ForOffRoadDriving's 94 Ranger Build

[ForOffRoadDriving]

the lights are wired up now and fully functioning. i also ran the power wires for my hellas and they also work now. i took some pictures of the OE hood light as i disassembled it so i could make it work again. i was thinking of writing up a tech article for this becuse its a pretty common problem among rangers, but my ambition is mainly focused on the truck right now. heres some pics:

i got another toggle boot for my dual battery switch and think it really finishes it off nicely.

 

[Ranger#1]

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww i hate rust i dont kno how youguys do it i woulda baught a dez truck with no rust and then moved to the dez lol

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

yeah, rust sucks. ive found that using SEM rust mort helps to neutralize it and then i go over it with por15 to seal the moisture out. i plan on painting it, but i still need to get $ for tires and license and registration plus i plan on getting some better insurance for this thing, so i may just rock this shitty paint for a while.

 

[Rifleman]

DAMMIT! AGAIN!!! I've spent hours reading everything in this thread word for word. Examining every detail of every picture. BUT,,, it's not done...

I have no patience I guess

EXCELLENT work man. HUGE thumbs up! Bettern man than I as I have no patience for such things.

GOOD JOB.

 

[motohead771]

nice black paint job on the front. I did the same to mine.... gotta love the rattle cans

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

thanks guys, ive been slowly picking away at the small things at night after work. usually ill be out there from 8pm to 12 or 1am so no one wants to see this thing finished more than me, but its gettin damn close! last night i soldered my tail light wires back together (some one had made a crude splice for trailer lights and left the splice exposed), i got my blower working on all speeds now (the thermal limiter blew out and caused my blower to run at full 12 volts. i also attempted to dissasemble my turnsignal switch, but it didnt come apart like the one in tech library, so ill just swap another stalk in and see if the winshield wiper glitch goes away. the last thing i did was take off the hitch to put on a rear bumper and see if the hitch that guy gave me actually fit.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

last night i picked up a set of 30 x 9.50 x 15 BFG mud terrains from a friend for $100. im having them mounted today and hopefully they will clear the front fenders and wheel wells just fine, otherwise im going to be staking washers until i get the desired height and then ill weld the washers together and POR15 them. heres some shot of the tires

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

i got the tires mounted, balanced and on the truck and they look sweet! i also found some treasure in our scrap bin!

 

[4x4builder1]

gotta love the freebies

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

i went home after taking the pics at work and washed the tires and wheels and also put on the chrome center caps. on my lunch break today i started stripping the paint off from the roll bar. my plans for it are to clean it up, position it in the bed and make my marks, then weld all the joints on the cage and build mounts to attach the bar to the frame through the bed. it sounds kind of confusing but ill post pictures when i get there.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

damn that paint is stubborn! i used up two cans of this stuff http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/sjdiscounttools_2060_62170914
and i scraped paint for 2 hours and still hardly put a dent in this project. i think i may end up taking it apart and putting the pieces in the oven at work and just baking the paint off. my other thought for the week was about my bent up bed. i think that if i place 2 or 3 C-clamps on the bed rail and then use the engine hoist to lift up on them i may be able to get the rail relatively flat, at least good enough to finish herculining the top and bottom of the bed and get this thing legal!

 

[AgPete139]

Dude...wow. Mad props to you. I've been gone from TRS for a while, and I'm glad I can come back to it with this resto thread. Very thorough details and pics, and I like how clean it is looking. Mainly the inside, and the outside will come with time. Immaculate work with the yellow lettering on things like the windshield washer bottle and painting the charcoal canister. Frame off work is laborious. Keep up the good work. I have a 1970 Porsche resto project, and I am being just as anal with the details and paint like you are.

It's like it just came off the factory floor, perhaps better with more underhood lighting and salt/rust protection.

Pete

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

glad to have you back pete, i recognized your name from the old board as soon as i read your post. for sure frame offs are tedious, but when its all said and done theyre priceless. the things i learned during the course of this build are the kind of things that cant be taught in schools, but rather learned by hands on experinece and remembering your mistakes. when i do my next build (purple 94' parts truck cab onto the 90' rescue ranger chassis w/ flat bed and bed sides that serve dual purposes;bed sides will be ramps that detach for loading bikes, tractors, 4 wheelers, and just about anything else) im going to pay much less attention to detail and only focus on functionality since it will be a toy hauler and two tracker. Im excited about this one already!

 

[WNY964x4]

i will look at work tomorrow and get you the name of the stuff we use to get paint off , trust me it works , the maint starts bubbling , you leav it on for like 10 minutes then wipe the paint away , it is some potent stuff

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

when i got off work last night it had cooled off, so i put on some long pants and a long sleeve shirt and got out the makita grinder with a wire wheel on it and heres what i got

All it took was a little elbow grease to get that paint off (although im sure the SEM helped)