the rustbucket rat

[90longbed]

back in march I bought this ranger for $1100 for a daily driver... I can never leave anything stock so at first I was looking at an offroad build.... then discovered how spendy that can be...... so after seeing "the good, the bad, the ugly " buildup I decided to do a rat rod build.... here is what I started with....




the gas gauge dont work, the tailgate didnt open and the windshield is cracked.....
it had a bedliner in it but the tailgate section was missing... so out it came.... I also put in a toolbox as those with reg cab rangers know what a pain it is to haul groceries in one


I was able to get the tailgate to open, it was jammed due to the body damage, so I did some poormans bodywork


when I was messing with the light the side reflector broke off.... I also got the bumpers pulled back out

 

[90longbed]

wasnt able to get the body perfect....dont have much of a budget seeing as I am not working at the moment....

it was at this point I changed my mind on the build...I had also discovered some rust issues....



i had painted the wheels chrome silver as they were a little rusty.... decided I didnt like the look , so I painted them fire red and removed the emblems for that rat rod look

I also installed some skull door lock knobs and a skull shift knob

I had some old car emblems laying around in the garage... I had got them with a 76 f100 I bought that had a 429 thunderjet in it( had to sell it after the house fire in 2006)


I was gonna use this one but it broke while I was installing it

so for now I am gonna use this till I can find some money to go to the junkyard to get some stuff

 

[BlackBII]

The red wheels are sick. I am planning on doing the same with my Ranger.

 

[oksleeper]

I like it so far

 

[90longbed]

did get a little time for the rustbucket rat today ...... current project is getting the rust off the frame and painting it.... got a small start today
before


after

 

[90longbed]

borrowed an idea from Il Brutto..... cut down my antenna and also cut down a metal valve stem I had laying around and tapped it over the cut end of the antenna, and used a rubber vacuum cap to make it a tight fit and used a skull valve stem cap

 

[90longbed]

took some better pics of how it looks at the moment

 

[90longbed]

customized the grille emblem.......used a hair dryer and separated the 2 halves of the emblem, the chrome came off so I used some silver paint to give it the right patina to go with my theme

 

[90longbed]

installed the grille emblem


also used the extra tie down I had left on the tailgate

 

[90longbed]

my tailgate letters are flaking off


so I used a hairdryer and a putty knife to gently remove them


here is what I ended up with


right now I am debating about if I should leave it like this or hand paint the letters

 

[90longbed]

with


and without

 

[90longbed]

ended up painting it..... red with a silver outline.... this is handpainted

 

[90longbed]

 

[90longbed]

did the throttle cable mod( zipties) today... only needed 1 ziptie..... also removed the air silencer... the preheat tube was rusted off the exhaust manifold and the air silencer was broke anyways....sounds about the same... will see how it does longterm

 

[90longbed]

thanks for the compliments guys!!..... have a lot of low buck ideas up my sleave....dont look for many shiny new parts..... in true ratrod form, this will be a mostly junkyard build