So i figure that now the truck looks like something id start a thread on it. This is a car im building for a customer. I met him through a mutual friend, who was building this truck first. Well after a year, the truck was only worse. The idea is the fella wants a daily driver out of this old truck, but non of the issues old trucks come with. So the plan was to put it on a 91' Ford ranger chassis, and bam, your done. Well the other guy was planning on using the floor and everything from the ranger. Seats, colum, pedals, dash, everything Needless to say, he got as far as taking the doors off the cab, then cutting the floor out, and there it sat. When i got it, the doors had a 2 inch gap at the bottoms, and the roof was bowed from where it hinged. So far, iv convinced the guy that if he wants a new truck, he should have just drove the ranger, but if he wants an old truck, its gonna look stock inside. I came up with a set of 7.00-16s on some 48 plymouth 16" rims and that was the first step. Onto the cab. I spent quite a while with a porta-power and chain trying to get the cab back in shape. After that, cross braces were added to hold it true. The cab was rotted all the way at the bottom, so i had to repair the A pillars just to get somthing to weld to. After some measureing and figuring, the cab would have to have 1 inch added to the floor height in order to mount up correctly. Plan is to use the original seat riser, seats, and colum for old-timey-ness but set the colum angle at a bit more comfy angle. heres where it sits after 2 months of working on it when im not at school. Heres the old cab. Its target practice now with the .22 Rust repair. New drivers door bottom. lower cowl area. cowl vent patch. Heres some of the floor sub-structure with body mounts in place. Heres the mill (ranger 3.0) and new radiator from a 62 Mercury And heres the truck so far. Next comes the fun task of building a bed that is 13 inchs longer than stock from these 2 beds.
got a little bit more work done. Been down with hand surgery so i havent been able to work. Got started on making the box more shapely. Also had to add over a foot to its length. Got some help from my Irish friend.
ROFL! As soon as I saw those pics, I thought "gotta be either BC or Washington state!" sure enough...
Boy. Can I relate!!! Had a guy ship me a 54' F100 two months ago. Same rust, same idea. Wants a reliable daily driver. PO made a hell of a mess of it. It's a roller now. Wiring next week and fire it up. (I hope) Yours looks great. Why is the tranny tunnel so big? I guess it's gonna be bucket seats?
Looking good so far. From the looks of it that Ranger frame seems to be a better fit than the S-10 frame swaps that every one goes ga ga over. The S-10's nasty rear frame kick-up makes it a pain for most swaps.
Lookin good, That long bed looks pretty sweet! He should try to find some cool old spares, gas tanks , or tool boxes to mount infront of that rear fender!
Nice work. That's probably the first older truck that I've seen someone stretch the bed on rather than shorten it. It ought to be an interesting and nice driver when you get it done.
so we ran into a slight disagreement on this truck and the customer decided to buy another truck and just put a SBC and 700r4 in it. For payment on this truck, its mine now. Great...just what i always wanted. Fuck!
Sucks if you were depending on the money. However, if you need a reliable shop truck, I think you will be very happy. Verbal Kint, here on the HAMB drives the heck out of the Ranger based 42 I built for him. It won't win any races, but it is a lot of cheap reliable fun. PM me if you need advice on the pedals, and steering column mounts. Very easy using Ranger parts.
Im half temped to yank the v6 and drop a 302 in it and finish it, but then again i might just try and sell the damn thing.
keep it going. that thing is looking ten times better. finish it up and drive that sucker. I think that truck found you to save it.
You'll find the 302 swap even more aggravating. The fuel pump is the biggest issue. You will have to use a block off plate and an electric pump. You will also have to mount the engine a little bit higher in the chassis. If it was running good why mess with it? Put duals on the v6, and it will sound great. Stuff the steering column bracket under the dash. Do a little bit of trimming on the mount,then bolt on the power brake unit. Weld a joint on the end of the stock column,toss all of the unused wiring, use the Ranger fuse block,and wire up an aftermarket turn signal switch. Enjoy the fact you have a very cool, economical shop truck, and drive the hell out of it. Just made a 750 mile trip with my 4cyl auto Ranger, not real fast at times, but I averaged over 27mpg. I can hardly wait to finish my 4cyl, auto trans, Ranger donor 37 International.
I'd get it up to presentable and safe running and driving "shop truck" status and drive it with a for sale attached. Someone will come along and fall in love with it and hand over a fist full of cash and the world will go on. It also sounds like the guy who had it might be one of those who changes horses in the middle of the creek so often his feet never dry out. Be glad you weren't building a house for him.
Your welding ability makes me very unhappy with mine, but I hope to get my truck to look close to as good as you have done this one.
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