Shaved & Bagged '88 Super Cab

[insaneranger]

Here's my 1988 Super cab. It's been a long slow project & I've had some major delays over the years, but I finally have it on the street. It has a brand new Ford 302 (bored 30 over) with matched balanced forged pistons & Crower rods, a Comp Xtreme Energy cam, & Edelbrock RPM heads, Edelbrock RPM intake, & Edelbrock 650 AVS carb. I also picked up a TCI Streetfighter C4 tranny, TCI tork converter, along with a modular 9" rearend w/375 gears & a Detroit locker. It rolls on 18" Centerline Street Avenger IIs, Moser axles, ladder bar rear suspension, & has had a Wilwood rear disc brake conversion with drilled font rotors. It has four corner bags & will soon have two Air Zenith OBD2 compressors installed in the bed. Later will come a full phantom billet grille & Ranger GT front bumper cover.

 

[proz07]

If be down to see more fab and suspension work.
Z

 

[Andrew.V]

That truck looks sweet, like proz said fab pics would be awesome. Are those supra tail light?

 

[insaneranger]

Sorry. I forgot to mention the Supra lights & clear front signal lenses. I don't remember where I bought the metal Supra buckets, but the truck is 100% steel. No fiberglass panels anywhere. The metal hood scoop was meant for a 70's Monte Carlo until we cut about a foot off.

Here are some build pics. It took me a while to locate them since photobucket went the way of the dodo & lost most of them. Like most builds, it's ugly & covered in dust, but that's where they all start.

The mirrors were donated by a Kawasaki water craft. Weird...I know.

Tires are 40 series on 18" wheels.

Contitech 2600 bags on the Rear.

Billet flame steering wheel with brushed stainless steering column & tons of Autometer.

 

[Jim Oaks]

I really want to see this finished and featured here.

 

[insaneranger]

Finally added a Ranger GT bumper cover.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

 

[insaneranger]

Engine Compartment

I'm finally getting back to the outdated engine compartment. Today, I installed a brand new set of Edelbrock valve covers & matching breather. Next, I'll start touching up the flaking & rusted areas with some high temp. paint & reroute some of the funky wiring.

Mods in the near future include cutting out the hood to run a true cowl air induction & installing a manual steering gear box. Steering around parking lots isn't fun with my unhooked power steering plus my old steering box has a ton of slack. Manual steering won't make it a breeze, but will be more manageable than fighting unhooked power steering.

 

[insaneranger]

I finally got a manual steering gear box/pitman arm from a '94 Ranger donor installed today & the difference is amazing! My '88 had the factory power steering gear box, which was unhooked, & was a PITA to drive & next to impossible in tight parking lots. While power steering would be ideal, the manual gear box is MUCH easier to steer than the dead power steering box. Now driving is a lot more pleasant.

 

[BlackBII]

That engine looks really clean

 

[insaneranger]

Swapping out the Radiator

I've been using a Howe racing radiator for my V8 & it cools very well, but takes up a lot of room. It doesn't help that my engine sits further forward than most V8 Ranger swaps so I haven't had the room to use standard pulleys. I recently purchased a Northern radiator made specifically for the Ranger V8 conversions. It's designed to sit in the original radiator location & will give me a lot more room in front of the engine. Yesterday I got a new 14" electric fan & built a pair of mounting brackets. I started with a piece of 3/4" x 1/8" aluminum angle stock. After cutting & shaping the edges with a Dremel, I went over it with some Mothers aluminum polish. I used #8 stainless hex bolts & hardware along with a few dabs of "blue" Loctite. They turned out pretty well & are solid as a rock. Hopefully this smaller radiator/fan combo will still give adequate cooling for the beefed up small block. If not, I see an aluminum shroud project in the future.

Cut 8" & 16" lengths...

Bolted to fan & ready to be drilled for radiator mounting...

 

[bobbywalter]

first thing i noticed was how far forward the engine was. holy torture.


i would have frenched a 19x24 175 dollar summit unit and moroso cap inline.....Griffin Universal Fit Radiators 1-26202-X.

what forced you to use that location? raise powertrain with a low setup...?


nice piece of real steel

 

[insaneranger]

first thing i noticed was how far forward the engine was. holy torture.


i would have frenched a 19x24 175 dollar summit unit and moroso cap inline.....Griffin Universal Fit Radiators 1-26202-X.

what forced you to use that location? raise powertrain with a low setup...?


nice piece of real steel

Someone else dropped the engine in place. Unfortunately, I don't have the space or tools to do the job myself. He didn't do anything to the firewall so everything sits forward and the engine mounts sit very low. Luckily, he's a great engine builder and my 302 has more than enough power to get me down the road.

The radiator I just bought bolts directly to the front support and the original lower radiator frame mounts. The nearest custom shop is almost three hours away so it's been a nightmare. Between crooked mechanics (one went to prison for running a chop shop while in possession of my truck and it took a court order and a set of bolt cutters to get it back), people that simply didn't know what the hell they were doing, and getting laid off twice, I've only been able to put about 500 mile on my truck in the past 17 years. My engine had to be rebuilt after only 150 miled because the guy didn't use break-in oil and it destroyed a cam. In fact, I'm having problems with the shop where it's at now. If i can get my truck back without taking the guy to court, it will shock me. It's been a non stop nightmare trying to get my truck finished!

 

[bobbywalter]

Someone else dropped the engine in place. Unfortunately, I don't have the space or tools to do the job myself. He didn't do anything to the firewall so everything sits forward and the engine mounts sit very low. Luckily, he's a great engine builder and my 302 has more than enough power to get me down the road.

The radiator I just bought bolts directly to the front support and the original lower radiator frame mounts. The nearest custom shop is almost three hours away so it's been a nightmare. Between crooked mechanics (one went to prison for running a chop shop while in possession of my truck and it took a court order and a set of bolt cutters to get it back), people that simply didn't know what the hell they were doing, and getting laid off twice, I've only been able to put about 500 mile on my truck in the past 17 years. My engine had to be rebuilt after only 150 miled because the guy didn't use break-in oil and it destroyed a cam. In fact, I'm having problems with the shop where it's at now. If i can get my truck back without taking the guy to court, it will shock me. It's been a non stop nightmare trying to get my truck finished!

i am sorry to hear that. 17 years......shit i have a hard time going 17 days without driving my truck around.


this really makes me sad.

 

[Jim Oaks]

Wow, this is tragic, an the horrors people can experience sending a vehicle to someone else to get custom work done.

Where is the truck now?