Ranger's gone

[LearjetMinako]

Worked on the Ranger again today. Fixing those issues that the collision center caused. First was my shift knob. Took it off, added some CA glue to the inside of the rubber againt the center plastic sleeve. It no longer twists. Next was the parking brake release handle. They bent my retro fit handle, so I bent it back into place. But after bending it back, I can tell that it would not last long since it felt too easy to bend. So I went junk yard search for the correct handle. I got one out of a 97 Explorer. And the personal was nice enough to not charge me for the whole assembly and just give me the portion that I needed. Can't complain, $10 (handle) vs. $40 (old assembly) vs. $300 (new assembly). Lastly was the knock noise in the suspension. It was my shocks. The Ranger just needed to stretch some and the noise went away. Last thing to do on my list is to have the windows re-tinted. Once again, gonna have to give my Ranger to another shop to do that work. At least it won't be left in the heat for 3 weeks.

Old release with my retro fit handle.

Reconstructed handle. Rust brushed off, spray painted, CA glued the small crack in the handle & where it connects to the rod for better strenght.

New handle installed and working good. Used a M4-.7 x 12 bolt with 2x M4 washers, and M4-.7 lock nut.

I think for my next fix will be the driver's door handle. The spring has been broken, so it never lays flat against the door. Means more rivets that I will have to drill out.

Also, Ford should really consider spray painting all bare metal parts. All the dashboard metal parts at the junk yard were exposed to the weather. And every one of them had a rust coating that needed to be cleaned off.

 

[feellnfroggy]

HAHAHA, Learjet, you know we love you but this thread started out with a bang from all your supportive friends here at TRS. I only read the first page, so maybe the mood changed, BUt you would have thought someone died when you posted the chebby.

 

[ranger_mclaren]

I need to replace the hood release on the focus I noticed the other it was hanging down. The two bolts are broke.

 

[LearjetMinako]

HAHAHA, Learjet, you know we love you but this thread started out with a bang from all your supportive friends here at TRS. I only read the first page, so maybe the mood changed, BUt you would have thought someone died when you posted the chebby.

Didn't think of that. I just said it was gone, not RIP or KIA. At least she is back and that part of me that was so worried is relieved now. I should probably start another thread saying "Restoring the old Ranger". Since that is the process that I'm in now.

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

some body pics? of the truck of course lol

 

[LearjetMinako]

Hail dents are really hard to see through a camera. It usually takes light reflection to really see the full dent. But since you asked, I went digging through my photo collection. These dents were caused by the May 1, 2010 storm.

Passenger door, bottom window weatherstrip. You really can't see it, but there is a dent in it.

Driver side roof.

The roof overall.

Here are the photos of the Ranger after the paintless dent repair.

Hood. There would have been a hail dent on the drivers back corner that you could see. But that has been pulled.

Roof. The dents from the photo above have been pulled in this photo.

Passenger door. New window weather strip. And there would have been a hail dent in the fold line on the door. But that has been pulled.

Overall, the place that I took my Ranger to did a very good job of removing the hail dents. Like it never even happened.

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

yeah they are noticeable.
mine has a few of those lol