Fixing up my extended cab.

[ZMan]

some pics from today that my cousin snapped for me.

Got the tailgate aligned, which I spent alot of time on! Opens perfectly, which I never bothered to do when the truck was together lol. Turns out the right bedside was replaced at one time, also someone had done some work to the left side, and had way more mud in it than they needed, and had also drilled a bunch of holes :/ ..

 

[86ford]

if i ever find a vehicle i care about in terms of body work you will have yourself a customer. in terms of paint, if the B2 keeps going i mite be looking to get a paint job slightly better than rattle can in some goofy color.looks to be coming along slow but good.

86

 

[rickcdewitt]

lol. Turns out the right bedside was replaced at one time, also someone had done some work to the left side, and had way more mud in it than they needed, and had also drilled a bunch of holes

i don't know why but rangers seem to attract that kind of bodywork

 

[ZMan]

couple more pictures from wednesday and thursday. Got the left bedside sanded down to the original paint, and got the rollpan welded on. My cousin is on top of taking pictures for me since I keep forgetting my camera, lol. Don't mind his slander on my tailgate.

 

[Evil_s10]

any updates lee?

 

[Maverick]

Them Speedglass helmets sure are nice aint they?

 

[ZMan]

any updates lee?

as soon as my cousin sends me the pictures from tonight

Them Speedglass helmets sure are nice aint they?

hell ya, this is the "cheaper" one too, just one darkness setting, but its so fast and you can see trough it alot better when its off than most I've used. I've used the $300 one, thats what prompted me to buy this, glad I did.

 

[ZMan]

well he seems to be taking a while emailing me those pics, so here some cell phone pics I got this week.

Welded the Aerostar gas door in on Wednesday, warpage isn't horrible. I can get to the backside so it won't be an issue. Isn't done in this picture obviously

stripped my tailgate on Thursday, it was rusting a bit so some sandblasting is in order.

 

[Black'03LevelII]

hey zman when ya go to put it all back together let me know if ya need a hand since I'm not to far from ya.

 

[rickcdewitt]

is the areostar door for a second gas tank?you probably don't need to worry about it on a ranger thats not a work truck but you might weld up the seam on the top of the bed rail where the bedside meets the front bed panel so it doesn't pull apart or start cracking.the last ranger i did i used fiber fill on the tops of the bed rails since it holds up better to abuse.its a pain to sand compared to regular filler but is much tougher.one last question,is that one of the cheap stud guns? i see you have the good box of studs but does the cheap gun work well?

 

[ZMan]

is the areostar door for a second gas tank?you probably don't need to worry about it on a ranger thats not a work truck but you might weld up the seam on the top of the bed rail where the bedside meets the front bed panel so it doesn't pull apart or start cracking.the last ranger i did i used fiber fill on the tops of the bed rails since it holds up better to abuse.its a pain to sand compared to regular filler but is much tougher.one last question,is that one of the cheap stud guns? i see you have the good box of studs but does the cheap gun work well?

ya, its a $50 Harbor Freight special, lovenly known as the stud wedler.

Works fine, doesn't have quite as much power as a good one, have to hold the button a little longer. The slide hammer that comes with it kinda sucks too, but I deal with it. Overall it was worth the $50.

Thanks for the advice on the bedsides, I noticed on my old bed that is moves alot there and started to rust, so I'll go ahead and weld it up. As far as filler I like to skim over welds with All-metal, then I use Rage gold and USC icing.

The gas door is for the only gas tank. I took out the 19.5 gallon front tank and am just running a stock rear tank from a dual tank Ranger. Having to fill up every 200-250 miles doesn't bother me THAT much.

 

[rickcdewitt]

ya, its a $50 Harbor Freight special, lovenly known as the stud wedler.
Works fine, doesn't have quite as much power as a good one, have to hold the button a little longer. The slide hammer that comes with it kinda sucks too, but I deal with it. Overall it was worth the $50.

As far as filler I like to skim over welds with All-metal, then I use Rage gold and USC icing.

The gas door is for the only gas tank. I took out the 19.5 gallon front tank and am just running a stock rear tank from a dual tank Ranger. Having to fill up every 200-250 miles doesn't bother me THAT much.

hell i'll have to get one of those harbor shite specials to have around.the shop i worked at for a few years used all martin senour paints and fillers(napa brand).actually not bad stuff with no come backs on the paint or fillers and a discount price through the business account.is the all metal a reinforced filler?the napa stuff is called fiber strand and is some tough stuff that holds on well even after the idiot customer goes out and wrecks their car again right away.i used the napa glaze putty on plastic bumpers after the heat gun and plastic welder and it adheres pretty well actually,never used the glaze on bodies very much.why the rear tank?handling and weight distribution?

 

[ZMan]

hell i'll have to get one of those harbor shite specials to have around.the shop i worked at for a few years used all martin senour paints and fillers(napa brand).actually not bad stuff with no come backs on the paint or fillers and a discount price through the business account.is the all metal a reinforced filler?the napa stuff is called fiber strand and is some tough stuff that holds on well even after the idiot customer goes out and wrecks their car again right away.i used the napa glaze putty on plastic bumpers after the heat gun and plastic welder and it adheres pretty well actually,never used the glaze on bodies very much.why the rear tank?handling and weight distribution?

All-metal is a reinforced filler, it has aluminum shavings in it. even with 36 grit its a bitch to hand-sand, I usually knock it down with a DA.

I'm going with a rear tank because someday I would like to put airride on the truck, and the stock tank would be in the way. I also wanted full use of the inside of my bed, so I figured a stock tank in the stock location from a dual tank ranger would be the best bet, plus the easiest to hook up. lets just hope my sending unit never fails, as new ones are not available. Though there is a place around here that rebuilds them.

 

[Jim Oaks]

So other than the bodywork, what else do you need to finally finish this truck? Any other mods? Using factory tail lights/head lights? What else?

 

[ZMan]

So other than the bodywork, what else do you need to finally finish this truck? Any other mods? Using factory tail lights/head lights? What else?

just body work for now. technically using stock lights, the rears are full clear taillights (not altezza) that I'm going to paint candy red, and the fronts are the euros I have. Need to finish the front bumper also, which has the plate frenched in like my tailgate.