The Danger Ranger ?

I was trying to keep it under $2000 to compete but i have decided I'm just going to build it the way I want.

Tonight I ordered window regulator, crank, relays (to hopefully get ac, I think its a combination of bad relays) and a manual so I know how to fix stuff.

Power -- I have a complete 2002 Panther sitting there. SOHC 4.6. Would give great towing and  DD performance. That's a heck of a stuff job. but its been done before. VS. A turbo setup, which would be fun and most likely easier than the swap. I would find a spare 2.3 to machine and build to hold up to the boost.

How does a turbo 2.3 do towing a trailer?

Describe yourself -- "I am easily amused"

Since I will be driving this at night a bit I added a set of cheap leds. I had bought them for the tractor but never got them put on.

Oh and we drove it around the other night, the headlights are pretty good, they are new from Rock Auto.

Yes they are aimed (very) badly. I'll adjust them tonight when its dark.

I don't smoke. The power outlet is just wrong in relation to the shifter. It is a manual so your right hand is close to that spot because, well, shift.

It seems like the hole where the power outlet was would be a good place for the switch they put in the kit.

The problem is it falls right through the hole. I have a 3d printer. I designed a little round piece that takes up the slack.

7 minutes of printing and a little epoxy, and the button fits the dash like a glove.

The finished product looks pretty good and seems to be located good.

It takes very little movement to reach it. I also made a license plate mount out of some scrap welded metal. Sprayed it black and the plate doesn't look like an after though held on with wire ties and a prayer.

I had the throttle body off but didn't get a picture of how carbon coated it was. I was checking the throttle position sensor. It checks out fine, both in movement and electrically. Still no ac.

And then there is the smoke show. I didn't get pictures. I did the Seafoam thing and it really smoked. I wondered how much it cleaned the throttle body up. I took a picture on the bore scope because it didn't come out on just the phone. It was really black and coated before.

Aiming a bore scope with one hand and taking a picture on a cell phone with the other is hilarious, try it!

I am impressed on what the Seafoam cleaned up.

Pyro asked a good question, is it just the Seafoam smoking, or is it the hydrocarbons it is cleaning up. Would it smoke the same or would it be less if I did it again?

Still no ac, checked off every component, I jumped the wot throttle relay contacts and the compressor runs. The relay is not getting a signal from the ecu. Pressure switches are good, tps is good, even swapped in a known good one, R134a pressures are good, relays are good, no loose connections or bad wires, that is why I had the dash apart, fuses are good.

Suggestions?

Following along to see what it takes to get the AC going. 

Air Conditioning solved!

Not enough Freon.

I checked it when I first got it. It had freon in it.

Notice I have the high pressure side connected. I think this started the leak.

The original wot relay was bad but I hadn't checked it yet by switching the relays around.

And this whole time, over the course of a few weeks, I think it was leaking out the high pressure port.

Then I got the relays from Rock Auto and I changed all of them out to prevent future issues.

Today I started from scratch, checking for freon. Well it didn't have enough to start the system. I know it had freon when I got the truck.

So after checking around with a leak detector I found the high pressure port was leaking.

Now I have to get the system vacuumed out so i can replace the dryer etc.

Quick update.

Yesterday I pulled the fender off and adjusted the door to eliminate wind noise where it didn't meet the seal correctly.

Sounds simple but a sledge hammer and hydraulics were involved since this cab has been hit. Sorry no pics, I was on a deadline since I had to go into work. Its kind of nice that I can "adjust" my vehicle with a sledge hammer and not feel guilty ... 

We are about to go get some "new" seats. I think they will fit? I hope so, the drivers seat it trash.

And the tires are losing air. I guess sitting in a field for 2 years, and one unmounted sitting in the bed did them in. I'll figure that out soon.

I drove it to work 5 days in a row. The quiet, air conditioned ride yesterday was worth the work. Its 50 miles round trip, so 250 miles. Once I get the tires sorted out my cheap truck will be a reliable daily driver!

It may involve drilling rivets, but you should be able to swap the Ranger seat tracks to those Explorer seats.

Met Scott and Alexis to get the seats. Sometimes you meet nice people when buying stuff off Craigslist and this was one of those times.

The seats looked great. Got them home and compared them to the originals. Yes the mounts were a bit different but I knew that going into it.

I measured and they will be slightly  taller than the original seats. Is that what other people have found?

I cut the mounting tabs off so all I have are the flat rails. I attached power and ran the seat all the way down and back. Then I plopped it in the cab.

The problem is that it is taller than the original. If I run the controls all the way up there is no room between it and the steering wheel.

So I ran it as low as it would go, got in and I have an inch of clearance above my head. I am about 6 foot tall.

I couldn't believe that roughly 1 1/2 inch difference would be that critical but it is. I bolted the old passenger seat in for comparison.

Between the better support and taller seat it just put me too high.

I'll tackle it again tomorrow and see if I can mount them lower somehow.

Clutch stuck on way to work. Got it free but I guess I'll be pulling the transmission to replace the slave cylinder.

On the bright side I still don't have a car payment.

Whoever put a known wear item such as a slave cylinder inside of a transmission should be drawn and quartered.

The clutch struck and then did it again a few days later. It had sat in a field for 2 years, maybe some clean fluid would help?

With 30 minutes until I had to get ready for work I jumped into action. Yes, I know, not the brightest time to start fixin your work truck.

Fluid looks good don't it? Well it was really, really dirty when I started cleaning it out and since I got fresh here I pumped a bit  back and forth in the system.

Then my assistant held the clutch in, while I crawled under to drain a bit off.

Down in the back, and for Pete's sake put your hand down! Stop shouting "OH, OH, OH!"

I know this isn't the "approved" gravity drain method, I only had 30 minutes, so sue me. And besides if you really understand hydraulics this works just fine. Just close the bleeder screw before it stops spurting fluid and no air will get back in.

Anyway this is what the dirty fluid looked like after flushing all the old out:

So far (fingers crossed) it hasn't stuck again.

Today I did a bit more Seafoam ....

And this wasn't the first cloud. It did run smoother on the way to work but the injectors still need cleaning and most likely new spark plugs. Those 2 together should smooth it out as it is a bit rough idling and accelerating. When i change the plugs I may do a compression test just to see how healthy or, well, how unhealthy the engine is.

I also put some more Seafoam in the oil and gas tank. Tomorrow I am changing the oil.

Finally, its nice to know that my $50 seat purchase wasn't a complete waste.

Ghost loves them. Oh well. I do have plan for the seats, its not the original plan, I'll see if it will work Saturday.

Having an assistant like that, the problem is they get board easily.  Good luck with the refurb, seems to be working out so far.

Dirtydog (Forum Supporter) said:

Having an assistant like that, the problem is they get board easily.  Good luck with the refurb, seems to be working out so far.

I needed that laugh, and I was actually "laughing out loud"

So about the refurb. This is going to be my "soak up the boring miles to work" truck.

Last night a person ran a stop sign on a side street and came REALLY close to t-boning me. I turned hard right and they finally looked up from their phone and hit the brakes. If they hadn't been turning left they would have hit me. 

Also at 2 am when I am on my way home the deer like to play a game they call "Scare Marc / Check his reflexes / Check his brakes".

I had plans to make it nice looking, I'm rethinking that today. It has great ac, is sealed up against water and I don't worry about door dings.

So I found the brackets I need to mount the seats. Well sort of.

A 2001 extended cab 4x4 with a 4.0 and automatic. I have 2 Rangers now.

I was going to buy a really clean extended cab that had been rear ended. I found a frame and a bed for it. But for just a couple hundred more I found this one by mistake. Seriously, it had been up for 55 days on CL but it was out in the middle of nowhere. And it checked off the 4x4 box that had been floating around in my head. The other one would have been 2wd.

Pyro drove me up to look at it. 180 miles north, almost to Iowa. I had a list of reasons to not buy it, like bad title, rotted frame, too much rust, burnt tranny fluid, metallic flake oil, squeaks etc. It passed all of my reasons to walk away. Its not perfect but it runs.

It ran 70 mph for 180 miles home trying to keep up with Pyro. Its not a complete junker, I must be slipping. Really its the best starting point I have had in a long time to build my ride.

Now I have to start selling other things.

That's not an OE slave cylinder, FYI.  

jmabarone said:

That's not an OE slave cylinder, FYI.  

I have no idea what was / is stock. And since this is my first Ranger / 2.3 / MD5-OD I need the pointers.

The odometer broke at 195K so in a way what you said makes me feel better. That part is not as old as I thought! It hasn't hung up again so the new fluid / flush worked.

Today I finally  washed the Silver 2001 a little bit. I'll get started on it in a few weeks. Its a much longer project.

I have driven the Green 1995 to work every day for a few weeks. That's 60 miles a day. It has a stumble / rough idle and a drive line vibration. I looked at the joints and sure enough they are bit worn.

So I ordered spark plugs, plug wires, injectors and u joints. I forgot to mention I put new tires on it, including the spare.

It seems solid, like it won't let me down at this point but that stumble has to go.

They're multiplying!

I want one but they're all rusted away up here.

slowbird said:

They're multiplying!

I want one but they're all rusted away up here.

It's a good thing you're not interested in VW Rabbits.  Nice truck.  Kinda proved itself on the drive home. Good luck on the build.

I don't have before photos and its not real exciting but I redid the headliner today.

Thats after i cleaned it off and glued the new. I also took the dash out to replace lights. 4 of the 6 were blown.

Here a bad shot of the after.

I will try to recover the visors. I have enough fabric I just haven't gotten to it yet.

It came out pretty good, almost like I knew what I was doing.

I didn't. This was my first. So I'm a happy camper.

I also had to epoxy the light switch it was broken at the mount. (red arrow)

Like I said, not real exciting. But I had fun.

Another thing I have never done. And I didn't look it up on YouTube.

I got brave, or stupid, and went for it on my sun visor. And really this Ranger is practice for "Silver". No I won't say "HI_HO SILVER!" Pyro did call the green one "Sprout" to specify which Ranger I was talking about.

I took pictures so others could see what is inside. And learn from my mistakes.

Anyway, here we go.

After cutting the seam I found smashed grey plastic that held the mirror on. I used a scraper to cut those off.

They were only glued along the edge. And I reused the "cardboard". They have a foam insert, my stuff has foam bonded with the fabric.

Using the  cardboard it was easy to make a pattern. Then i cut about 1/2 inch or 12 mm outside of the line.

I used wax paper to cover the work surface. Happy accident, i wish i could say I planned this out but ...

The wax paper made it easy to pull the cloth around and onto the glue.

1st mistake, cut cloth larger next time, it doesn't have much overlap.

2nd mistake, ran out of time I have to go to work, I wont be able to stich it back together. And i am flying through this post so forgive the mistakes.

Also, its only  the passenger side so its ok. I think its going to work out.

Frame inserted and temp in truck..

Life gets busy, but "Sprout" (hey, its green...) has come in handy. AND it rides really nice with 400 to 600 pounds (300 ish kilos?) in the bed.

And so I got moving on a floor in the living room.

And today i ran to Sedalia and back for trim. Like I said, I needed a truck.

Mail runs while I'm unloading. Getting stuff in the mail is fun. Ah, its the u joints from Rock Auto.. Hey my gaskets came in too!

... (recreation) ...

No its not my gaskets, its better!

@jmabarone it made my day!  Thanks!

I don't have time before work to install it but I will get it put in tomorrow! And the mileage is about right! Bonus!

Speaking of Sprout, it will be next week before I get back on it. I have injectors, plugs, u joints etc waiting. I drove "Silver" up the road to track down the noise, I'll just have to pull the front end apart and look at it. I did find out it has a limited slip or locker in the rear end. It lays 2 tire tracks.

I would check all the lights in the back before you button it back up.  Mine has a dead bulb for the speedometer backlight around 40-65 (i.e. the most likely speed range that anyone drives...) so you can swap from your old to the new to make sure it lights up correctly.  You can also swap the lens if it is better on the old vs. new.  

I haven't fallen off the globe, yet. Life got crazy.

We ran into some housing issues, and it was a good thing I had the truck running. It didn't run right, but I'll get to that.

We found some water damage that had festered for years, uh, a picture is worth a thousand words. So Saturday we torn into the problem.

And that was Saturday afternoon, that night our wall was black plastic.

By Sunday night we had it sealed up (mostly). I sealed and set the windows Monday before work. Oh and I have had lots of overtime lately, great.

The next weekend we ripped out the kitchen window which had water damage also.

We put 2 windows back in for more light.

And right now it looks like this, covered, inside is insulated and the subwall is up. And next weekend I leave for Boston for 2 weeks for work. So this is temp until spring. We plan to do some serious upgrading, but this will get us through the winter.

And all this time the truck has run like crap. But it runs. 50 to 60 miles a day to work, trips to get plywood and lumber and siding.

I had put plugs and wires in. 2 weeks later it developed a random miss. The idle dropped or stuck at 3000 rpm.

So that is 2 things, I finally got to them today. I cleaned the MAF sensor, that cleared up the miss. Then i cleaned the idle air solenoid.

While I was putting the idle solenoid back in I dropped the bolt, it landed on the valve cover seal, standing up.

This is lit up and remember its behind the intake near the firewall!

Ever see those vids where they toss something 17,000 times trying to stand it up?

I got it first try!

I fired it up, smooth, no miss, idle steady and responding correctly.

So I cut the muffler loose because it was coming apart and sounded ratty. It rattled and well, look!

Oh and it clouded up and started sprinkling just as I cut the pipe.

I stuffed all my garbage inside it before I thought to take a pic.

And when I say ratty, that is a piece of galvanized fence pipe welded into the system

I wanted it to sound better but I'm cheap so I bought the cheapest muffler at the auto parts store. A Cherry Bomb ....... Turbo! $43

I still have to get a support bracket. But it doesn't rattle, it is quieter (some times) and doesn't sound ratty. It does drone in the cab at times. When I get back from Boston I'll try to get it run out the back of the truck. I think that will help the droning.

I hope all of you going to the challenge have fun. I'll watch for updates.