Shran's '86 Build

[Shran]

Finally rounded up all the pieces to do my round headlight conversion. I also had a brand new black grille that I scored off Craigslist for $20.

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

Oh she's got sex appeal now...

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[n_bannerman]

What all is needed for the round headlight conversion? I like the way it looks!


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[Robert_1967]

the headlight buckets, and headlights.




Robert




sent from a king size bed, and a sticker of a frog.

 

[Shran]

I don't know what anyone else has used for round headlight conversions - mine was NOT a bolt-on affair.

I got headlight buckets AND the removable mounting bracket thing that goes behind them from a '77 F150. The buckets themselves do not even come close to fitting properly so I had to use the mounting brackets as well.

What I ended up doing was removing the Ranger headlight buckets, cutting a lot off the back side of the F150 mounting brackets and drilling holes in the Ranger core support. Then I used two bolts per side to hold the F150 brackets on. The adjusters and everything work perfectly.

I realize that is hard to visualize but it was the only way short of modifying the core support extensively that I could see to mount them.

One other thing I noticed is that while the low beams work fine and are aligned nicely, the high beams are aimed way up in space, so much so that it's almost like the light never hits the road at all. I haven't bothered to fix this yet, perhaps the lights are upside down or something. Not a big deal, I think I've used the high beams less than 5 times since I bought the truck in 2008.

 

[Shran]

I bought new tires last week. 35-12.50-15 Kevlar MT/R's. Love them so far, I actually balanced these and the truck rides SOOOOO much better. They are a mother f-er to mount. Normally I mount/dismount all my tires at home with a hi-lift jack and spoons, but I failed with these. The sidewalls are so stiff - I got one mounted and took the rest to Walmart. Pretty sure the dude there was genuinely angry but it's done now.

I have some interior work in progress too, stay tuned

 

[Shran]

Did a little wheelin over the weekend. Moderately difficult sections of a couple trails. That big blizzard we got last October broke a lot of trees and we spent several hours clearing them out...with a machete...forgot the chainsaw. Lots of fun. I love the new tires and the truck performed flawlessly.

 

[036speed]

I love me some full size action

 

[Tankmbt]

Such a simple, bad ass build. One of my favorite trucks on here.

 

[Shran]

Such a simple, bad ass build. One of my favorite trucks on here.

Thank you, it has been a fun build. I love being out on a trail and getting comments like "dang, you wheel the crap out of that thing!"

 

[merch]

Such a simple, bad ass build. One of my favorite trucks on here.

agreed i love this build,simple. and those half doors are exactly what im doing for a spare set on mine,good job

 

[Shran]

Yearly update:

I installed Belltech 6400 shackles last week and did my yearly fuel pump replacement.

The Belltech's gave me just a hair under 2" of lift in the rear, but this should be taken with a grain of salt, because my flatbed likely weighs a lot less than your typical factory pickup box and everyone's springs are different. I should have done these years ago but held out and got a brand new pair off craigslist for $20. Now the truck sits more level-ish rather than super low in the rear.

Nothing else happening, hopefully within the next year or so this poor truck will have a nice indoor home.

 

[zachis4wheeling]

Always loved this build man. I have an 87 Reg Cab long bed 4x4 with the 2.9 and a 5 speed. I might have to get the plans for the flat bed from you if youve still got them, as the bed on mine is rotted right out and I really like yours...

Funny thing is, (and I didnt even plan this)....I basically have everything to duplicate this build pretty much, as I have gathered parts thru the years, due to a terrible hoarding problem I have. lol.

302 drivetrain from a 95 F150
Dana 44, entire radius arm front suspension and a 9 inch out of a 78 Bronco
np 435 from an old F250
Np203 and a Np205 for the doubler

Now I just need to get to work putting it all together and make something out of it! This build always motivates me. Keep it around and keep up the good work!

 

[Shran]

I have had several people ask me lately for pictures of my clutch slave cylinder setup. This has gone through several changes and what I ended up with is a Speedway universal slave cylinder, an 82?-up NP435/T18 bellhousing (with hydraulic clutch mounting holes), the factory master cylinder, and factory hose. The Speedway slave is mounted to the bellhousing using the factory holes and a simple piece of angle iron. The end of the hydraulic hose was cut off and I used compression fittings to connect it to the slave.

One thing about the Speedway slave is that it doesn't come with a pushrod. I had a pushrod from a Toyota Land Cruiser slave that was supposed to be the thing to use, and it ended up being crap. It was not proportioned correctly and resulted in a VERY stiff clutch pedal. Other websites are recommending using it but I do not based on my experience, it will be the same for everyone else since all our master cylinders are the same! Just expect that with the speedway slave cylinder, you must purchase a pushrod too!

Anyway here is a pic of my setup:

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

One thing about the Speedway slave is that it doesn't come with a pushrod. I had a pushrod from a Toyota Land Cruiser slave that was supposed to be the thing to use, and it ended up being crap. It was not proportioned correctly and resulted in a VERY stiff clutch pedal. Other websites are recommending using it but I do not based on my experience, it will be the same for everyone else since all our master cylinders are the same! Just expect that with the speedway slave cylinder, you must purchase a pushrod too!

Anyway here is a pic of my setup:

Neither here nor there for me but for everyone else is there a pushrod you do recommend?