Finally got my crewcab!!

[LEB Ben]

I hear ya Scott, I was just giving you chit cuz you always seem to be able to find the good stuff.

 

[Ranger429]

Just a little update with some pics. I can almost feel the cold air....

The donor, not much left of it from this pic.

 

[cipsmithers]

nice. i wish i could have the time, money, and skills to do what you do. (wipes drool from chin)

 

[Jotun]

I just read this whole thread and you are giving me motivation to get started on mine great work I love that gray I might have to steal that idea from you!

 

[Ranger429]

nice. i wish i could have the time, money, and skills to do what you do. (wipes drool from chin)

Thank you.

I just read this whole thread and you are giving me motivation to get started on mine great work I love that gray I might have to steal that idea from you!

Well get to work. No better time than the present to restore a dent.

As far as the crew goes, I got some more done on it and hopefully progress will continue.


I finally got the A/C box mounted. It's getting closer now to where I can start reassembling the interior dash pieces. The A/C box fit perfect.

I also picked up a couple of cans of Dupli Color spray on bed liner. This is not as thick as a conventional liner and it worked perfect for the inner fenders and firewall I plan on using this on the underside of the hood as well. Within 20 minutes of spraying it I was putting the inner fenderwells back on.

Current condition of the inside, alot to be done here yet. Today I ordered the window felt and anti rattler kits from Jeffs. Hopefully by the end of next week the windows will be in and the headliner is up.

I also got the heated rear window installed.

 

[RustyCJ]

I see you still have the antler handles. You know your going to keep them, admit it.

 

[LEB Ben]

Nice work. Now I've always wondered about that rear heated window. How in the hell does that hook up? Does it run in with the defrosters, is it stand alone?

 

[Ranger429]

Antler shifters, I've actually tossed it around on keeping them. I don't think they'll fit my style but if I do decide to stick with the 4 speed I need to find a new shifter handle for the 4 speed box before replacing it. I don't know what the hell he used to install them but I can't get them off short of grinding them off.

Ben it is a stand alone electric setup. It has it's own seperate switch that is identical to the factory fog lamp switch only it is labeled De-Ice. How rare is that !!

 

[73F100Shortbed]

I found one of those switches at pull-a-part once and didn't think to grab it when I noticed that the rear window was missing. I guess I should have gotten the switch though.

 

[kustomizingkid]

FANTASTIC WORK!!!!

Great read, can't wait to see it done.

 

[Ranger429]

Thanks.

I have a 4 speed shifter knob on the way, bye bye antler handles.

I was able to get at it some more.

All the glass except for the windshield is in. I have to put the headliner in first to finish that up. Notice the new F-250 Ranger emblems to. I am going to add the XLT part of it yet, gotta do it right.

Inside rear door panel. A special thanks to ebay, these are very rare!

The dash is complete finally. Everything works right now except for the radio, still have to drill holes in the door and cab for the factory wiring loom. I ripped apart the columns and by the looks of it there is no way to use any automatic tilt parts on a stick column. It looks like I am going to modify an automatic column to look like it is a stick column. Pictures when I get to that point.

Whats left of scrappy. Still have to pull the rear axle and wiring loom and it's off to the junkyard.

 

[Austin]

Looking good! I thought that the XLT was part of the emblem?

 

[73F100Shortbed]

The XLT emblem is a seperate emblem that goes underneath..

That truck looks great! And I'm glad you are getting rid of those antler shift knobs.

 

[LEB Ben]

Coming down the home stretch, ehh Scott? Musta been rough finding and paying for those rear door panels, huh? Anything good left on Scrappy?

Looking good! I thought that the XLT was part of the emblem?

No...it's a little red rectangle that say 'XLT'...completely separate. And I'll defer to Scott, did the originals have pegs on the back or were those stick ons like the ones being reproduced today?

 

[Jolly Green]

No...it's a little red rectangle that say 'XLT'...completely separate. And I'll defer to Scott, did the originals have pegs on the back or were those stick ons like the ones being reproduced today?

I have a couple in my parts stash. If I remember correctly, they have pegs on the back.

Great work, Scott!

 

[Ranger429]

Coming down the home stretch, ehh Scott? Musta been rough finding and paying for those rear door panels, huh? Anything good left on Scrappy?



No...it's a little red rectangle that say 'XLT'...completely separate. And I'll defer to Scott, did the originals have pegs on the back or were those stick ons like the ones being reproduced today?

Scrappy will be picked clean like a chicken bone. There won't be much of anything on it when it goes to the scrap yard.

The OE badges had pegs.

The door panels were up on ebay with a set of front door panels quite a while ago. Hell I owned the panels before I did have a crew. All black XLT stuff, even included the black pull handles for the back door and the taller window crank handles. I got it all for less than 350. I ended up selling the black front door panels on ebay for just about what I had in all of it. I had a mint set of XLT panels in the basement I'm using on this.

Thanks for the compliments guys. I'm getting pretty excited to get behind the wheel and run it down the road.

 

[emeraldcoupe]

man that's looking good! the color is awesome.

 

[bucks77ford]

Just gets better every time. I tell ya, it's one of the best feelings finally getting behind the wheel and driving down the road. Great work!!!

 

[77FordTruckMan]

wow, great job!!

 

[Ranger429]

Thanks guys.


A little more progress. I decided to start on making my own 4 speed tilt column. I want to have a tilt column and still run the 4 speed so I am modifying an automatic tilt column to make it look like a manual tilt column. None of the guts from an auto tilt will work together with a 4 speed non tilt.

So here it is. 1st thing I had to do was get rid of the gear selector. Thought it was going to be tough but it actually went pretty smooth and turned out decent.

Next up was to spray a little paint around the exposed tilt flange. There is a small section that is seen once the column is reassembled.

Next thing to do was grind off the stub for the shifter handle. I didn't know prior to this that the column flange was aluminum. I originally thought I'd just grind it off and weld the hole shut, not so. I'm trying to get it done with fiberglass and if that don't work then I'll take it to a local shop that can weld it up for me. There is also the spot on the top of the flange where the selector tab is that needs to be closed up.

And the last thing that needs to be done is a little patch work on the tube. The wide gap is what allows the flange to rotate when selecting a gear. I plan on closing it down to my chalk line so there will be no rotation of the flange once assembled.

More to come as I finish it up.