1969 Ranger - Project Glory Days!

[71cc]

Your brackets are right. Just remember the tailgate will cover up half the gap. Mine measures 1-1/4 but you can slightly tilt the bumper up or down, and the bed location could shift that dimension also. I would not advise moving it, the ends are precariously close to the bed corners right ? My solution was to take a plastic filler panel from a square body suburban and attach to the rear of the bed cross rail. It will cover the gap and brackets from view and tucks under the bumper. Just trim the ends a little and it bolts right on. You need some flex agent if you paint it . Before you drill the other holes, make sure the tailgate does not rest on the bumper when let down !

Like the seat, it should smooth out in time. What brand and type is it ? How is the quality ?

[Coupe5oh]

Hey- gonna head your way Saturday for a cruise at Modern Auto in Washington. Wondering how the truck is coming along?

[tylerb43]

Dude, I so wanna go to that. They always have a great turn-out, great food, and environment. But we'll be floating the Meramec this weekend, so I'm going to have to miss this year. Disappointing that I'll miss meeting you and seeing your truck in person!

The truck has had a slow summer. I've been working out of town for most of the last couple of months, meaning my weekends are filled with house-stuff, and not fun shop stuff. (booo)

I did have an engine concern recently. I have very high oil pressure (125psi at cold start-up), and it scared me. I'm using the 428 Cobra Jet spec oil pump (so says the engine builder), which Melling says have a bypass of 120psi. Anyway, I'm told it's nothing to worry about cold, just get it on the road and warm and see how it acts then. But just to be safe I disassembled the rocker assembly, had them boil it all out again, polish the shafts, etc, just to be sure I didn't have any debris in the upper end creating a restriction. They said it was clean, but it's super clean now. Aren't you glad you don't have to worry about crap like that, Coupe5oh? LOL. Anyway, I've got my cabinet maker friend starting on the bed wood soon. I want to get that in there before it's first road test, just for added rigidity in the bed.

So - more slow progress from me. I know, I know, I'm a big disappointment to all you guys on here, But hey, we have had 2 kids during this project, so yeah, that makes things kinda tough all around,

[Coupe5oh]

No prob. I usually miss it too, it always falls on the weekend of the shootout at the lake. I have a good friend that works there and I promised I'd make it this year. Hot blacktop sounds so much more inviting than the lake ( or river in your case) .

I do like the 4.6 in mine, but know all about the old school fun. The 360 in the truck I drove in high school had a bypass that would stick in the oil pump occasionally. If you didn't catch it on the guage it would blow the filter apart at the crimp. It did that a few times before I had a chance to change it. Ha. I don't blame you for being extra careful, especially w a brand new motor.

I totally understand... Took me what seemed like forever. Will be watching for an update.

[67mann]

look's like your a couple pages away from driving into the sunset Nice job on everything Tyler can't wait to see finished Bed

[Cipher43]

The truck has had a slow summer. I've been working out of town for most of the last couple of months, meaning my weekends are filled with house-stuff, and not fun shop stuff. (booo)


So - more slow progress from me. I know, I know, I'm a big disappointment to all you guys on here, But hey, we have had 2 kids during this project, so yeah, that makes things kinda tough all around,

I feel ya Tyler. I have had my front clip up here since the first week of July and still haven't touched it because of other projects ...... slow progress is better than no progress

[tylerb43]

Thanks guys!

I often run into friends and family that say "Hey man, how are ya? How's the truck coming along?" Old friends remember the truck from High School days, and everyone knows I've been working on it for quite awhile. I've decided that I enjoy the process of building the truck a lot, meaning I stopped putting deadlines on myself. I'm not just restoring one, I'm making it mine. I'm coming up with crazy ideas and seeing if they work, or identifying design issues and finding solutions for them. That's pretty satisfying to me. I'm sure as soon as this truck is finished, I'll start to tinker around on one of my other projects. Which is good, because I have a few..

Anyway, I want to show you guys my latest little project on the truck. I really hate seeing $80K show cars with $2 round indicator lights for the turn signals on the dash. So, I designed these little light buckets to accept a twist lock base and printed them. Then I grabbed a cluster from the salvage yard (old taurus I think), and cut out the high beam and turn signal arrows. Using green and blue led bulbs, I put it all together and boom - looks pretty cool I think!

[SATURN5]

Nice.

3D printers are great for stuff like this.

[67nukeford]

Tyler, those lights are awesome! You should think about marketing those, you sell a bunch just to us!!LOL

[Heirloom]

Wow. That's just....wow.

[Ranchero50]

That turned out really nice. I did something similar to a friends '88 Turbocoupe years ago. I cut the original cluster apart and siliconed the different indicators and lamps to the back of the aluminum panel I mounted his gauges to. I used a step bit on the front to drill the holes and give them a 'profile'.

[emeraldcoupe]

nice build, looks GREAT!

[tylerb43]

Hey guys! Just thought I'd drop in and show a few pictures of my bed floor that I final installed yesterday. It's looking really nice, and I'm extremely happy with it. No, I can't haul mulch, but she sure is pretty! This is custom machined hard maple (started with 5/4), and trimmed with polished stainless strips from Mar-K in Oklahoma. I went the hidden fastener strip for a streamlined look. It's hard to tell in the pics, but the top surface of the boards is flush with the metal floor. Also, I finally got my rear bumper installed, and sucked it in as close as possible to the body, I think it looks a little better that way.

[Calfdemon]

Gorgeous!!

[sargentrs]

Wow! She looks beautiful, Tyler!