Project Rugged Ranger

[94BonB]

I know its been about month without an update. I haven't been slacking just haven't been on here much. To bring everyone up to date.

Got the Ranger body on the F250 chassis for a test fit. I was surprised at how well everything fit together.

Had to make some space for the 5.8 so almost everything had to go.

The 5.8 is looking pretty comfortable in its new home.

Even managed to get the rad in under the hood. I thought for sure I was going to have to mount that in the bed.

I have since managed to get a pair of electric fans from a 99 windstar that I picked up from the JY for 50 bucks, fabbed in infront of the rad. Took a lot of cutting but their in there. Should have pics of that soon. I also managed to get myself a york compressor for free so I have to find/fab a bracket to get that to fit under the hood.

Here are a couple of shots of the body on the chassis as you see I have a lot of frame to get rid of.

 

[Rangerman4158]

looks good how much are you going to shorten the rear frame?

 

[94BonB]

Im going for 115" wheel base. The F250 has a 133" wheel base and the ranger had 108" so I have to move the rear end forward approx 18" and based on the ranger body I want to have about 2-3" rake on the front axle and either 4-5" stretch on the rear end whatever fits best.

 

[94BonB]

Long long over due update. For anyone following this project, I have been working on it, motor is almost done. It got a new oil pan, oil pic up, valve covers I also replaced more of the hardware with stainless. Painted up the intake plenum black and blasted the aluminum intake manifold and accessory brackets with some crushed glass and painted them with some eastwood garage extreme clear that i had kicking around from another project. everything turned out great! Will have some pictures up when I'm home over the weekend. Been working outta town for the summer months.

Also been in the process of fixing the rooted out floors in the cab, got the passenger side pretty much done. Pictures to come.

I have been trying to figure out what I'm going to do about the engine wiring and heres what I have come up with for a plan:

• going to be doing a MAF Conversion, for this I'm going with the kit from fiveology their stage 2 kit. This give me the mustange A9P ecm, overlay harness and a 73mm MAF.
• found a ECM harness from an 89 F150 tfor 50 bucks that I'm going pair up with the MAF conversion to give me a stand alone set up.
• all EGR/Smog components are getting thrown. Going with the original EGR Eliminator from fiveology to replave the EGR Valve. Replacing the TAB,TAD, EVR, and CANP with approiate resistors so I don't throw any codes.
• new shorter belt, needed after getting rid of smog pump.

this should alow me to run the motor with its own harness and run all other systems with the existing 87' ranger harness. Or at least thats the plan

 

[FordRanger89]

Holy poop.
Crazy build.
Need lots and lots of pictures!
I like the Idea of running the other systems with the existing 87' ranger harness. So, that means you are going to keep the 87' dash the same?
You trying to keep the interior mostly stock looking?

 

[94BonB]

trying to snap as many pics as I can when I remember to haha. Its starting to come along, almost done collecting everything I need in terms of used parts just missing the np203 gear box and I have all my drivetrain components.

The plan is to have the ranger harness run all my lights, wipers, etc. and just have the motor isolate on a separate harness.

As for the dash and interior. I'm going to cut the gage cluster area/trim out and fab in a stainless or brushed aluminum insert panel that will have new gages to monitor all the vitals rather then try and make the factory gauges work (having to deal with manual vs. electronic speedo etc.) For the interior I managed to find a set of racing style (holes for five pt harnesses/ large side bolsters) out of some wanna be tuners cavalier at the salvage yard. I'll grab some pics when I'm home on the weekend.

 

[94BonB]

As promised, here are some pics:

Interior as it sits

Cluster area to be cut out in the future

New floor on the passenger side

Dual Windstar electric fans Installed

Motor as it sits

The BBK shorty headers I picked up

All blasted up and ready for paint

This coming weekend I'm hoping to get the driver side floor all fixed up along with a few other spots on the floor at the back of the cab. Once thats down I can start mocking up the interior, seats, ammo can arm rest etc.

Hoping to also paint my headers, my father snatched up an old oven that I'll be using to back the ceramic paint on with. I'll be sure to take lots of pics. I'm really trying to revive this thread/build after having to put it on hold for school and life the last 6 months.

 

[86MUDRCJ]

Looks like you're scootin along pretty good man. Nice work.

 

[dad98684]

i sure do like your build. out of the box for sure. my hat's off to you 94

 

[FordRanger89]

When do you figure you'll be ready to wheel this thing??

 

[94BonB]

i sure do like your build. out of the box for sure. my hat's off to you 94

Thanks! Figured this way would give me a stronger and stiffer frame and most of the drive train I want.

When do you figure you'll be ready to wheel this thing??

It will be a while, I'm also in university completing my mechanical engineering degree. I should be finishing that up april of next year and then should have some disposable income to throw at the more costly items like wheels/tires.

 

[bobbywalter]

its funny....i see this with anything less then a powerstoke as a waste of frame and weight.


perspective is a funny thing.


its gonna be one stout m-f-er when its done.

 

[94BonB]

its funny....i see this with anything less then a powerstoke as a waste of frame and weight.


perspective is a funny thing.


its gonna be one stout m-f-er when its done.

Stout was definitely the goal and running the 3/4 ton chassis makes future motor swaps/options a little more flexible. As for the added weight, the frame when shortened shouldn't account anymore then an extra 150lbs or so. For the added strength and rigidity I think its worth it.

Progress

dropped the gas tank to make room for the uptravel of the axle

got the torch out and removed all unnecessary brackets from the rear half of the frame and removed all the rivets from the spring hangers so that I can relocate the rear end 18" forward. Put some bolts in place of the rivets so that I could roll it back out of the shop until I can drill the new holes.

Also got the drivers side floor mostly cut out.

Not exciting progress but I'm setting up and getting to the point where its going to start looking like something haha

I am also wondering about reverse manual valve bodies for the trans, anybody have any thoughts/opinions/experience with these? I need to get a floor shifter soon and that means making a decision on whether to get one.

 

[nightstalker00]

cant wait to see how it turns out. keep up the good work.

 

[94BonB]

cant wait to see how it turns out. keep up the good work.

Thanks! really trying to keep the ball rolling and gain some ground on the project. Made some more progress on the weekend, pics to come later tonight. Its now a lot shorter then then it used to be.