PlumCrazy's Build

[PlumCrazy]

Plum, you need a banner that say "Power Steering Guru" on TRS. I am convinced that you know more about the matter than the engineers that designed it for the Ranger....

I asked for an article contributor banner after I wrote the oil filter upgrade, taillight rewire diagram, and the Thunderbolt mirror articles, but never got one

I would rock a Power Steering Specialist banner fo sho.

 

[PlumCrazy]

Finally got around to replacing the broken stub with a set chromos...

 

[PlumCrazy]

Had to buy new shoes for the OneFiddy, so I took my two spare TSLs and rims and had them mounted up. Had to tube both of them because the beads were damaged from last removal.



I found an extra brand new 760x and a metal slinger in my spare parts, so I assembled the chromo stub. I will get around to swapping it in when the weather breaks.

 

[PlumCrazy]

Finished swapping in the last chromo..


The chromo stubs don't neck down like the stockers


My welds on the caps were cracking..but the stub still snapped first.



I wanted to salvage the unbroken stub to pair up with the unbroken driver inner I pulled, so I had to grind down all that weld.lol But the ear was egged enough that caps still came out pretty easy.lol


Re-pinstripped my rims.lol



Finally got around to tinting the replacement window from the last fall run.



New parking brake cables showed up. Ill throw them in when I get the pedal from 1badexpo


Brought my bed project home from buddy's shop up north

Love having a fullsize now.lol Hualing shit is so much easier when the tailgate is low and the bed is huge.


And I powder coated my oil pan and TC with clear

 

[wizkid00104]

Nice. Hows the new truck running?

 

[PlumCrazy]

Nice. Hows the new truck running?

Runs like a top. Not a but of trouble from the ole gurl.

I have "Build" thread for it in the the non RBV section

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[PlumCrazy]

Put a little over 6K on the clock since I bought it.

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[PlumCrazy]

Did a little messing around with my radio bezel to accommodate my boost gauge.

I took a few bezels I had laying around and started cutting, sanding, shaping, and bending.. cut the upper section of the radio opening out of one, and the removed the vents and sanded down the bumps and used the piece to expand the radio opening all the way to the top.

I started by hacking up a junk single cig plug bezel since the dual plug (with not other switches/buttons) ones are getting scarce.

Removing soft touch paint can blow me...but I did find an effective way to remove it. Swapped out the aluminum oxide media and our blast cabinet for some glass beads and a not so aggressive tip. FYI don't use brake cleaner to strip off the stuff...it works well, then the plastic starts to crack all over like when mud dries out.lol

Here is where I left off. I cut a piece of wood that is a snug fit to hold everything in place while I epoxy it together and glass it. Then I ditch wood.

Next step is fiberglass. The plan is to make one big aluminum panel to hold the radio, switch panel and three gauges (temp, boost, wideband)

My column pod is still up for grabs too.

 

[wizkid00104]

You never cease to amaze me... Reps sent

 

[PlumCrazy]

Got it all stuck together with fiberglass..

I made sure to use a lot of resin to fill the voids and stiffen up the posts for clips since I removed so much material around them shaving down the bumps on top.
Next step is filler and shaping, then the actual aluminum panel. My new head unit should be here sometime soon too.

 

[PlumCrazy]

Finished up the bezel. Now its ready for paint of some sort.



First coat after sanding


Few coats and some primer.


Then I went picture crazy.

Photo bombed by the pooch






Turned out pretty decent for few hours work and materials I had left from other projects lol

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[PlumCrazy]

Not a whole lot going on with the truck this weekend.

I did pickup some new Oring seal Pioneer couplers and dust boots to replace the leaky metal to metal ball style that I had. No more spots in the driveway or oil soaked wheel wells...yay.

Tackled my parking brake issue finally. Ended up replacing all three cables, shoes, springs, and the pedal...
Something let lose/bent in my pedal assy

What its supposed to look like..

Old shoes were trashed

One of the ears was broken on the drivers backing plate an let the cable pop out somethimes, so I fixedid it.

FYI...98+ pedal assemblies DO NOT interchange with the 97 and olders.. The bolt pattern is different as is the overall shape.

98+ on the right

Also picked up this guy..Explorer radiator. Its about 4" wider and 3" taller than the 97 and older Ranger. but uses the same hose locations and sizes. Ill most likely have to modify the frame horns since the overall width of the rad at the tanks is a hair over 24" and the inside to inside width of my boxed frame horns is just under 24"...

The rest of my weekend went to my brothers car...Racecar status

 

[PlumCrazy]

Gauge panel progress.



Still have to sand and paint the bezel one last time and open up the aluminum panel for the radio and switch panel.
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[PlumCrazy]

Cut out the holes the switches and the radio last night.

Decided to try Plasti Dip to match up to the factory Soft Touch. First coat looked pretty good, but the second coat seemed to ad a little texture.

 

[PlumCrazy]

Done for now. Boost gauge isn't plumbed yet, but not worried about it until I have positive pressure in the manifold.





Block off plate for HVAC.


Random.



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