1969 Ranger - Project Glory Days!

[67mann]

Everythings lookin great Tyler Although I gotta say......Gettin real jealous of that shop of yours Now that I'm at the point of needing to finish cab and start mocking up engine compartment.......my shop lacks a little

[tylerb43]

Thank you sir! And don't sell yourself short - you've done a hellava lotta work in that small shop!!

I do love my shop, it's a total disaster at the moment, but I'm hoping once I get the truck to the "reassembly" stage, I can take some time to clean it up a bit!

I finally got the cab wrapped in epoxy primer! All the bare metal areas I blasted, and the top and back of the cab I hit with 180 on the DA. When I had everything smooth and ready, I wiped it all down with Summit's surface wash using a Sure Shot pressurized sprayer. It's the first time I've used a Sure Shot, and I gotta say, that thing is pretty slick!



Anyway, I got it all sprayed (HVLP) with two coats on the bare metal areas and one coat on the top and back of the cab. Turned out pretty well!

[67nukeford]

Tyler, cab looks great! Had to google that sprayer to see what it was. That's pretty cool!

[tylerb43]

Thanks Pat!

I haven't gotten much done on the truck this week. Watching the Cards win the World Series is taking up a lot of time! I'm going to Game 7 tonight, so that's taking priority over the truck once again - GO CARDS!!

I did get a couple guys to help position the cab on the tall dolly I built, so next thing to tackle is the cab corners and the PS A-pillar repair. It rolls around great! I'm going to bolt the rear cab mounts to the dolly to keep it stable while I'm working.



I was thinking - when I was planning this rebuild, I read countless threads on here, watching guys work on and restore their trucks. It was great for planning and motivation. But several times, I thought "okay, that's great, but what products did they use to do that?" Because for someone like me doing a project this huge, you've always worried that you may be using the wrong product at the wrong time, etc...and the number of choices from suppliers can be very intimidating. So anyway, I took a picture of my workbench with some of my all-star products I'm using - thought it may help someone.

[67nukeford]

Tyler, enjoy the game! Hey, how high, total is your cab and dolly together? I'm going to have to do something similar, but I need to make sure I have enough room.

[tylerb43]

Hey man, I forgot to measure it for you last night, I'll get that number tonight for sure. I'm guessing it's around 6'6"??

Game 7 was absolutely amazing by the way!! What an unforgettable experience! (Sorry Ranger fans)

[67nukeford]

No sweat Tyler! Yeah, I was glad to see them beat Texas! I'm thinking that would be the way to go, the dolly you've built there. I may have to shamelessly copy your design!

[67mann]

Game 7 was absolutely amazing by the way!! What an unforgettable experience! (Sorry Ranger fans)

Would love to be the guy(in Sept.)that put 250$ on them making the series and another250$ on them winning it. Made the bet in Vegas and had allready cashed in for 125,000 on the first bet while the series was going.....stood to win another 250,000 on the second bet

[tylerb43]

Jerry - Wow! That's crazy, but definitely a "woulda-coulda-shoulda" situation. And that kind of money would definitely speed up our projects, right? I'd probably drop it off at a shop and take a long vacation!

Pat - There's no shame in copying my design! I'm flattered! I measured the height of the cab last night and I was pretty close - it's 6'8". The dolly is 24" tall in front, with 4.5" casters, so the front mounts are 28.5" off the floor. The rear is taller to keep the cab level. I forget what that number is right now, (4"??) but I just measured the height difference in the mounts on the chassis to find it. It's about $12 in lumber and the casters are from a Craftsmen toolbox that I ended up mounting to a wall, so they were kinda free. It's easy to overbuild a dolly, but keep in mind that this tool has a specific purpose and a very limited life, (I hope) although I may lower the rear mounts and use it for a bed dolly too when I get to that point! (I have big plans for the bed)

[67nukeford]

That is about perfect, so I can still get in and out of the garage if I need to. Besides, the one I'm using now takes up too much frickin' room!! What are you doing to the bed? I'm going to fill the seams on mine, since I'm a glutton for punishment!!

[resurrected]

Your project has given me more confidence in the cab repairs i need to do to my replacement cab. Looks good.

[tylerb43]

Your project has given me more confidence in the cab repairs i need to do to my replacement cab. Looks good.

Thank you sir! I was overwhelmed with the cab repairs when I started too, and I'm not finished yet, but it's getting there! Once you jump in, just keep plugging away. Sometimes it's tough to find the motivation to keep going back at it, but I just keep thinking of the day I'll turn the key for the first time in 15 years!

What are you doing to the bed? I'm going to fill the seams on mine, since I'm a glutton for punishment!!

Right now I plan on replacing the rusty, wavy floor with a wood floor. I'll also replace the wheel wells since they're beat to crap too, how's that for glutton for punishment?!

[67nukeford]

I guess that makes us both crazy!! I like the wood floor idea! I have to patch a peice in the bed floor, but I grabbed a big chunk of the bedfloor from my old bed to do it with.

[resurrected]

I'm planning on doing the same. A wood floor in the bed of mine once i get to repairing the bed on it.

[tylerb43]

I got the inner cab corners finished! I was thinking I was going to have to fabricate my own, but then I found a fellow member in the parts for sale section who did me the huge favor of cutting them (and the PS a-pillar piece I needed) out of his cab that was about to go to the scrap yard. They needed a little bit of work, the PS need a patch panel and the DS just had a few plugs welded into it, but something is better than nothing, which is what I had.

Driver's side after I cut off all the extras it came with - not too bad!



Passenger side - this one needed a patch, so I just hammered the ribs flat so the patch could be a flat piece.



There was a small rust hole in the cab support channel that needed a little help too.



New (sort of) panel clamped in place



Woo hoo! I have solid inner cab corners!



Now...about those outer corners...