My little Iron Ranger {Part 2}

[DRanger024]

316 stainless to hot rolled? I wouldnt stand any where near that motor with it hanging from that thing. we use 309 for doing that at work. I'm a welder for a company that builds paper machines by the way. we had a guy weld a stainless steel riser (2 and 3 inch stainless plates, weighs about 650lbs.) to a welding positioner (table is steel) with 316L and the welds broke loose and broke both of his ankles. Yikes!

 

[Iron Ranger]

Oh, trust me, I know what I'm doing...............

 

[Iron Ranger]

Well, I got the frame almost boxed up.

This is, by far, the hardest thing that I have had to do to this truck. I'm 280lbs and the back of the truck is jacked up 20" for me to roll around under the truck so I can get to the joints to weld. I'm NOT built to fit under the frame like that, no room to move, and everytime you touch the truck, dirt falls on your face.

Boy, I wish I had room for a lift...........

 

[pickuptrucker]

intense build i like it! will be really fun to drive!

 

[Iron Ranger]

Finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I got a lot of pictures to show you. Lots have been accomplished since then.

My new 4.0 springs and brake lines. Also have new rotors, ball joints, bushings, brake pads.

My red crossbeams with new poly bushings and $14(apiece) 3/4" grd8 spring bolts

And............. MY MOTOR

The stupid "Conversion" motor mounts. Never get these, DO NOT get these EVER! Go the 4.0 mounts option, much easier. I had to go this route because I tack welded the lock nuts to the inside of the engine crossmember for easier bolt tightening. Conversion mounts have a lot of bugs to work out

My t-5 on it's new poly mount

What it looks like in the cab.

I had to fix a major rust hole where the engine computer sits. The welds aren't the best, but the panel will cover it

POR'ed the driver side and passanger side floors and the door seal sill.

My boxed frame. Please don't laugh at my welds, mixture of rust, paint, oil, and brake fluid on the rails made it very hard to clean, but with some rubber undercoat, never notice.

Put caps on the ends to prevent organic debris build-up in the boxed areas

And, finally, my new lift blocks on top of my new urathane body mounts.

The tranny is just dry mounted to see where everything will go. The old tranny crossmember rotted out, so I'm going to custom fab a new one. I'll keep ya posted..............

 

[Iron Ranger]

Well, I got the new crossmember welded up. It turned out crooked, but it still fits where it's supposed to. I also noticed the passenger side tranny mount was rusted through. I'll post pics as soon as I can...............

 

[Iron Ranger]

Ok, here's the pics of my crossmember. I would have made it out of one piece, but I cut it in the wrong spot and didn't want to get another piece of tubing, so I improvised and came up with a crooked, but solid crossmember.

Fits like a glove and the tranny sits in the perfect spot.

Now for the radiator

Can you guess what these pieces are?

Thats right!! Thats what happens when "cut to fit" goes too far.....
But on the bright side, I like the way the radiator looks now, more aggressive looking.......

you can see right through to where the neck was, I'm going to weld on new tank caps and have the neck be relocated about 3" away from the original spot for clearance issues. I'm soooooooooooooooo glad I'm a welder

Fits super perfect

But to make it fit perfect, I had to cut out the areas of the rad. support that I had just finished refabbing.

But the job is so much easier when you invest in one of these:

12" hand shear for $70. I got it last year and it is the best metal fab tool that I own. I do a lot of aluminum work and this is a lifesaver, recommend it to anyone short on cash and no electric plugs.


Well, now we're just getting the little things tied up:wiring, gauge placements, minor bodywork, new brakelines, the usual.

And, whoever rated this thread......Thank you means more than you know.

 

[Iron Ranger]

Well, here's my modified radiator. I didn't pressure test it yet, but my hopes are high.

I found out it's hard to weld aluminum when you've worked and 8 hour shift and are jacked up on Mountain Dew(got the shakes worse than grandma in a snowball fight)

But here she is:

My new drain plug

The needed extension to clear the radiator support roof

How it looks and fits now with the mounting brackets and all

Neck clears pretty good, huh?

Now I have to reweld the areas of the lower support that I had to cut to make room for the radiator corners, then it should be good to go!

I also found out how to shrink the photos so that it don't take a week to load up the pics.

 

[Kyle M.]

Looks really good!

 

[Iron Ranger]

I bought these really nice cans of undercoating from Oreilly Auto(don't have the brand name on me yet), it sprays nice like a thick paint and it doesn't have that "bumpy" rubber look to it at all. I still made a mess with overspray and got it all over my hands(a shower fixed that dilemma).

When I get the 2nd coat on I'll take pics to show you how well it lays out.

 

[Prostreet Ranger]

truck's looking good, think it will on the road this summer?

 

[Iron Ranger]

truck's looking good, think it will on the road this summer?

I'm shootin' for beginning of May.

Work was cut to 32 hours a week, so either I have more time to work on the truck, or I have no money to buy the parts to work on the truck.

Luckly, I saved a good chunk of the tax returns to buy a custom drive shaft and new 9" axleshafts(when it gets to that point).

Thank goodness I'm single!!

 

[Iron Ranger]

Got the radiator figured out......

Here's the hardware, bolts, rubber washers, and specialty grommets from my workplace. Perfect for this application.

Need washers on the backside, but I think it'll work!

Here's how well the undercoating came out. I'm rather pleased!

Off subject: Here's what I putz around with when not working on the truck. I got, like, 5 of these in the basement.

On subject: The motor's back in for good. Everything clears very nicely with a 3" bodylift, more than enough room for a 1" intake spacer to clear the valve covers.

Now........for the gran-daddy of it all.

I had the machinist at work cook this up for me for the slave cylinder. Such a perfect fit that when it's tightened down, the slave is pinched in place, but the piston still moves freely.

I welded it to a bracket I cut out and it will bolt to the transmission mounting surface(I'll get the newer pics up soon).

So far, everything's going great!

Autometer gauges and valve cover breathers are on the way. And I'll be starting on making a custom stick for the shifter.

 

[PaleBlue90]

i want one!

 

[Iron Ranger]

i want one!

One what? Truck, R/C car, or the slave bracket?

Truck: Can't have it!!! MINE!!!

R/C Car: E-bay has them cheap. All the ones I bought were junk and I restored them.

Slave bracket: I have the prints for that machined block if you want them.

Either way, Thanks!!