Sparky
06-04-2007, 12:54 AM
A little over four years ago I inherited this 87 Ranger from my dad when he moved to Florida. I had painted it for him a couple years prior, so he could flip it and make a little cash. All I can say is his biggest mistake was putting a 74 Mustang II 2.8 V6 in it with a 4 speed. I tried to get him to put a V8 in it but he took the cheap way out. Long story short, he couldn't sell it for near what he had in it. He almost sold it, but the dude who bought it, bought it for one of his employees to use as a company vehicle. Well......turns out he didn't test fit his employee to the truck, because apparently he was too fat to tuck under the steering wheel. So, dad had to take it back. Time ran out and he figured if he was going to have to give it away, he might as well give it to me. So, my origional goal was to scrap the shitbox V6 and do a simple V8 swap to show him how right I was. So......want to hear what my biggest mistake was? ME thinking I could ever do something my way and do it cheap!
Back in November 03, I came across a dude who offered to do a fuel injected 5.0 swap for me for 1500 bucks excluding parts. At the time I was doing alot of side work (and I still am), so I figured it would be money well spent, and I would get a jumpstart on recooperating the money it would take to complete it. Well, the bottom dropped out on a couple things and the ranger took a backseat for me, and for the guy who was doing the swap. I would go months and never hear anything from him. So, eventually I would call and he would have to wait a second to even remember who I was. I would ask how it was coming and if he needed any parts or money, only to hear "nah, I don't need anything".......and every time I would reply "ok well, you have my number right? Ok, just give me a call when you do"
Two years had passed and I was finally in a position where I could facilitate the job myself. So, in september of '05 I tracked him down to find out how far he had gotten, and how much more he needed to get it where I wanted it. The main thing you have to understand, is all I really wanted him to do was mount the engine, wire it and plumb it to where it would at least fire. From there I would pay him, take it home, and disassemble it for paint and finish the job myself. 2 years and 1000 dollars later, about the only thing I had paid for was storage. When I picked the truck up, the paint was oxidized, the bed was full of trash and moss, and the engine was sitting in its mounts in long block form with the plugs out of it. At this point what the hell do you do? He had switched shops twice, half the parts were at his shop, the other half at his home. It took 2 trips to get everything. My wiring harness had been sitting on his back porch for 2 winters out in the open. He couldn't remember where my transmission was. I kept my cool though. I got everything back, paid him, and never said a word. The reason I don't mention his name, is because he is held in high regard by his peers and from what I have heard, a phenom/genius with the vehicles he specializes in. So, I figured I would just end up sounding like an asshole for saying anything. And besides, a thousand bux was absolute chump change compared to the stuff he works on regularly. But then again, he's the one who quoted the number, not me. All he had to say was he bit off more than he wanted at that price.
Anyhoo, all that stuff is over. I have put that behind me and I suceeded in my first computer cotrolled engine swap. As of the winter of 06, the ranger was in running/driving condition. It sat all winter in storage while I plotted its final phase of completion. I had only intended to do a scuff and shoot in the spring, intime for the Spring Swap in April. I figured a shiny new black paint job on a 5.0 ranger would sell for a decent price. I procrastinated too long ,and enede up just buffing the old paint back up. It looked pretty sweet except for a couple of little rust bubbles. The only thing I didn't really like about the truck was its driveline noise. It had a slight hum to it when you would hit highway speed. I figured I could remedy the problem with a new tranny crossmember, because the tailshaft was sitting a little off center. After doing some strenuous measuring I found that the whole engine was sitting crooked . This pissed me off. It totally changed my attitude towards things and those old grievences I had came back. I started getting insecure about the whole look of the truck and decided to say f*ck it. The opening day of the swap meet I tore the whole truck down to the frame. Since I have to re-do EVERYTHING HE DID now, I may as well go full tilt boogie and make it look like everything has been done by ME!
So, as of right now, its at work getting completely stripped of all its nasty old undercoating,rust,and grease. I'm re-routing all the wiring, customizing this, filling that.....there's no stopping me now. When its done its gonna look like a brand new truck and its gonna be done right.
Back in November 03, I came across a dude who offered to do a fuel injected 5.0 swap for me for 1500 bucks excluding parts. At the time I was doing alot of side work (and I still am), so I figured it would be money well spent, and I would get a jumpstart on recooperating the money it would take to complete it. Well, the bottom dropped out on a couple things and the ranger took a backseat for me, and for the guy who was doing the swap. I would go months and never hear anything from him. So, eventually I would call and he would have to wait a second to even remember who I was. I would ask how it was coming and if he needed any parts or money, only to hear "nah, I don't need anything".......and every time I would reply "ok well, you have my number right? Ok, just give me a call when you do"
Two years had passed and I was finally in a position where I could facilitate the job myself. So, in september of '05 I tracked him down to find out how far he had gotten, and how much more he needed to get it where I wanted it. The main thing you have to understand, is all I really wanted him to do was mount the engine, wire it and plumb it to where it would at least fire. From there I would pay him, take it home, and disassemble it for paint and finish the job myself. 2 years and 1000 dollars later, about the only thing I had paid for was storage. When I picked the truck up, the paint was oxidized, the bed was full of trash and moss, and the engine was sitting in its mounts in long block form with the plugs out of it. At this point what the hell do you do? He had switched shops twice, half the parts were at his shop, the other half at his home. It took 2 trips to get everything. My wiring harness had been sitting on his back porch for 2 winters out in the open. He couldn't remember where my transmission was. I kept my cool though. I got everything back, paid him, and never said a word. The reason I don't mention his name, is because he is held in high regard by his peers and from what I have heard, a phenom/genius with the vehicles he specializes in. So, I figured I would just end up sounding like an asshole for saying anything. And besides, a thousand bux was absolute chump change compared to the stuff he works on regularly. But then again, he's the one who quoted the number, not me. All he had to say was he bit off more than he wanted at that price.
Anyhoo, all that stuff is over. I have put that behind me and I suceeded in my first computer cotrolled engine swap. As of the winter of 06, the ranger was in running/driving condition. It sat all winter in storage while I plotted its final phase of completion. I had only intended to do a scuff and shoot in the spring, intime for the Spring Swap in April. I figured a shiny new black paint job on a 5.0 ranger would sell for a decent price. I procrastinated too long ,and enede up just buffing the old paint back up. It looked pretty sweet except for a couple of little rust bubbles. The only thing I didn't really like about the truck was its driveline noise. It had a slight hum to it when you would hit highway speed. I figured I could remedy the problem with a new tranny crossmember, because the tailshaft was sitting a little off center. After doing some strenuous measuring I found that the whole engine was sitting crooked . This pissed me off. It totally changed my attitude towards things and those old grievences I had came back. I started getting insecure about the whole look of the truck and decided to say f*ck it. The opening day of the swap meet I tore the whole truck down to the frame. Since I have to re-do EVERYTHING HE DID now, I may as well go full tilt boogie and make it look like everything has been done by ME!
So, as of right now, its at work getting completely stripped of all its nasty old undercoating,rust,and grease. I'm re-routing all the wiring, customizing this, filling that.....there's no stopping me now. When its done its gonna look like a brand new truck and its gonna be done right.