Project for an Iowa winter, '77 Ranger

renrag · Jan 8, 2018

Holidays are over. Now I can get more done on this rig. Nothing visual to show. I am just spending a ton of time on body gaps. 12hrs on the fuel doors, 6hrs per rocker, ... you get the idea.

My main objective is a stock looking rig to the casual observer. I am adding Vintage air, 3.5" spring plus 1"body lift. I am starting as a LUBR with stock rims. American Autowire, points style distributor with Pentronix, and possibly a 4100 with a cast iron manifold round out the mods. Oh, I guess technically, the interior color and grill color will be wrong for a Ranger.

I plan on using this rig for some wheeling. I might end up cutting it if I need to, but don't want to. That being said, I want to do the best job I can on the initial restoration.

Now for a question. I have been told on here that the underside of the body should be body color. Seems to me that a spray on bedliner would be about the only way to truly seal up the underside. I think it will look terrible though. Thoughts? Ever see a bedliner peel? I have visions of the factory stuff that peeled off of my Mustang and '53 F100.

Tugross302 · Jan 9, 2018

My ‘76 is in the restoration process and I’m going with body color (ginger) bedliner underneath and inside the tub. I hope it looks good when it’s done. I just don’t like looking at inner fender wells and seeing black. Looks like your hiding something to me. Just my personal preference

renrag · Jan 9, 2018

My methods are unconventional, but I am happy with how it turned out. Passenger side almost done.

sprdv1 · Jan 12, 2018

renrag said:
My methods are unconventional, but I am happy with how it turned out. Passenger side almost done.

Whatever gets the job done... Looks good bud

Razorbackbronco · Jan 12, 2018

Hey Renrag, it’s looking good! I’m restoring a ‘73 for a wonderful lady who is a huge Tennessee volunteers fan and the after much research I found Vista Orange to be the closest to the Pantone 151 which is the official color.

I sprayed the underside and interior tub with tintable raptor liner and it looks great. I’ve sprayed the raptor on many projects and have been happy with it, but there are a couple things I’ve learned along the way.

You really have to make sure to scuff up everything really well it doesn’t stick well to slick surfaces or any bare metal.
Darker colors provide much more coverage than something light like a orange. I planned to use a full kit (4 quarts) but i ended up using an extra (5th) quart.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

duffymahoney · Jan 12, 2018

77 grafting was fun for us as well! We got it done.

phyler · Jan 12, 2018

renrag said:
My methods are unconventional, but I am happy with how it turned out. Passenger side almost done.

You used the pipe to get the profile correct? Our just to get the quarter tucked back correctly? If it was the first, how much pressure did it take? Also, what sized pipe or tube was that? I have the profile issue on mine that I wanted to fix.

Thanks!

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

renrag · Jan 12, 2018

Razorbackbronco;3046931 I sprayed the underside and interior tub with tintable raptor liner and it looks great. I’ve sprayed the raptor on many projects and have been happy with it said:
//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180112/e56cfc584747f75ecc0dc71cc4a29d96.jpg[/IMG]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Razorbackbronco, Thanks, those pictures and info are exactly what I was lookikng for. Awesome.

renrag · Jan 12, 2018

phyler said:
You used the pipe to get the profile correct? Our just to get the quarter tucked back correctly? If it was the first, how much pressure did it take? Also, what sized pipe or tube was that? I have the profile issue on mine that I wanted to fix.

Thanks!

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

phyler, That pipe is 1.75 .120"wall. I welded the lowers to the uppers before I installed them on the truck. Even though I made sure to get the lowers as far "in" as I could, they were way too far out to match the door when the break line looked good with the door. To remedy that, I found that 1.75" tube, matched my door profile well. I then propped it all up, clamped it at the back enough to hold slight pressure, but not bend anything. After that, I clamped the front. I know that the quarter had curve in it, front to back, but it didn't cause any wrinkles over the wheel opening. The big C clamp you see, easily bent the lower quarter towards the door post, without effecting the upper, which was fully welded at the time. After I had pressure on it, I smacked the tube with a 2lb hammer along the front third of the quarter. DON'T MISS THE TUBE! I then removed the clamps, and it was pretty good, considering that the two profiles are not really a match. I then chased the quarter downward matching it to the gentle curve profile of the door.

That make any sense?

Nemisus · Jan 12, 2018

1strodeo said:
Welcome! Looks like you got your work 'cut out' for ya

...seriously why does it seem everyone has a lift but me?

seems like there are a few pages to read but I am going to jump the gun and reply...

your not alone. I yern for one every day! Still trying to figure out how and where to put it in my little space of a garage. Hell it would be cheaper to get a new house than try and make one fit.

Buying a new house with more space just isn't an option so I guess I'll live the dream through others.

Nice work so far sir!

Cheers

phyler · Jan 12, 2018

renrag said:
phyler, That pipe is 1.75 .120"wall. I welded the lowers to the uppers before I installed them on the truck. Even though I made sure to get the lowers as far "in" as I could, they were way too far out to match the door when the break line looked good with the door. To remedy that, I found that 1.75" tube, matched my door profile well. I then propped it all up, clamped it at the back enough to hold slight pressure, but not bend anything. After that, I clamped the front. I know that the quarter had curve in it, front to back, but it didn't cause any wrinkles over the wheel opening. The big C clamp you see, easily bent the lower quarter towards the door post, without effecting the upper, which was fully welded at the time. After I had pressure on it, I smacked the tube with a 2lb hammer along the front third of the quarter. DON'T MISS THE TUBE! I then removed the clamps, and it was pretty good, considering that the two profiles are not really a match. I then chased the quarter downward matching it to the gentle curve profile of the door.

That make any sense?

Yep, makes sense. I'll have to give that a try on mine. Thank you!

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

renrag · Jan 12, 2018

phyler said:
Yep, makes sense. I'll have to give that a try on mine. Thank you!

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

Is your lower quarter welded to the striker post? Mine was not when I bent it. I assume this would not work on a welded one.

phyler · Jan 12, 2018

renrag said:
Is your lower quarter welded to the striker post? Mine was not when I bent it. I assume this would not work on a welded one.

Not in the driver's side. I didn't have as much of a profile issue on the passenger side.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

renrag · Jan 12, 2018

phyler said:
Not in the driver's side. I didn't have as much of a profile issue on the passenger side.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

Good luck.

renrag · Jan 13, 2018

Slowly getting there. Dad has been making great progress working on everything besides the body. All of the little parts, might be done about the same time as I am done putting the tub together. Today, the body looks complete. I still need to weld everything in front of the doors, and the four corners of the rear floor. As it sits now, the body is square, and looks right(more important than square). I *think* I am done massaging body parts to fit each other. I just need to weld the bones together in a fashion that keeps the margins. The rockers are the worst. I was unable to maintain a perfect 3/16" gap along the bottom of the door. Eveything else is pretty close. I am not thrilled with the front fenders. The break line on the side, isn't as straight as the OEM fenders. This makes the line not look the best. I can make it look really nice, but that lowers the rad support almost an inch over where it "should" be. I may do this in the end. I am planning on a 1" body lift, and on Monday, I plan on adding that to the other six mounts and not to the front. This may not be "right", but it might make the whole truck more pleasing to the eye.

Apologies for the crappy cell phone pics.

renrag · Jan 13, 2018

Nemisus said:
your not alone. I yern for one every day! Still trying to figure out how and where to put it in my little space of a garage. Hell it would be cheaper to get a new house than try and make one fit.

Buying a new house with more space just isn't an option so I guess I'll live the dream through others.

Nice work so far sir!

Cheers

I have a friend that moves often for jobs, and has a Bendpak MD-6xp that he really likes. Not going to remove a body with it, but he swears it is handy for everything but transmissions.

http://www.bendpak.com/car-lifts/specialty-lifts/md-6xp.aspx

Jedhead · Jan 13, 2018

Quick question,looks like a great job putting it all together, but if you had to do it over again would you use body parts from a different manufacturer? Going to be there in the near future and have enough gray hair already!

renrag · Jan 13, 2018

Jedhead said:
Quick question,looks like a great job putting it all together, but if you had to do it over again would you use body parts from a different manufacturer? Going to be there in the near future and have enough gray hair already!

Uh, I started to go gray in college....

I have never had a Bronco before, but I have had a 1965 Mustang forever, and have done almost this much to a 1967 Mustang Convertible for my brother-in-law. I have also worked on body stuff forever. That said, I have yet to find any reproduction panels I am happy with. I always assume that aftermarket means it will fit after you mark it up and modify it. These panels are Dynacorn mostly. That is all I know. Others will surely know more.

Rustytruck · Jan 15, 2018

Get rid of that 4 blade fan and get a 6 or 7 blade 18" fan. The later model 7 blade factory fans are the best.

renrag · Jan 15, 2018

Rustytruck said:
Get rid of that 4 blade fan and get a 6 or 7 blade 18" fan. The later model 7 blade factory fans are the best.

Yeah, I have a six blade off of my Mustang that is supposed to go on there. I forgot to tell Dad.

Loud thing that it is.

Project for an Iowa winter, '77 Ranger

Jr. Member

Sr. Member

Jr. Member

Attachments

REBEL

Sr. Member

Bronco Guru

Jr. Member

Jr. Member

Jr. Member

Jr. Member

Jr. Member

Jr. Member

Jr. Member

Jr. Member

Jr. Member

Attachments

Jr. Member

Full Member

Jr. Member

Bronco Guru

Jr. Member

Similar threads