Project Dropzone..

[Toomanycars]

Hello this is my 91 ranger .. im going to copy and paste most of this to get up to date on this site..
I put the 4.0 in it but then a 5.0 fell in my lap so that part of the project got bumped ahead..

well heres the story.... My dad calls me up and asks if i want to start anther project .,.. I have a 45x30 shop that has 4 projects in it and theres 3 out side weighting to get in so I reply with not really but curious I asked what he had in mind... well come to find out he had purchased his neighbors 4.0 auto standard cab short box for 200$$ .... I asked why so cheep is it totaled .. turns out the motor was blown ..
I went over and looked at the truck and its very clean .. it was parked up against a tree that swayed in the wind and pushed the bumper in a little but other then that no rust and it has a complete under coating .. he wanted me to put a diff motor in it for him to use as a daily.. I told him as soon as i get one of my others out i would get it in and swap it for him ....

so two weeks go by and I finished one of the vehicles and called him and told him i was ready for it.. he tells me that he has decided its to small for what he needs to use it for and that if i want it i can have the truck.. (in the two weeks he had picked up an 83xxx mile 4.0 from the local salvage yard).. so thats were it all started ...


I brought the truck home tore out the old engine and tore the newer one apart and installed new rings and had the heads cleaned and a valve job done,, I took the top end apart and cleaned and painted every thing ,,

this weekend Im heading out to Wisconsin to pick up a beltech 3/4 lowering kit..I have a few pairs of rims lying around the shop.. haven't decided witch set im going to use yet .,.

and I know this thread is useless with out pics so here they are ..

here's the truck the day it cam into the shop..




heres the first set of rims there 16s




and heres a set of 18s i have but i cant find center caps for them


here's the new motor fresh from the salvage yard.



time to tare it apart clean it, paint it , I installed new rings and bearings and had a valve job done on the heads ..
Motor all put back together ready to be installed



while i was weighting for parts I pulled out the degresser and power washer and cleaned up the engine bay alittle bit..





and how it all sits now..








Some pics of the drop kit weighting to go in

[Toomanycars]

well I got the motor completed and started today .. I backed it out and took some pics.. Its dirty and the hood is in the bed but its a start ..

[Toomanycars]

well I got the front portion of the kit installed .. here's a few pics

[Toomanycars]

I threw on the rear rims just to see how things looked..




then I took off the bed to get started on cleaning up the rear and installing the rear lowering kit..

[Toomanycars]

Got some more work done tonight... spent some quality time with the wire wheel on the frame ... Then I grabed the cutoff wheels and went at the old leafspring mounts .. after they were off i went back in with the wire wheel and cleaned up were the mounts were .. Tomarrow im going to paint the frame with a rust inhibitor and then give a good coating of black paint..

[Toomanycars]

I did get a few things done last night ..
first i hit all the frame I could get to with a wire wheel on my right angle grinder ... then I cleaned it all with acetone and put three coats of rust stopper prohibitor stuff I picked up at napa .. then I sprayed about 3 coats of black frame paint i got form eastwood.com
I went with 5 cans of this http://www.eastwood.com/ew-chassis-blac ... 14-oz.html

I tried the rear set up normally and with the hanger flipped and I ended up going with it flipped .. I also started to tare the front apart .. newer fenders hood and grill .. heres some pics..

[Toomanycars]

well I went and got some sand paper for the DAs and some aircraft remover and started the body work..











while I was weighting for the aircraft remover to do its thing I pulled the seats out so i can clean it all up and have more room to work when I replace the dash..

[Toomanycars]

well I had to turn on the A/C in the shop.. dam its humid ...

I laid some cheep blue paint in a few spots to act as a guide coat .. I have a 2 foot and a 4 foot sanding blocks on there way .. the funn part of all this is getting the longer flat panel portions of this truck straight .. gona be alot of skim coating and sanding it back of too get the whole thing looking good and ready for paint..
Here's a few picks of the slow progress

[Toomanycars]

Started working on striping the cab since it cooled down alittle this week .. gota love aircraft remover..

[Toomanycars]

well after a generous portion of aircraft remover I let it sit over night . Today I grabed my grinder with a wire wheel on it and went over the cab.. most of the paint came off with little effort.

[Toomanycars]

So I got some energy today and started the second body modification .. I gathered my sawzall , grinders ,some flap wheels my welder and a few other odd tools and went to the task at hand..

Shaving the drip rails ..
I started with this ..


I took a good long look at it all and went to work ..
I cut out small 6 to 10 inch sections and tacked it and cut some more .. heres a few pics of the progress ..










Heres the passenger side done and ready for alittle filler and primer

[Toomanycars]

Got out to the shop fer a bit tonight and finished up the drip rail removal .. I have a little metal work left to do before i can start with the filler but its coming along ..






I am geting rid of the light above the back window in favor of some L.E.D's not sure on how im gona do it yet but the bulky light and sliding rear window are definitely not staying on the truck. I also have to decide what im going to do for mirrors ..

well I got alittle work done tonight .. now that i have the drip rails shaved off I had to fill the gap left over ..

Before..


After...



After a alittle filling and a few passes with the grinder to smooth it all out i should be ready to move on to the next thing on my list..

[Toomanycars]

I got a little further today .. started playing with the bondo... yippy











put the box back on and started spreading some bondo in a few places .. took some pics of the truck out side while I was cleaning up in the shop a bit..

[Toomanycars]

well I got to work on the rear end of this project today .. I once owned a 1969 ford Thunderbird 4 door.. well when i sold it I kept a few pieces .. on of witch was the piece that went under the rear bumper .. well with a few measurements and three cuts this is what i ended up with ..

[Toomanycars]

still undecided on the side molding so I started work on the tailgate got the sides welded now I have to fill the holes where the old cover left behind..






I havent updated in a while cause I have been looking for a few parts .. the front end nose assembly is one of the things I have been looking for . I wanted to find a 93 ford explorer limited bumper and cover , but the closest one i could find is over 250 miles away..So I went to my local U-Pull-It and started looking for something that might work..
I found a 98 mountaineer bumper .. I have done some test fitting and it might work not sure yet gona play with it a bit and see what i can come up with .. for 40 bucks i can afford to play around with it a little bit.

Heres some pics of the first test fitting..






I got a chance to get out to the shop tonight .. threw some parts at the ranger and with no cutting or anything this is what i came up with .. i think over the long weekend i should be able to get the fitment better ..