1969 Ranger - Project Glory Days!

[sargentrs]

Looking good Tyler! Keep the pics of that a/c install coming. I'll be doing that myself in about a year Thanks!

[Manny]

I'll be doing that myself in about a year

I have said that before.........

[tybob81]

Looking good man!!

[67nukeford]

Tyler, I'm completely jealous!! Truck is coming along fantastic! Unfortunately, I'm on hold, we have the house up for sale, and the cab had to go into storage. Hopefully we can sell quick, and get the house we're hoping for!

So, in the mean time, I'm going to live vicariously through you, man!!LOL

[sargentrs]

I'll be doing that myself in about a year

I have said that before.........

I should have added......I hope....

[FoPAR]

There was a lot of "that looks about right" engineering going on here.

Great job, and man I have said that more times than I can count with my project. "that looks about right" I just hope I can tell when it doesn't look right with mine

keep it up.

[tylerb43]

I just hope I can tell when it doesn't look right with mine

That's what this board is for, man. We'll tell you when something doesn't look right, and I hope you'll return the favor!

And Pat, don't sweat your project being on hold, it's still on the schedule and that's the important thing, you'll get there!

Update - I've been fixing up a few things here and there, doing body work on my fenders, and mocking up my new wire harness and A/C system. I hope to have the fenders ready to go to paint with the cab sometime next week, but I wanted to have an Evaporator fitted up under the dash before then. I know I'll have to fab some mounts and cut the holes for the bulkhead fitting, and I'd rather do that without worring about scratching new paint.

So I decided on the Vintage Air Gen II Mini evaporator. I was thinking between their "Compac" unit and Classic Auto Air's Street Rod II Cooler, but I wasn't sure if either would get the right fit I'm going for. Then I ran across an article in Classic Trucks from December 2009, where they mounted a Gen II Mini into a 68 F100 (Bumpside Build-up), he said he tried the Compac unit and it was a "no go", so that pretty much made my decision, pointing me toward the Mini. At first I liked the cable control option of the CAA unit, but then I realized that the function labels on the panel wouldn't line up right, which I decided I wasn't fond of. Yes, they have an electric version, but it's quite a bit more money, and I've gotta draw the line somewhere, although they may have the better system. (dual coil) Plus - I had no idea how well either CAA's units would fit. (I made a cardboard mockup and it was pretty tight)

So with all that in mind, I pulled the trigger on the Vintage Air unit, ordered it from Summit Racing last night at 9:30, got a shipping notification this morning at 4:30am, and it should be here tomorrow by 3:30pm. Holy crap! Why can't every supplier be like that? Just another reason I love dealing with Summit.

Wow, I think that's the most I've ever written in one post!

[67nukeford]

Tyler, I'm going to be watching your AC setup closely. With me switching to the 79 dash, I was thinking of just going with the 79 AC unit. It would be nice to have something that's not so bulky. Take lots of pics for us, bud, and thanks!!

[bluemoose]

Nice Work.

[tylerb43]

Nice Work.

Thanks, man!

I got the Vintage Air unit mounted under the dash where I want it. I was able to position it so there was room to use a DS cowl vent on the passenger side, so I can still get fresh air if I need it. This will of course require 2 additional screw holes. The front, RH mounting bracket that comes with the Mini had to be modified for the angle of the firewall. (compare the 1st pic to the 3rd) I just cut, bent, and re-welded. I also fabbed up a little "T" stud, which I riveted to the firewall (really the cowl). I didn't want screw tails sticking through here, since it's so low in the cowl trough, so I used aluminum rivets, and a nut secures the unit. For the front LH mount, I used the strap mount that came with it. And the aft mount (single) I cut and bent the strap they sent and mounted to the lower dash rail with a 1/4" bolt. I'll probably remake this bracket later with something stronger and looks better, but this will do for a mock install.

I connected the vent and defrost hoses just to see what kind of space issues I'll be facing during the final installation, and to see if I could have any glove box at all. I think I can make a sheet metal glove box that'll have about 2.5"-3" depth at the bottom. That's not much, but hey- it's something. I could've mounted the unit a little lower and more forward, giving me more room for the g-box, but I decided that maximum foot room is more important than glove box space.

I know these pictures aren't the best, I'll get some better ones later, but I snapped a few to show you guys and get your thoughts.

Vintage Air Gen II Mini (66005-VUZ-A - Heat, Cool & Defrost)

[FormerMarine1981]

Looks good to me. Might want to check to make sure water won't pass through the riveted area just to be safe.

[67nukeford]

Very cool Tyler, keep the pics coming!!

[sargentrs]

Nice, clean install. Good work!

[tylerb43]

Thanks, Randy!

Just to let you guys know, I'm not sitting around eating bon-bons, here's a couple shots of the hood and the door I'm working on at the moment. I picked these parts (along with the other door) up from the acid dippers last weekend.

I also added about another 2 hours onto the trip and met a fellow member! (tybob81) I bought a lower valance from him, and looked over his super clean crew cab project he's about to start. Thanks, Man! It was very nice to meet you, and I can't wait to see some progress on that crew!

Both of my doors have some rust issues at the corners that need to be addressed. I'll be cutting and welding in new patch panels here. I bought the tall door skin section from DC to use for patches, as I wasn't crazy about trying to fab something to match the radius on the lower line.

My hood is off of a 71 model (a parts truck my brother had back when I built this truck the first time - 1992) So it had the trim holes across the front. So I did have the trimmed 71 hood with the 69 grille, but this time around I'm going to go correct, which is trim-less with 69 letters, so I welded all the holes closed using my custom made copper spoon as a backer. (1/2" pipe hammered flat on one end - works like a charm)

Just thought of something - I know the FORD letter styles are different from 69 to 71, but the hole patterns are the same, right?

[tybob81]

I was nice meeting you and your buddy. If I was thinking I would have drove my 68 to the shop to show you how I did the wood floor conversion. I will finally get to drop off my crew cabs at Milstadt early next week!