Time is against me but I will need to paint the top of the cab, the hood and the tailgate.
Believe it or not but my daughter doesn't want it painted. She likes the ruggedness. We also have a headache rack to cut down to make it more cowboy. She loves it.
Hopefully either latter today or tomorrow we will get to hear it run again!
Well the Ranger is running again. I have one happy daughter!
Other than being about 4 degrees off proper timing it was spot on from start up. No leaks no problems.
Last Friday we worked on cutting down a headache rack from a Dakota that we picked up for $50.00 It was about two inches too wide and four inches too long. It now fits like a glove and my daughter thinks it makes the look for her truck.
Today we welded plates behind the lip of the bed to attach the rack so that there will be no problems to take it out and put it back in in the future.
We also changed out her front shocks and checked out the brakes. I knew I had a back break issue so I checked it out - no parts in one wheel - NOTHING. Some people's mechanical prowess still amazes me. We pulled all the wheels and check out the rest.
We also found a fuel pump wire issue waiting to let her down and fixed that.
Then it was on to starting the body work. We have started with pulling dents, the majority of which are on the top of the bed rails. My daughter is staying interested and things are coming right along.
Great job Steven You're daughter will take far more away from this build, then just a nice truck. She will take a piece of you with her. Where ever she goes. It just doesn't get any better then that. At least not here on earth. God Bless you for loving her that much. Way to go my friend. JACK
It's a lot of time investment - but I only have the next two months and she flies the coop.
Of course a little bit of sweat equity as well as it was 111 here yesterday. Thankfully we have an awning to work under and there has been a bit of a breeze.
The clock continues to click but my daughter and I are making progress on her Ranger. We started the body work with the box. The body is actually very straight just the bed rails were work truck status. We were able to use a stud puller to pull everything out so that just a minimum of filler will be used.
The headache rack is also done and today while waiting for filler to dry we fixed the loose steering column. Next step will be to use some primer filler and prep for color.
We are taking it all in steps in case we cannot get everything painted before college. Next we will tackle the roof, hood and tailgate.
A little more progress today. Yesterday I wanted to put the primer sealer on the bed but weather didn't look to go. Instead we tackled the top of the cab. It had a lot of surface rust and several coats of rattle can paint.
We sanded it all down to bare metal but the surface rust was still obvious so I used the old vinegar trick, covered it with plastic and called it a day. Today we cleaned it up and sanded down the cowl as well. Then it was on to epoxy primer and then regular primer by the end of the day.