So here is the start of another ranger project between me and my son. This truck is very ugly and that kind of fits in with our plans for it perfectly. Won't be doing much to it as far as fixing the body , instead money will be in the drivetrain. Seems like everyone out here is a huge gm fan (north of chicago in IL). Building the truck to be ugly on purpose because it stings just that much more when you lose to something this ugly. Truck will be gutted caged get a 466 with scj heads sft cam flat tops h-beams stock crank deal . C-6 w 4000 stall and a trans brake. got some used only once 29.5x12 slicks on cheapo bart wheels. Should be ready by spring? Any way it took me a while to post and I have made some progress so I will post pics here soon with what is done so far.
Ok , we stripped out the rat infested interior and tossed the 3.0 and trans. Rear axle went away and we put in a Jegs cage kit for a standard cab because they didn't have one for the extended cab. Did I mention the low buck theme? Traded some 8.8 rear stuff and a 28 spline trak loc chunk for a complete 31 spline 9" . Here are some shots of that work .oops too many pictures. ok well here is some of the early pics I can find. Some pics of where we cut the floor open to fully weld the outriggers.Outriggers are gusseted underneath still looking for those pics.Apparently my pics are too big . Trying to figure out how to shrink them.
This thing will be cool when done. It looks like the cage is working out fine to even though it wasn't for an extended cab. I know you said no body work but are you at least going to pull out the bashed in side of the bed on the drivers side?
LOL , Yeah Tim wants it to look decent so we already knocked it out with a rubber mallet and one of those scissor jacks they give you to change your flat. I've been keeping a couple for this type of thing not much good for lifting a car but they push metal around pretty good. I am also considering some rear doors if the price is right. Otherwise I think I'll get galv sheet metal and pop rivets to fix these just for effect!
LOL , Yeah I already knocked it out with a rubber mallet and one of those scissor jacks they give you to change your flat. I've been keeping a couple for this type of thing not much good for lifting a car but they push metal around pretty good. I am also considering some rear doors if the price is right. Otherwise I think I'll get galv sheet metal and pop rivets to fix these just for effect!
Very nice and looking good. Keep posting pic's. It will be cool to follow the progress.
I can tell you for a fact that rattle can white looks good when first done but turns yellow in a hurry when sitting around inside the shop. I've re-sprayed my interior once already and it needs it again. I'm digging the build. Nice job.
Dash= four tabs and bent sheet of aluminum. Some $75.00 12x29.5 slicks. And a ratchet shifter free from a friend . mounted the shifter within easy reach just off the wheel
Love it!!! Looks like you got everything stuck together pretty good. I would say you will be in the 600 horse range and those gm boys will have to be pretty fast to beat you.
Ugly and fast...a concept I sincerely wish I could wrap my head around. As a resto guy at heart,I would have the truck back to production line specs body wise,Spend yrs on the drive train, drive it around the block a few times,park it,admire my work,get tired of it,sell it at a loss,start another project.
Keep us posted and most of all,get it finished! We want to see it run.
Thanks again, the ugly fast thing comes from the "sleeper" I guess . I just know my friends and they would hate to lose to a ford but to lose to an "ugly pos" ford is another matter lol. But really at this point it's kinda growing on me. I may improve the looks a little but by no means is it going to look good lol. Got some more pics resized. Tacked in the solid motor mounts then dropped in some spare parts for mock up. The carb only clears by an inch to a flat hood. And that darn steering shaft. What have you guys done for the steering shaft?
mounted the radiator in front of the core support. Lost the hood latch but doesn't matter just going to go with pins. made a small tray for the radiator to sit in and clamped it down on top with two small brackets. This gave me 13 1/2 inches front of block to radiator water pump is 8" off the block face giving me more than enough room for fans! Seem to have lost some pics I will have to retake them.
Paint the intake blue and get some rusty 370 valve covers from a bus or dump truck!
Buddy of mine built a '78 stepside and told everybody it was a stock schoolbus motor, had 370 vc's on it and even ran the centre dump exh manifolds with 3" pipes back about 4' on either side. It was a 501 with a bit of work and he ran low 12's/high 11's with it. Gave the gm guys fits around here.
Yeah I'm with you there !! I have 76 460 covers do the school bus 370 vc's have a different look ? I have these guys chasing me a back half 70 454 chevelle a 70 455 cutlass (no prob) a 540 chevelle (prob) and a 74 z28 350 plus a 70 camaro 383 . All my Friends are running chebys. Of course my son has a 81 z28 454 turbo car he is still building (Don't know where I went wrong prob
) . But I do like the sleeper idea but these guys are not dumb soon as the ranger starts the jig is up !! Just need the truck to get past these guys!!
I think the left vc has a square tab sticking up that either the breather or something attached to, different cap and of course the engine decal says 370/429 series....370 cu in. Bolt on the same and the same physical shape though.
He also ran a "J" plate on the front of the motor off of the bus motor, that replaces the motor mounts on the side of the engine so you can run the big 3" centre dump manifolds. (of course headers are the end goal for power, but for looks? hehehe) Not sure where the j plate bolted on, I would assume the bottom of the timing cover and he ran a crossbar for it to sit on.
EDIT: just googled an image and it looks like there is a vacuum canister on the left vc, that's what the bracket is for. I can't seem to find any pictures of the front motor mount (J plate). The main obvious difference though is the decal stating 370 4v.
very cool, i never thought of looking for a 370 vc . That would be too funny. Any ideas on hiding scj heads? the flat face on them with the big scj milled in is kind of a tell right?
Starting some electrical. Me and Tim got the shut off mounted obvious and easy, batt mounted and orig eng compartment power distribution box repurposed . With all the relays and available fuses along with maxi fuses it actually is a nice box to use. Painless prob gets $150 for this many fuses and relays lol. Only the essentials on the dash, switches run relays to power up the lights, ign, nitrous, fans, fuel pump etc...
Started assembling the ranger mtr . 460, .030 over, sft, scj heads, flat tops. Cleaned the block not happy with the machine shops "final wash" still had crap in the lifter oil galleys and the crank wth stick you finger in the balancing holes and it came out black. They cleaned it enough to be in their machine and that's all . So cleaned the parts dropped the cam in then the crank after measuring everything. Mains at .0035 on the biggest .003+ on the tightest. Opinions? Will start filing rings tomorrow !! woo hoo !!
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