The illumination will of coarse be red. The stereo will also be lit up red. We added red LED's to the vents to add a little mood lighting.

The truck just came back from paint so once we start putting the interior back I'll post more pictures.

Simon

 

[Ranger Kip]

cool, looks very nice, I'd make the backlights for the gauges a blue or white light for efficiency personally =P

 

[fordman4x492]

dude that is awsome i think i might do the same to my 88

 

[RangerFabWorks]

hey i was blackwidow first

looks great, what kinda engine ya got in that thing?

 

[baxtej44]

i just creamed in my pants haha. i couldn't ask for a cooler idea for my truck... someday hopefully....


anybody think it'd look pretty spiffy to do the same thing with a diamond plate mounting plate for the gauges? or black diamond plate.

 

[Sighman]

Thanks everyone! The truck came back from paint and we installed the full dash yesterday. Here's the pictures, not bad for a 17 year old and a bunch of rattle cans.

We still have a long way to go. Dash cover should be going in today along with the wiring for the amp and sub. We have to figure out a couple speaker covers for the frond speakers and then wipe the whole thing down to remove all the dirty finger prints.

We're waiting for the 302 (around 350 HP) to be delivered and then the real work will begin!

 

[Sighman]

I did think about stainless or diamond plate but we we decided to black everything out. The door panels will be black with a 4 inch red stripe across the bottom (mother-in-law is doing the sowing). All the rest of the interior parts are dry and ready to go in. The carpet is going to stay blue for now as well as the seats until we dig up some more cash. We are having a hard time finding a seat cover so if anyone knows of a place to get 60/40 covers please let me know!

Here's the outside (was white), as you can see everything is going black. We have some graphics on the way of a black widow spider that will go on the side where the "Ranger" emblem was. Might end up with some small red pin stripes as well but we will have to see. The bed will be rhino lined and then a cover will be going on to hide the holes in the bed rails. The front grill has been blacked out and the front black bumper is on the way as well. It's amazing how fast a $300 truck turns into a something that is costing us $8000!!!!!

Grill-

 

[baxtej44]

that is a rattlecan paint job? or were you referring to the inside? also, do you have any lights set up for your check engine light, e-brake, etc... the lights that were in between your speedometer and tachometer in your stock dash?

 

[d_m234]

http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/fr/full.aspx?Page=96


60/40 seat covers, and just about anything else you'll need in the catalog too.

 

[Sighman]

WOW.... $379 for seat covers....

 

[baxtej44]

WOW.... $379 for seat covers....

yeah they are mad expensive... are you really sold on the 60/40 seats? i personally hate mine and wish i had the money to get some sick aftermarket racing buckets or something... but i don't.

been wanting to try the junkyard for some nice explorer leather seats or something lol... would be so awesome, and i'd love it.

 

[RangerFabWorks]

Www.jcwhitney.com

 

[silver88ranger]

wet okole got some pretty sweet covers in 60/40 neoprene type material same stuff used to do wet suits www.wetokole.com

 

[Sighman]

That's a little better at $259

 

[RavoHimself]

cool, looks very nice, I'd make the backlights for the gauges a blue or white light for efficiency personally =P

red is actually the easiest color to see with and it doesn't strain your eyes so in reality it will probably be better