1972 Ranger SWB Build

tbrown1986 · Post by **tbrown1986** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 12:13 pm

This will be the largest project I've attempted. I bought a 1972 Ranger with a 390 and a C6. The truck has a couple inches of paint on it and looks way better in the pictures. I'm a fan of the "shop truck" look so I won't be spending any money on the exterior paint. My goal is to build a reliable, cool looking daily/ weekly driver.

I have given myself a budget of $5k. That includes the price of the truck. From the project threads I read it seems like everyone gets carried away with their builds and their budget goes out the window. I'm not promising that I can stay that low, although that's what I promised my wife, but I can I can finish pretty close to that. I'm going to sell the parts that aren't needed and use that money to buy the parts that are needed.

The truck is in decent shape as far as rust is considerned. It's got a rotten drivers cab mount and front fender. The passenger cab mount isn't bad but I'll replace it anyway.

I'm doing most of the work at a friends garage since he has a plasma cutter and a nice welder. Once all the fabrication work is done I'll bring it back to my garage to finish it up. I also forgot to mention that I'm trying to make a deadline of June 1, 2017 because I want to drive it up to Kansas City to see the Hot Rod Power Tour kick off!!!

tbrown1986 · Post by **tbrown1986** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 12:19 pm

tbrown1986 · Post by **tbrown1986** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 12:22 pm

This is bringing her home. I found the truck on Craigslist in Siloam Springs, Ar. It would about 100 miles from me. I paid the man $2500 for it. It wasn't running but had a good title. The cab supports and front fender are gone but it had a good floor and a really good bed! This was on March 14th, 2017.

tbrown1986 · Post by **tbrown1986** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 12:26 pm

My next find was a 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis. I paid $700 for it when I went to Springfield, Mo and grabbed it. I had found some ads for the Crown Victoria front end. It but they were almost as much as this whole running and driving car. I loaded it on the trailer and hauled it. Ack home. Initially I wanted to swap my truck body into this frame then after some research learned I'd lose my bed space. Then I thought I'd just swap the motor and transmission. After some more research I learned that it was a wiring nightmare.

She's got 177k on the clock. It ran and drove great. Is kind of a shame that it's going to be cut up and parted out! Oh well!

tbrown1986 · Post by **tbrown1986** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 12:29 pm

Got the bed off so I could have easier access to the rear end. I found a 8.8" out of a 99 Ford Explorer. I'm going to flip it on the axle so we can get the truck closer to Mother Earth!

Bullitt74 · Post by **Bullitt74** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 4:26 pm

Looks to be an excellent starting point you picked up! Interesting, as it has the '69 Ranger grill which is actually my favorite. I will be following your thread!

Monkey-1 · Post by **Monkey-1** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 8:12 pm

Great looking start. Can't wait to see more progress.

tbrown1986 · Post by **tbrown1986** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 8:14 pm

Bullitt74 wrote:Looks to be an excellent starting point you picked up! Interesting, as it has the '69 Ranger grill which is actually my favorite. I will be following your thread!

Thanks! It looks a lot better in the pictures!

tbrown1986 · Post by **tbrown1986** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 8:15 pm

Monkey-1 wrote:Great looking start. Can't wait to see more progress.

I've been working on it part time for a couple weeks. I've got my pictures of the progress but I can't get photo bucket to work right now!

Lone Ranger · Post by **Lone Ranger** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 8:48 pm

Wow that truck is a beauty! I tried talking the wife into getting a 2wd SWB just like that but she thinks one is enough haha. Excited to watch your build good luck. Can we see interior pics when you get it working?

tbrown1986 · Post by **tbrown1986** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 9:13 pm

Lone Ranger wrote:Wow that truck is a beauty! I tried talking the wife into getting a 2wd SWB just like that but she thinks one is enough haha. Excited to watch your build good luck. Can we see interior pics when you get it working?

Thanks but I'm telling you that it's not that slick! The interior is in sad, sad shape. It's now torn apart. Early last week I got the suspension out of the Mercury. Yesterday we got the front suspension off the truck.

Tonight I got the new front end mocked up. I can't decide where to put the locating pin. There are two holes in the frame. I've searched on the interweb and have found conflicting images.

Can anyone let me know where the bottom location pins are in your truck ?

IN2FORD · Post by **IN2FORD** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 10:06 pm

I like what you are starting with. Good find on the Merc too. As far as cab mounts make sure you get the ones from Dennis Carpenter. Don't do the stamped mounts. They will crack. As far as frontend info, get on Facebook. There is a Crown Vic Subframe swap face book page and also look up Fixem Your Way 67-72 F100. Another good place for questions and info. Also I understand a budget. Mine went out the window...so I picked up a second job. that way I don't mess with the family funds. I have always wheeled and dealed on the side for play money as well. Hit local junkyards, pull F100 parts and sell them. Good way to learn about your truck and make some truck money.

Barry

1guydude · Post by **1guydude** » Tue Apr 04, 2017 9:20 am

Go go go. Good job. Making fwd progress is half the battle.
We are all just excited to see another old truck get some love. Believe me. Urs is nicer than mine.

Budget? We were supposed to have budgets?
Lol. I paid $1500 for my junk truck and sadly im probably that into it.
D

tbrown1986 · Post by **tbrown1986** » Tue Apr 04, 2017 3:16 pm

IN2FORD wrote:I like what you are starting with. Good find on the Merc too. As far as cab mounts make sure you get the ones from Dennis Carpenter. Don't do the stamped mounts. They will crack. As far as frontend info, get on Facebook. There is a Crown Vic Subframe swap face book page and also look up Fixem Your Way 67-72 F100. Another good place for questions and info. Also I understand a budget. Mine went out the window...so I picked up a second job. that way I don't mess with the family funds. I have always wheeled and dealed on the side for play money as well. Hit local junkyards, pull F100 parts and sell them. Good way to learn about your truck and make some truck money.

Barry

I appreciate the tips! I'm sure I'll be talking to you a lot about this little project.

tbrown1986 · Post by **tbrown1986** » Tue Apr 04, 2017 3:17 pm

1guydude wrote:Go go go. Good job. Making fwd progress is half the battle.
We are all just excited to see another old truck get some love. Believe me. Urs is nicer than mine.

Budget? We were supposed to have budgets?
Lol. I paid $1500 for my junk truck and sadly im probably that into it.
D

I knew if I didn't put some kind of limit on my money it would get out of control and fast!!

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