Project "Step Child"

[greasemonkey6886]

Small update. Got the back cleaned out this weekend and got the rest of the floor cleaned and bedlined.

Also went down to the donor Explorer and got the seats and dash out and brought home. Got them mocked up in place but didn't get pics, by the time the floor was dry enough and got them in it was dark. Will get more pics as time permits. In the next week or so I will start on boxing in the rear sides and building the floor toolbox in the space that the rear seats used to occupy. It will then get some sort of bulkhead panel just behind the rear seats. Not sure if I want it to go up as high as a normal pickup bed bulkhead or just up a foot or so from the top of the toolbox. On the toolbox idea imagine the lid being the same height as the rear cargo floor and being strong enough to act as cargo floor also.

 

[02RangerXLT]

What did you put on the floor? It doesn't seem to have quite the texture normal bedliner does. Or does it in person?

 

[greasemonkey6886]

It is the cheaper DIY bedliner in a gallon can and no it doesn't have the texture of the pro grade stuff like Rhinoliner and the like. It has a slight texture to it though. It is the Rustoleum brand from Autozone. It's not gonna be as good as the other stuff I know but it will do for now. Thought about after I put my final coat on to sprinkle some sand or something like that over it to give it a little more texture. That is how we done the non-skid coating on the floors of our trucks when I was in the Army.

 

[02RangerXLT]

It is the cheaper DIY bedliner in a gallon can and no it doesn't have the texture of the pro grade stuff like Rhinoliner and the like. It has a slight texture to it though. It is the Rustoleum brand from Autozone. It's not gonna be as good as the other stuff I know but it will do for now. Thought about after I put my final coat on to sprinkle some sand or something like that over it to give it a little more texture. That is how we done the non-skid coating on the floors of our trucks when I was in the Army.

Never thought of that, actually seems like a good idea! I know that if you use Herculiner and roll it on, that seems to give a textured look.

 

[greasemonkey6886]

Ok time for an update of sorts. Haven't done any work to it in a while but progress has been made in a way. Got to thinking why put it together with the stock drivetrain when I intend to do the 4.0 swap eventually anyhow so I went to searching for a donor and finally found one.

I used the tires and rims off stepchild to bring it home. It actually sits on a set of 36's as seen in the next pictures.

As you can see I had to take it mudding...need to make sure there is no problems with the drive train right? Lol.

 

[greasemonkey6886]

After running this thing plans have changed a little. Still gonna do the 4.0 swap on stepchild using the engine out of the white Ranger however I not gonna use the axles. Gonna leave them in the Ranger and use a different set. The Ranger will then get a v-8 and be used as a bogger truck for the local mudbogs, trailered there and back.
And yes thats a TRS hat I have on in the pic..thanks Pete!!

 

[Ranger Kip]

looks good so far

 

[greasemonkey6886]

Ok update time. Got the 4.0 out of the Ranger donor and into stepchild. I used the ranger headlight and engine harness and the Explorer dash harness. It fired right up but i don't have any rear lights or fuel gauge. Turns out that the Ex. dash dumps the rear lighting out under the dash instead of at the fenderwell like the Ranger and BII do. Now I have to take it back out and swap in a correct dash harness...Dont feel like messing with jumper wires or the like. Would rather it all be like original,less chance of wiring problems later. I will get pics up in a day or two, its dark already or I would grab some now.

 

[Rangerman4158]

nice build and I like that white ranger it will be an awesome beater

 

[greasemonkey6886]

Thanks Rangerman! Yea I couldn't see scrapping the Ranger out. Like you said it will be a good beater to run hard and not worry about beating up stepchild too much. After doing all this work to stepchild I don't want to beat the body all to hell however I am not going to afraid to run it either.
Last trip oout to the mud with the Ranger I broke the l/r axleshaft. Will have to fix that before we stab that V-8 in her. By the way, am I mistaken that the shafts in a 7.5 and 8.8 are the same as long as you have same spline count? Seems like I read that somewhere but don't know for shure.

 

[greasemonkey6886]

Ok update time again. I have gotten a lot done but haven't took the time to update or post pics.

Engine in and firewall painted. I'm gonna paint it a darker blue but this was as close to the blue I'm using that I could find in a spray bomb at the time.

Dash installed completely and buttoned up. Also seats and console. I want to put in a security console later on as it will eventually have removeable doors.

Door and fender replaced also brush gaurd installed,black explorer type grill. and blacked out headlight trim.

Centers of wheels painted with satin black paint. Looks good I think.

Back still full of junk though LOL!!

Also got the tranny and transfer installed. Gonna run an FM146 for the time being untill I can source a good M5OD. Got my rear driveshaft made and installed also. Used a rear shaft from the old donor Ex I had and cut it down like 14 inches and used a front flange from another Ex shaft so that it would bolt to the 7.5 rear. I retained the 8.8 flange for later use.
Got the wiring for the rear lights sorted out without swapping the dash harness back out. Just used the plug for an Ex and hooked into the dash harness and ran the wires from it out to the fender to the original location. Didn't really want to do it that way but sure as heck didn't feel like pulling the dash back out and swapping dash harnesses again.
Actually drove her down the street a few days ago. First time she has moved under her own power in over four years!! What a thrill to get to this point finally but still a long way to go.
Also removed all the fender flares the other day. I like them but they just don't look right on it with these tires and no lift. I will sell them if anyone is interested. No they aren't cut out flares before anyone asks just factory pop rivet on ones.

 

[greasemonkey6886]

Well she made her maiden voyage today!! Took her out to a piece of property that a co-worker leases for hunting to play in a little mud. She done really good!! Took a little searching to find a whole to stick her too. Only problems are needing gears bad and front axle needing a little maintenance. Dought I will do much to the front end though considering I plan on swapping a D35 in fairly soon anyhow.
At any rate...she lives!!!! Pics will be up as soon as I get them downloaded from camera.

 

[greasemonkey6886]

Ok here are the pics.

Took a little but I did get her stuck.

Me and my buddy horsing around.

 

[greasemonkey6886]

Well I guess I should update this thread a little. On Oct. 25 2011, 20 days after getting her tagged and insured, a woman ran a stop sign in front of me and needless to say I hit her. No-one was hurt which is the most important thing!!

Pics of the aftermath.

Her insurance company wound up totalling my Bronco and her 2008 Mazda Tribute. After some negotiations we settled for $2600.00 and I keep my Bronco.
Since she will have a salvage title now it will be the trail truck now. I used the ins. money to buy another 89 Bronco II. It was a 2 wheel drive but that is fixable. Matter of fact, I have already gotten a D35 front installed with a 2in. coil spacer lift. As soon as I have a chance it will get an explorer rear leaf set and the dummy transfer swapped for a real one. Neat thing is that it was a county owned truck at one time and I guess for insurance reasons they put a rollbar in it.

D35 going under it....

As it sits now...

Step Child will now get the running gear, front clip minus those fenders, and tires from this...

Just gotta give her more lift than the Ranger had. I HATE the way those fenders were hacked up. I know I will probably have to trim the fenders a little but I am not gonna hack them like that. It wouldn't have been so bad had they just took a little effort to finish them up a little and not just leave them raw, cut edges.
I'm thinking on using the original flare section of the fenders and just adding to them and relocating after trimming. Give it a more factory look ya know?

 

[greasemonkey6886]

Been trying to come up with a name for the blue one but haven't had much luck with that yet. Any ideas? I will start a new build thread for it soon. I thinking on running the 2.9 in it untill it croaks. It runs toooo good to yank it right now. When I do yank it I most likely do a 5.0EFI swap since I already have done two 4.0 swaps.