The Missing Linc (1987 4WD 2.9 5spd short short)

[RobbieD]

Everything I know about Rustoleum says you can’t use it below about 45°. So I’ve had the trailer ready to go, but I have to put the coats of paint on it when the temperature gets up a little bit. I got the two coats of red on, and then today I got the two coats of black on.

View attachment 104525View attachment 104524

Before you zoom in and get critical about my lines, keep in mind that the breakpoint from red to black will be covered by reflective pinstripes like the truck

I still haven’t finalized how I’m going to do the Pintle hitch. Tomorrow I will mount the 235s, and in the process make sure my skinny spare will work in an emergency.

After that, I’ll put the wiring harness back in, and the extra wires for my insanity with strobes and such…

If I can kick it out of the way, I can get started on the Aluminum projects.

So it's got a cooler, a grille, and it's painted in Athens Camo.

Plan on tailgating?


Go Dairy Hawgs!

 

[Rick W]

So it's got a cooler, a grille, and it's painted in Athens Camo.

Plan on tailgating?


Go Dairy Hawgs!

Thanks, but I think you’re confusing the Missing Linc matching trailer with the Road ‘Raith trailer. The first, again, it’s just a Ranger bed on a custom frame painted to match the truck.

The ‘Raith will be the trailer with the casket and cooker. It will be painted the same colors as the Missing Linc, but it’s for a multi-purpose use, maybe even behind the Continental Mark V.

I’m working on a set of flashcards for everybody

 

[Rick W]

Too cold to paint, and my pinstripes finally came in, but it’s too cold to put on the pinstripe. So I took the 14 inch steelies off and put the 15 inch steelies on.

And then I spent 45 minutes putting on two trim rings. it was the hardest time I ever had, but I’ll guarantee you they’re never coming off!

I finished the red reflective pinstripe except the tailgate the other day, and then I ran out of the amber reflective.

 

[Rick W]

Man, a coat of paint will help anything!

I got the inside painted with the semi gloss. I used a roller with a 3/8 inch nap. Gives it a hair of a texture that covers up a little bit of the scratches and dents. It looks gloss now because it’s not dry yet. I used the roller on my wire shelf spare tire basket, just to knock out most of the white, and that worked pretty well.

Then I went to finish up the yellow reflective pinstripe, and the new stuff is a slightly different color than the old stripe left over from when I did the truck, so I just covered the old stuff and then finished it off. I also finished painting the tailgate.

Next steps are lights and wiring, outlining the white letters on the passenger side tire, and figuring out how I’m going to do my hitch and chains. I want to use a Pintle set up, mostly for security against theft, but I might give up on that. Biggest thing is I want to make sure the trailer is level along the lines for the truck. With that yellow stripe, if it’s not level, you’ll be able to see it from up there!

Then I’ll cover the bumper pad with “absolutely black” and get a tag and drag it somewhere. I think the first task is going to be getting a load of mulch and cleaning up my front yard.

I also want to make a simple ladder rack that’ll sit in the bed holes, that’s only about 6 inches higher than the bed size, but that will have to wait. I’m dying to get going on the Raith Trailer.

 

[RobbieD]

I got the inside painted with the semi gloss. I used a roller with a 3/8 inch nap. Gives it a hair of a texture that covers up a little bit of the scratches and dents.

You could have BubbaLined it by mixing some well-dried coffee grounds in with Rustoleum.

It works!

I'm not just thrifty; I'm a cheapskate.

 

[Rick W]

You could have BubbaLined it by mixing some well-dried coffee grounds in with Rustoleum.

It works!

I'm not just thrifty; I'm a cheapskate.

Thanks, now you tell me….

 

[Rick W]

I finally figured out what I want to do for the hitch on the Towncart. I wanted a military hitch, and I wanted it like a drawbar in a receiver, so I could take it out to improve theft security. I just couldn’t get a vision on how I wanted to do it. And of course, without spending any money.

A while back, on one of the Pull-A-Part bargain days, I bought two pair of the tow hooks/eyes on the front of an F350 or 3500 or something like that. One set was a closed ring, and the other set was a hook design. They were $1 apiece, $4.

On the closed loop ones, if I cut a little bit off the truck side, I end up with a relatively rectangular tongue. And you know all those hitches I have accumulated real cheap? I can take one of those, cut the ball off, and slot It, so I can slip that tongue in it, and weld it up. It’ll be better than anything I’ve seen, look cool, and probably stronger. And I’ll have like no money in it and also have a removable ring.

When I figured this out, I was so excited, I went out to the shed of miracles, found the loop, and cut it off in the chop saw. Then I took a piece of my 2 x 2 stock, and I measured and marked it to cut the slots. The tow eye has a slight angle upward, so if I cut my slot at an angle, it will come out straight.

I didn’t have work clothes on, so I just went to put everything together, and then I was going to run upstairs and change and do it.

I forgot I was out of welding rods.

This is how the dreams of men get smashed. I fix sweet pea’s shoe rack, I even used a Brillo pad to shine it up, and then I go to do something important like the hitch for the trailer that I’ll probably never use, and I get shut down.

Lincoln and I hopped in the Missing Linc, delivered the shoe rack (& got a nice kiss), and went over to the Home Depot and bought some rods, some satin black Rustoleum, and some Aluminum/Silver Rustoleum (to replace the inventory).

We’re both curled up on the recliner now, and with the help of a little Canadian Mist, I hope to watch a good scary movie.

pictures to follow

But we’ll be ready to tow tomorrow….

 

[Rick W]

Afterthought, I got a little peck, and Lincoln got rubbed all over and kissed on his forehead a dozen times, and he got 20 little tastes of chicken….

and before you get too excited, the pictures will be of the trailers hitch

 

[Rick W]

I painted the spare tire rim today. Big woo hoo

So there’s a question in here. I saved the wiring harness when I took the bed off the 97, and I had the wiring harness that was on this 88 bed that I’m making into the trailer. The 88 sockets were nasty, so I didn’t use that one.

When I went to check out and bench test the 97 wiring harness, the reverse lights were the newer push in bulbs, but the brake/park/turn lights were the old fashion brass-bottom twist them in bayonet bulbs. Huh? It all looked original, but I never saw them mixed like that.

The other weirdism is that there are no connection points for the two license plate lights. Huh, again.

I know it was the 97 harness, because it had the separate brake and left and right turn signal wires. Is this normal for that vintage Ranger?

Of course, I made it all work, since I only have a few hundred extra bulbs and sockets, etc. I haven’t put it in yet because I want to figure out how I might want to do marker lights closer to the front of the trailer.

Inquiring minds want to know…

 

[Rick W]

I took the spare rear panel for my Towncars apart for the parts for the Towncart. I also took the tailgate dress panel from the Ranger, and took the logo off. I also took the four center caps that were painted black, and set them up.

Then I suited up in throw away clothes, put on my 9mil nitrile gloves, and my face shield, and I used that old fashioned nasty as hell stripper to take the clear coat and paint off everything, and got the glue off.

I don’t want to say again that this stuff is nasty, but I went through a pair of new nitrile gloves on every center cap. On the last one, I put on the new nitrile gloves, and then put on an old pair of throwaway work gloves, and that lasted me through the fourth center cap and the three panels.

When I washed up from that, I set the tailgate on the back of the Towncart, and, of course, I scratched it when I was picking it up. It’s like rustoleum grows on trees.

Then I slammed it shut to check the fit, and couldn’t get it open. Somehow the mechanism was a little seized up and rusty from sitting in my yard without being used for a few years. How do you get that thing out of the tailgate? Some penetrating oil and spray lithium grease took care of that.

The skinny ones are stainless. That stripper really is amazing. It only takes a couple minutes if you survive it.

Finally, when I was taking the red lenses off, I breathed on one side and it cracked. The lenses are as brittle as cookies. I can glue it. The one on the Missing Linc is cracked too, and I want them to match. I’ll clean we did it on purpose.

 

[RobbieD]

How do you get that thing out of the tailgate?

PITA Gotta work it all through the handle opening. Extra fun changing when changing broken plastic clips.

Thanks, now you tell me….

Hate ugly scratches? Then get BubbaLiner When the best just won't do (or is just too damn expensive)

 

[Rick W]

It was supposed to rain all day today. After church, still no rain, so I put on the work clothes.

I got my drawbar the way I want it, so then I was looking through my receivers, and I remembered I had one the kind you just bolt under a step bumper. So with some C clamps and such, I put the whole thing together so I could try it on the back of the truck for level. I’m going to use the short triple ball with a Pintle clamp on top for the Missing Linc.

When I took the trailer off the stands, it has a very nice balance. I snaked it up to the truck on the side of the house, and then I pulled the combination forwards and backwards about a half a dozen times. On my wavy brick, I wanted to look at it in a few places to make sure the trailer was level with the truck.

I moved the trailer back and started grinding the paint off all the various parts getting ready to weld. Then the rain started.

My 20 or 30 year old angle grinder was making some funny noise, so I took the head apart to see if I could see anything wrong. The little tiny nut on the end of the motor shaft had somehow come loose a little bit. And of course it’s a weird size nut none of my wrenches fit, but I got a tiny adjustable and I did get a tightened up. I’m pretty sure it also had the original grease in the head, so I cleaned it out and put in fresh grease. Seems to be working pretty good now.

When I was mounting my hitch on the truck, there was grease under the bumper and around the rear end. I had completely forgotten that the front seal on the pumpkin went out, I ordered one, but I never replaced it. I checked the level, and found the seal and that’ll be the next project for a sunny day.

 

[Rick W]

I took the brake switch out from under the dashboard, looked all around it, and nothing was broken or worn out. So I did what I do, and I took the switch apart. Really didn’t find anything wrong with it, but I took the spring and I ground off maybe a 16th of an inch, maybe a hair more. I was getting brake pressure before the lights were coming on. Seems to be OK now, but I only checked it in the driveway.

 

[Rick W]

Locking hitch pins:

A while back, I bought a small box of telephone pole hardware. You’ll never guess, I found it on craigslist. $20 if I remember. Already used half of it on whatever.

I took three bolts (they’re 5/8 inch), with a long enough shank that they’ll go through the 2 inch receiver and you can put the nut on the other side. Then I cut them off about 3/4 of an inch past the nut, and then drilled a hole through them that allows a dollar store padlock ($1.25 now).

tah dah!

That’s how I locked up the tri-Ball Pintle on the back of the Road Ranger. If somebody really wants to get it, they can break it loose pretty easily, but it will stop the casual target of opportunity scum in the Walmart parking lot.

 

[Rick W]

I also went in the shed of miracles and pulled out about 18 inches of window channel seal, and slipped it on the lock side of Lincoln‘s window. Since the cold weather, the rattle was making me crazy, and on the rare occasion that sweet pea was with me, we couldn’t hear each other from the wind noise. I’m not sure that was a bad thing.