Jballard81's 1994 super cab 4.0 4x4 Restore

[RobbieD]

Those caps actually turned out pretty good, in my opinion.

I've done black paint after stripping the roached chrome plating (for a set of steelies), but next go-round for restoring a set of cast wheels I'm going to try the silver paint. I think the silver paint compliments the aluminum wheel, better than the original chrome caps.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[ranger_gord]

I came here to watch and follow your progress. You are doing a “hellaofgood” job! All the detailing stuff to the interior exterior are things that I went through. I had someone attempt to steal my ‘94 while it was parked at work and I was out of town on business. I came back to my left door lock punched and the ignition jimmied. I found a full set of locks and ignition keyed to a single key.
Keep up the great work!!!
r_g

 

[jballard81]

Those caps actually turned out pretty good, in my opinion.

I've done black paint after stripping the roached chrome plating (for a set of steelies), but next go-round for restoring a set of cast wheels I'm going to try the silver paint. I think the silver paint compliments the aluminum wheel, better than the original chrome caps.

Thanks for sharing.

Do you have any tips you could share for stripping the chrome off? About 70% flaked right off, the rest I ended up having to carefully pry up then peel off using a razor blade.

 

[RobbieD]

I pretty much had the same experience that you did. Most of the plating was loose, but where it was still adhered good I used a couple of different scraper tools, as needed, to get it started. Hemostats are then helpful for pulling it off once you get a corner loose.

Bleach can be used to strip plating from plastic, but I didn't have to resort to that.

It took some time, but I was able to pull all of the plating off. Here's one of my refinished black caps on a steelie; it was chrome originally:

 

[jballard81]

Got the passenger side caps sprayed up tonight. Chrome plating came off easier on this side.

Will clear coat them tomorrow night and that will be done!

 

[jballard81]

Motor mounts, tie rod ends (inner & outer), upper and lower ball joints, mustang brake lines and brake pads for rear discs.

Have a busy couple of weekends ahead of me

 

[jballard81]

Finally added a dash cam. Automatically records based on movement and and easily download vids using Wi-Fi from the cam. That and a 128gb SD card was like $37. Well worth the peace of mind.

 

[SenorNoob]

I need to do a dashcam myself. Pretty sure I would capture something worth forwarding to the local police at least once a week.

 

[jballard81]

First time washing my truck. Would've leaked in the back window until recently. Wanted to clean up the deer prints to see how they look with the newly sprayed hub caps. I think they turned out pretty good. The "patina" look is kind of growing on me too:

I'm pleasantly surprised at how well the hub caps match the aluminum.
I really need to get that crumbling side trim off.

 

[jballard81]

You have done alot to your ranger, love the color. Cayman green is one of my favorites. Since it's a 94 4wd, you need a chrome center piece grille to finish the look. Those were a one only ford did for the 94 4wd rangers.

Great looking ranger.

Thank you for the kind words.
Also, 100% agreed on the grille! I've been looking for an original chrome grille but I've only found a couple aftermarket options. Never seen one in the wild.

I'm half tempted to try to spray the grille as well now. If I screw it up I can sand it down and paint it black again.

 

[jballard81]

They are extremely hard to find these days. Especially in good condition. I have a spare for mine I've had for years. If I had another one I would give it to you for yours. My current one on my ranger I bought new from ford in 1998, the other one from a junkyard in 2007. Check car-part.com. There should be some on there.

Here is mine

That looks great! Appreciate the tip as well! I will find one one day!

 

[jballard81]

Finally put some real effort into removing the trim. What finally worked for me was heat gun to warm up the adhesive and then I could slide a trim tool underneath and start pulling it up.

Then used the better half of an eraser wheel and 2 batteries worth of drill power to get 'most' of the remaining adhesive off.

Tried some 3m adhesive remover. Either it can't soak long enough bc it's a vertical panel or it wasn't a very good product bc it didn't do much.

It looks 99% better if you're ~5 ft away. Up close there's still some stubborn glue, and some peeling paint/clear coat.

It looks much better to me. Will have to be sanded some and repainted to finish it up (if I ever get that far )

 

[jballard81]

On a whim figured i would try painting the center grille. It looks better in the picture than it does in person. Better than the beat up faded grey/black it used to be. Still on the hunt for a real chrome grille that's in good shape!

 

[jballard81]

Finally found some decent seats! Came out of a 99 explorer 4-door.

A little dirty and a fair amount of dog hair on them but they cleaned up pretty easily.

Since they were out of a 4-door, they don't fold and slide with one mechanism like the original seats.
I didn't bother swapping over the original seat tracks for that reason. Or am I mistaken here?

I did have to add a small extension for the seat belt track:

Just some 1/8" flat stock and grade 8 nut and bolt. I will probably replace the nut with a locking nut next time I'm at Lowe's.

My old passenger seat is in good shape I might try to give it away. Either way, is it safe to assume I should hold onto the seat tracks if I get rid of the seats (if I have to trash them that is)?

 

[jballard81]

PSA
If you store your creeper/roller chair under your truck, don't forget to take it out when you go to move your truck!

She still rolls (ish). Probably about time for an upgrade anyway.