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Placing a Fiberglass Body on a Truck Chassis?

15K views 44 replies 10 participants last post by  Deuce Coupe 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi, I'm thinking about building a 30ish Deuce Coupe. I live in Pennsylvania and so because of the laws here this "rod" is going to need to look fairly stock in many ways. For example, it will need to have an enclosed engine, and fenders, etc.

I would like it to look something like the following when its done:



I'm on a very limited budget. But I have plenty of time and I can do just about any type of mechanical and body work, including the paint.

Because of the limited budget I've been thinking about starting out with a small truck chassis. Like maybe a Chevy S-10, or Ford Ranger, or a Toyota, or even a Jeep or Bronco chassis.

I can probably pick up a complete running truck fairly inexpensively. I'm hoping they have a frame under them after the body has been removed?

I'm not even sure about that and this is one reason for this post. I'd like some advice on what the best small truck and year would be to get.

I'm also open to using a car, but I'm thinking that most cars are unibody and don't have a frame that the body can be removed from.

My plan is that once I have a running chassis with the body removed, I can then move on to fabricating a 30ish Deuce Coupe body to fit the frame. I've recently learned some fiberglass techniques and I feel that fabricating a body from scratch is within my reach.

Because I live in PA, and I can't be showing off the engine, etc, anyway, that will all be covered. I'm not really concerned about performance at all. I'm going purely for looks.

I just want a pretty Deuce Coupe, that I can build within my budget. And this plan appears to put the project within my reach. There's no rush to get it done. So if it takes me a few years to build this thing that's fine.

~~~~

My Questions:

What is a good chassis to start out with?

I'd like something that is easy to work on, and was fairly popular so I can obtain parts easily. I'm thinking a small truck chassis as I mentioned above, but I'm open to other options.

Has anyone else built a hot rod by placing a fabricated body on an existing chassis like I'm proposing?

And finally, has anyone else fabricated their own fiberglass hot rod body from scratch?

Thanks for reading about my proposed project. I look forward to hearing your suggestions and advice.
 
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#3 ·
Personally, I think you would have a hard time beating one of these.

'33 Hot Rod - Factory Five RacingFactory Five Racing

They are popular, tried, and proven but yours would be unique. My friend did the bodies on 3 of them in the work stall next to mine but I am not advertising just advising here. Same guy did couple of the Cobra look-alikes in the same place, too. Anyway if you had a stage 1 kit, your dream would be reality very quickly by comparison to the rough plan you laid out. You would also have a LOT better idea of your total cost at the beginning.

I don't know what the traditional rodders here think about these cars other than most probably like the look in some configuration or another.
 
#4 ·
Personally, I think you would have a hard time beating one of these.
I agree complete if we're talking about using all new parts. Those kits look like a really good deal. But that's actually more than I have in mind to spend.

What I am hoping to build should cost less than half of one of those Stage-1 kits. I feel pretty confident that I can build what I have in mind for under $5000 total.

What I have in mind won't be all new parts. It will basically just be a hot rod body sitting on a refurbished (not completely rebuilt) truck chassis.

My finished project won't be nearly as nice as the kits you have pointed to. But it will be a lot easier on my wallet. :D
 
#5 ·
Dare to dream grasshopper, dare to dream!!!

Anything is possible!!
You need to go junk yard shopping.
Look under all vehicles you suspect have a frame and are short in wheelbase and narrow of width.
S10 Chevy's or Ford Rangers might fit the bill.
Once you've found a likely candidate then go shopping on craigslist to find a complete running one.
They can be had for 500 bucks.
Before the junkyard trip you could search on wiki for likely trucks. The track and wheelbase will be listed there too.
 
#8 ·
Dare to dream grasshopper, dare to dream!!!
Once you've found a likely candidate then go shopping on craigslist to find a complete running one.
They can be had for 500 bucks.
I just looked, there's actually quite a few around that price in my area, and one for only $400. It doesn't look too bad either. It's running and ready to drive away.
 
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#6 ·
Would be better to get it registered as a kit or older car so that you wont need to go thru emissions or have air bags.
Actually I could do that anyway, even if I use a truck chassis as a basis. I was also thinking of possibly registering it as a 1930 Ford. Exactly how I'll go about registering it is yet to be determined. If I built my own frame from scratch, how do I register that? It wouldn't be a "kit" or a rebuilt chassis, instead it would be a brand new home-built car. I could probably register it like that even if I started with a chassis from an existing vehicle. I do intend on stripping this chassis down completely bare and reassembling everything once piece at a time. It's just that if I start with a chassis that was already running I'll know that all the parts will just bolt back on again.

If I wanted to get quick and dirty I could just take the truck body off, clean the chassis as is, just replace what's needed, and go from there. If I do it that way the chassis itself won't take much time to prepare at all. It won't be as clean of a build, but it will be a whole lot quicker.

If you want to keep cost down and got the time why not build a chassis from scratch.
I'm not convinced that this would keep the cost down. What would I do for all the rest of the chassis parts? If I had to buy everything new you'd be talking tons of money.

One problem you will see about the truck chassis is that car in the picture is very low to the ground. Most truck chassis wont let you get it that low without major mods. In that case might as well just start from scratch.
I don't know about that. I've seen some Ford Rangers sitting pretty low to the ground:

Here's an example:

 
#7 ·
Welcome to the forum......I have always had about the same attitude toward this as you have, it can be done. I think you are on the right track with the s10/Ranger/Toyota idea. It will take some looking around and research.

Have a search on here by projects from the member New Interiors.......He builds a lot from scratch but also did quite a few frame swaps
 
#11 ·
I am building a 27T roadster and from my experience allow 5000 for all the major items. One of the tings that does in your budget is the sundry items such as fasteners and other minor items that one does not think about but needs. Wiring harness comes to mind. Careful buying and sticking to a plan works but then one might find a deal along the way. For example I am running a big block Cad as the Cad came my way for cheap and I used the engine and trans..

Sam
 
#12 ·
You're starting to wibble-wobble grasshopper!!
You've already changed your mind on what to build.
You've got to get a firm plan or it'll all end up a pile in the corner.
You need a 'vision' and stick with it.

And you don't need to build with fibreglass.
Look up building with spray foam on youtube.
 
#14 ·
I'm, a "Bridge Crosser". I am really good at crossing bridges when I get to them. I don't need to have a detailed plan cast in concrete before I set out.

Obviously when I start the actual work on body construction I will need to make a final decision before starting to build the body.

I don't feel that I'm hopping around, although it may appear that way to you. The Deuce Coupe that I first posted was just a random picture I found on a Google search. I'm not looking to duplicate that car precisely. It's just to give an idea of what I would like to end up with.

Actually I do like the pick-up truck better.

By the way I'm actually building a 1:32 scale model of a 1930 Ford Pick Up.



I'd be quite happy having something like this. I've been toying with potentially making a convertible, but I think a hard top would be more practical actually. Especially in Pennsylvania.

The basic idea hasn't changed. It's still just a homemade body being placed on a Ranger Chassis.

It's going to be a long time before I'm ready to start fabrication on the body, so I have plenty of time to make a final decision on that before I begin actual construction.

My current plan right now is to make a decision on the basic chassis. I'm currently looking at the Ford Ranger because I think it might be the most available. I might even be able to obtain a few of them for free in my area. So I'll have plenty of parts to start with.

The first thing on the agenda (after having decided on a chassis and obtaining it) will be to remove the body and start in on restoring the chassis.

I want to have the chassis complete before I even start on the body. This way I'll be able to design the body around an existing chassis and I'll know precisely where all the mounts will be. I can then tailor the body to chassis.

If I start in the front and work my way to the back, I can actually decide on whether I want a "Coupe" rear trunk, or a "Pick-up" bed. That will really be the major difference.

I'm actually drawn to the pick-up bed. :thumbup:

In fact, that's far more practical for me. It will be a more useful vehicle for me with a pick-bed than a mere trunk.

My final decision will be the hardest to make.

What color shall I paint it!

One solid color? Or a two-tone scheme. I love them all.







So many possibilities. I'm going to have a really hard time choosing what color(s) to pain it.

Actually though I do like the maroon of this one:



I think I'd be real happy with the pick-up "rod" above.

If I had to make my choice today I think this would be it.

The orange chopped deuce coupe I posted at the beginning of the thread is really cool. I do like it. But from a practical point of view I think this taller cab pick-up rod would be far more useful.
 
#13 ·
The way it was worded made me wonder if the reason for using an OE chassis mostly as-is was for no welding. Reckon I was way off by saying fiberglass is high.

One of the biggest challenges in forum-ing is indeed having some idea who is asking and what they already know. Been on the other end of that plenty, and you responded gracefully so thanks for that.

I don't have ANY experience doing what you're talking about myself. I started out just wanting to let you know that the sweet little kits are out there. I'd look at the Panther platform hard. But truck is cool too, and probably would be a more forgiving project than a coupe.

Given your background, I would not exclude grafting OE subframes together with fabbed rails. Ths opens up a w i d e range of options, in my mind.

There are definitely better forum members to advise you than me on this subject. Pretty much all of them. But they can be shy when something that sounds improbable without the knowledge comes up. Sure enough... I rattled your cage and info about your ideas and capabilities fell out. Last week here, I had to say the same sentence you did about awareness of a person's capabilities. No worries!

I'll be interested to see where the idea goes. My Dad has a 95 Geo Tracker that I think would be a good candidate for this type of project.

:thumbup:
 
#15 ·
Reckon I was way off by saying fiberglass is high.
Actually you're not off at all considering how you were probably thinking.

You were probably thinking of building a "structurally sound" pure fiberglass body. That probably would get pretty expensive.

And I did say that I was going to build a fiberglass body, so I can't blame you for thinking that I meant it would be 100% fiberglass.

But actually what I have in mind will be a metal skeleton with just a fiberglass skin. Mostly used for cosmetic appearance.

So no, you probably aren't far off in terms of building a stand-alone totally fiberglass body. That would require quite a bit more material than I will be using for this project.
 
#18 ·
You could build a steel cab and doors and bed box then glass the rest. Even just re-skin the Ranger structures. Finding someone to insure it may be another matter.

My fiberglass experience is in bass and sailboat manufacturing and other smaller fabrications. So yes I think of wood-reinforced hulls and such.
 
#19 ·
Personally, I think the Ranger chassis is going to be you worst choice unless it is post-1998, all the earlier ones have that stupid Twin I-beam front suspension that is quite expensive to get a lowering kit for as you can't just lower the stock beams as camber goes all to crap when you do that.

I would use just the S-10 front frame stub from the cab forward, use the S-10 rear axle and springs unless you want a stronger rear, and then build a fresh new tubing rear frame to fit your wheelbase requirements.
 
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#20 ·
I have never seen anyone scratch build a car for 5 grand if you do this you will be a master of cheap builds
I'll accept this award with grace. :D

You may think the t bucket kits are not safe but there not as bad as you may think. The car is solid enough to handle a solid hit and just get pushed out of the way. car will be toast but could save you some heart ache. No reason to think you will be the only one in the car when something happens.

Here check this out they are within your budget and not hard to build also a blast to drive.

Speedway Tribute T-Bucket Kit Car

One of the mods on this site is building one of these from scratch. Nice looking build. Certainly worth a look.
Have you looked at the PDF price sheet for the whole car?

It's actually $14,540.74 with an asterisk*

*Price does NOT include Engine and Accessories, Exhaust, Transmission, Shifter, Driveshaft, Paint, Powercoat, Glass, Battery or Cables.

I'm sure it's a nice kit, but for the $3,999 all you get is the T-bucket, the Frame, and Front Axle assembly.

That's it.

No fenders, no hood, no radiator cowl or grille, no trunk or pick-up bed. No rear axle or suspension.

You've already spent $4000 of my $5000 budget and basically have next to nothing to show for it. Just a fiberglass T-Bucket, a frame, and a front axle.

I mean, hey that's great for someone who wants to go that route. But it's just a bit pricey for me.

Also, you are assuming that the body I build won't be as strong as a kit car. But that's an unwarranted assumption on your part. You're assuming something as though it is a fact, when in truth you have no idea how strong of a body I might build.

But I will take a moment to THANK YOU for bringing up the topic. I confess that you have brought my attention to this and I no doubt will be thinking in terms of including some extra strength that I might not have otherwise bothered with.

Building the body around a roll-cage basis would indeed be a good idea. I actually have a ton of heavy 2" steel gas pipe in the back yard. That stuff is really strong. If I built a roll cage out of that it would be extremely strong. So that might be a good basis for the design.

So your input has been considered. :thumbup:
 
#21 ·
Just for giggles I found a number of S-10 pickups on the local Craigslist and several were under 1500. If you used one of those and maximized the use of the components you could have a decent ride for the 5000 in parts. Another thing going that way is that a fellow does not need to spend the whole budget at one time. I would use the front crossmember and the rear kickup and then make the rails from some square box tubing. As far as caging please get a current rulebook and follow that for any cage as it would be nice to be able to pass tech should you wish to take a pass at the strip..

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/uncivil-t-407226.html

Sam
 
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#23 ·
I drew up my deuce coupe pick-up truck in Sketchup.
Or I guess I should say I downloaded and modified an existing drawing.

Here's some views of it.
With hood on.



With hood off.



Looking down into the interior and bed.



And here's the thing I love about Sketchup. You can take things apart and look at them from any possible angle.

Here are some shots of a fender assembly.




This whole thing is all drawn to scale. So I can actually use this to print out templates. You can also have it call out dimensions very easily.

I would really like to start working on some body parts. The problem is that I'll need to redesign this myself to fit on a Ford Ranger chassis.

So first I'll need to either find a drawing of a Ford Ranger Chassis, or draw up my own. I might need to wait until I actually find a real truck so I can be sure to draw up the right year chassis.
 
#24 ·
Here's some more pictures from Sketchup:

Rearview. Whoever drew this up originally included the dash and instrument panel.




Here's the chassis with just fenders on it.



And here's the chassis without the fenders.



Of course, I'll need to redraw all of this on a Ranger Chassis.

I'm going to look around and see if I can find a drawing of a Ranger Chassis to start with. I don't really feel like having to draw that up from scratch.
 
#25 ·
I spent the better part of two years planning my kit car 41 Willys. Endless spreadsheets included accurate prices for everything. In fact I listed the three best prices, a selected choice, alternate choice based on reputation or personal experience. I even included taxes and shipping or cost of going and picking parts up.

To start you need a good log book to log receipts for every from nuts and bolts up. You will be glad you have it come title time.

Wiring was a very big problem as there is not a lot of room in a Willys (less in an A or 32-34 coupe. There are lots of electrical accessories and some are expensive. I have 6-700 dollars in connectors alone.

I did three wire jobs for customers while I was building the Willys. I estimated these and gave fixed prices. All three came out on target.

Headlights, tail lights, signals, mirrors, bumpers, grill and radiator are all expensive necessities. Junkyard stuff is a real pain to work with.

Seats and upholstery? I bought my own industrial sewing machine and did my own. It still cost several thousand and lots of extra time.

Speaking of time, I also estimated time for installation of parts. Another column was for actual time. Many I hit right on the button, a few were killer misses.

Wheels and tires. I just bought two new front tires, exact replacements for the originals. $350 mounted and balanced. There is at least 1200 in wheels alone on my car.

Now onto the frame. If you use an S10 frame most likely you will be into complete brake job. Then repair of rebuild the front end. The rear end may be ok on width, if not you will need to look for something more suitable. To get the ride height you most likely will have to cut the frame, maybe narrow it, pinch the front. Trying to figure out the alignment after this will be a huge project.
IMHO it will be easier to build a frame for this project since most dimensions are available. Even sculptured rails are available.

I can't imagin building a custom body. The time, effort and cost would be staggering. I have installed a number of funnycar bodies over the years. These are about the cheapest "reproductions you can buy. I think the last one a couple years ago was about 6 grand. Just the shell. It was about 1/8 inch thick most places, no door openings, no hood opening, no trunk opening. It took three months, eight hours a day to complete less paint. No way a street car.

As noted Speedway has about the best deal for what you want for body and frame. As for building your own body....a good friend of mine does this. He has several metal forming machines that will beat any metal into shape. It takes custom dies and forms to do it, plus incredible knowledge.

As for making a fiberglass body...at one point years ago I saw a guy rent a new car and pull a mold off it for the funnycar. This was then cut and modified for the mold. After weeks of building the form they laid up the body. The first several bodies were scrapped for various reasons before a good body was made.

Motor and transmission. You can probably find a reasonable motor and trans for $500 or so. Shifter about $250 new....junkyard ??
Gage's. Junkyard but how about wiring them. You are going to need grounds for fiberglass body that you haven't dreamed of. Everything electrical on the body will require a ground somewhere.

In the end how about looking for a project car already started. You can find really long deals if you shop around.

I hate to paint a bleak picture of kit cars but I've been there more than once. The money pit is deep.
 
#26 ·
In the end how about looking for a project car already started. You can find really long deals if you shop around.
I have been looking. Thus far I haven't found anything inexpensive enough to get me excited. The kits that have been proposed thus far as simply way too expensive for me. That's just a fact of life. I'm not going there.

I realize that what I'm proposing here may seem "impossible" to many people. But I'm confident that I can pull it off, both effectively and within the budget I've already described. So I'm just not going to be convinced by those who don't realize that I can do this.

I didn't start this thread to have people try to talk me out of my plan. :D

I'll tell you what I am willing to do though. I'm willing to call my plan a "dream". And people can just think of this as a "Dream Thread".

How's that? :thumbup:

There's no requirement that anyone needs to take this thread seriously. ;)

If someone doesn't believe I can do this, that's fine.

In the meantime, I'll continue with the "dream", and see where it leads.

~~~~~

The current situation appears to be that I can't do much of anything more until I actually obtain a Ranger Truck. I've been trying to find a frame drawing, but it appears that different year Rangers had different frames. So I won't know what frame to use in my drawings until I actually have a truck "in hand".

So the next step is to purchase the truck. And that's probably going to take some time.

And for those who think I can't do this don't worry about it. The worse case scenario will be that I buy a Ranger Truck, rebuild it, and put the truck body back on, and just have a nice rebuilt Ford Ranger Truck.

I can't go wrong there. ;)

So it's not like I'd be dumping money down a sewer that can't be recovered.

It's going to take me a very long time to build the rod body anyway, so I may very well put the truck body back on and drive the truck whilst I build the rod body. I just need to get the frame dimensions so I know how to design the rod body.

So this is a "win-win" situation. If I lose anything at all, it will just be a loss of time and materials I put into starting to build a rod body. If that proves to be more than I had first imagined, so be it. Personally I think it will actually go pretty well.

I've been watching this guy's videos. He's working with metal. I'll be working with both metal and fiberglass. But I'll probably build the wooden "bucks" like he's building. In fact, once I do that I'll be in a position to make more than one rod if things go well. :thumbup:

Why build such a complicated buck and only use it once? :nono:

Roadster Body Part 1:
 
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#27 ·
I'll keep an eye out for the rust issue. I know that Rangers are known for rusted out frames. They actually sell frame repair kits designed for specific places where the frames are known to rust through. I'm not too concerned about that since I can repair a frame without a kit. I have welding equipment and lots of scrap metal.

also keep in mind as others have said the ranger is not a really good front end unless your buying a later model
Yeah, I recall this being mentioned, but I didn't catch the details. Exactly what is the problem?

I don't know a lot about the Rangers. But I have been reading up on them lately. They seem to have been manufactured in the following "Model Years"

1983 - 1988
1989 - 1992
1992 - 1997
1998 - 2000
2001 - 2012

I was actually looking at the earlier models, 1983 to 1992

Is there a problem with the front end on those models?

And if so, what model years should I be looking for?
 
#43 ·
By the way, the rod above ended up being sold for only $14,000. The $17,500 price was "Buy it Now". But apparently people bid on it instead and someone won it for 14 grand.

I wouldn't have minded buying a rod like that for $14,000 except I don't have that kind of money to spend. That's the problem.

Besides, it's way more cool if I can say that I actually built it myself. :cool:

Buying a rod that someone else built it just "spending money". Anyone can do that. At least anyone who has the money to spend.
 
#30 ·
I have to agree. :thumbup:

Part of the reason I chose the one I did for my Avatar is because I like the Maroon paint job. But I agree it does look like a phone booth. I actually notices the "squarish" look right off the bat.

The door window on the truck in my Avatar is pretty square.

The door window on that Blue eBay rod is clearly rectangular.

They clearly have different bodies in the detail.

I guess that just proves that we're better off letting someone else do the work and just buy the finished product.

Otherwise we'll end up driving around in something that looks like the Tardis from Dr. Who. :eek:
 
#31 ·
Updated Drawings

I did a few really crude drawings today just to see what's on the horizon.

I'm using a Chevy S-10 on this drawing. I might do a Ford Ranger later.

In this drawing I have a the 1930 Ford Pick up truck body and a Chevy S-10 truck chassis.

I didn't draw this chassis. I found it on the Sketchup Warehouse site. But it appears to have the correct wheelbase. The frame is not a perfect reproduction of a factory frame. It's just a crude drawing, so I'm going to need to draw up a real frame myself. In the meantime I thought I'd give this a go just to get a rough idea of what I'm up against.




Here I have lowered the body onto the frame just as is.



Notice that there are a lot of things that will need to be done. In fact, if this was a steel 1930 original body the party would be OVER. It would never fit as is.

However, I'll be fabricating my body entirely from scratch. Therefore I can reshape everything to make it fit. :thumbup:

This drawing tells me what I'm going to need to do. Moreover, I can actually make all these modifications right here in Sketchup. That way I'll have all the drawings, measurements and printable templates I need to actually built the body.

This is going to obviously require a lot of "Bodywork" in redesigning each part. But I expected that before I ever started this project. I knew exactly what I'm getting myself into. I'll be making a whole new body from scratch.

That's the plan. :thumbup:

Here's a another perspective view of the body sitting on the frame.

This is the beauty of using Sketchup. Once you draw it up you can move it around and look at it from every possible angle. ;)



The large S-10 radiator will go. And I'll use a smaller radiator. In fact this drawing has a SBC V8 with headers on it. I'll be using a smaller V6 that will also help make room for the hood.

None the less, I will need to widen the 1930 Ford radiator a bit as well as the front of the hood. And make the hood longer too. I can also make the body and cowl a bit longer too. This will give it an appearance of having been "Chopped" even leaving the stock height to the windows.

And of course I can reshape the fender to fit the wheelbase easily enough. I don't plan on running those big mud tires anyway. Stock tires will help.

I had to use this drawing of an S-10 because it's the only one I could find that actually had a frame under the body.

I'll have to draw up a stock factory frame with normal size tires on it and see how that goes. I can also probably find a V6 already drawn up to stick in it instead of this larger V8.

I live in Pennsylvania and have to have the engine covered. Otherwise I'd go for the V8 and skip the hood altogether. But as it is, I need to have the hood on there.
 
#32 ·
I know. Pennsylvania has to be one of the worst states when it comes to vehicle registration. Like you say, it's like they are purposefully out to give you a hard time and they have mastered the art.

I've lived in PA my entire life and I have learned how to use legal loopholes pretty well when it comes to this sort of thing so I'm not too worried about it. My inspector would probably just say, "Hmm? Looks like you did a LOT of bodywork on that Ranger". And that's about as far as it would go. He'd just check that everything technically passes and that would be it.

There's no law against doing bodywork on your car. :D

The bureaucrats would never know. They don't see the vehicle. All they see is the paperwork. For all they know I'm driving around in a regular Ford Ranger. And for all practical purposes I would be. The only thing that has changed is "bodywork". :thumbup:

By the way, a friend just called me on the phone. He found a Ranger for me. I haven't gone to look at it yet. It's supposed to be running but needs something for inspection, he didn't say what it needs. He said that the guy who has it paid $500 for it and never fixed it up. So I might be able to grab this one for $500 or less. He says it's a pretty good looking truck. I haven't seen it yet.

One nice thing about it is that it's just down the street from me and I could drive it home. :D

Well, see.

Like I say, I wouldn't mind fixing up a small truck anyway, even if I never actually build this rod. So I don't have a lot to loose here. Can hardly go wrong buying a running truck for $500. There's a scrap metal yard only about 6 miles from my house. I typically get about $400 taking a car there for scrap metal prices. So I can hardly go wrong buying a running truck for $500.

I'll probably pick this truck up. Well see.

I'd like to get a V6, 4WD, stick shift, with a carburetor. It will probably be a 4 cylinder, 2WD, automatic, with fuel injection. (ha ha)

It a 1980's model.

Like I say. We'll see.

I'm not too worried about frame rust. I can repair a bad frame.

I hope I like it. It's just down the street not even a mile away. Can't beat that.

I might buy it even if it is a 4 cylinder, 2WD, automatic, with fuel injection. I'm anxious to get something to work on. :D

For $500 I can hardly go wrong. Between parting it out on eBay and taking the dead carcass to the scrapyard I'm sure I could recover the money anyway. Probably even make a few bucks. And maybe end up with a bare frame in the process. :thumbup:

If it's 4WD consider it BOUGHT!
 
#33 ·
I just got off the phone with the guy that has the Ranger. It is 2WD and automatic. Figures. I forgot to ask whether it's carburetor or FI. It's also a 1991. So it probably is FI. I'd rather have a carb.

It is a V6 though. :D So there's an engine I'll hang onto.

He only wants $400. That's basically scrap metal price. Can't beat that.

I'm going over on Wednesday to take a look at it. Well see.

~~~~~
 
#35 ·
I have been looking over Dewey's book and I see he has quite a few interesting tips. I'm sure I'll benefit from many of his ideas. But at the same time I'm not looking to build a rod that duplicates what he's building.

A lot of what he's doing is "scratch building". My whole idea of starting with a truck chassis is to avoid as much "scratch building" as possible. So my approach is mainly focused on body fabrication in a way that allows me to employ as many "stock" features of the original truck chassis as possible.

Obviously, I will need to do some modifications on the truck chassis in certain situations. But I'm trying to keep that to a minimum.

One place that I anticipate the most challenging problem is with the steering wheel placement. I seriously doubt that I'll be lucky enough that the stock truck steering wheel could easily be moved into the proper position without modifications.

The new body that I'll be putting on won't be as wide as the original Ranger body. So the steering wheel is going to need to be moved inward a bit. Exactly what that will require in terms of the overall steering mechanism I don't yet know.

None the less, I do foresee this as being a potentially major problem. Hopefully it will turn out to be easier than I have been dreading. But I don't really have a quick and easy way to examine that specific problem in detail yet.

Hopefully working with these drawings in Sketchup will help.

Unfortunately I can't find existing drawings of a Ford Ranger that actually contained all the details of the steering mechanism and chassis parts. So it looks like I'm going to need to draw up the chassis and steering of a Ford Ranger myself using shop manuals and measurements from an actual truck.

This is one reason why I'm anxious to actually get a truck here to look at up close and start taking measurements from.

The sooner I have the truck, the sooner I'll have dependable measurements to draw with. :thumbup:

I've been trying to look them up online, but it seems that these trucks aren't always consistent. So you basically need to have the truck on hand that you plan on using. Otherwise you end up wasting time using measurements that don't match up with the truck you ultimately end up with.
 
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#36 ·
91 is and efi. I take it you never owned a ranger before.
No. All my trucks were full-size pick-ups. Unfortunately I don't have a full-size pick up right now. I wish I did. I might keep an eye out for one of those as well. I still have my car hauler trailer but no truck to pull it. I know this Ranger won't pull a car hauler trailer. That's why I never bothered with these "pip-squeak" little trucks.

The only reason I want a Ranger now is to convert it into a "Deuce Coupe", or a "Quad Chevy Pick-up Truck" or whatever.

Most people would not want the v6 they are famous for over heating and blowing head gaskets. Lots of reasons the 4 banger is a better choice. I would either run the 4 banger or put a v8 in it. the 6 is not a great motor and is still as heavy as the v8 with lighter heads and intake. I have pwned a 89 ranger v6 4wd. it was a slug. I have also owned a svo mustang with the turbo 2.3 so would much rather have the 4 tey are simple and easy to work on. But hey thats just me. been there done that.
I'm 67 years old and in bad health. I'll probably die before the V6 does, unfortunately. I'm not real concerned about the power. I would like to go to a carb though just to keep things simpler. I have two empty engine stands in my garage. I'd like to get an engine on each one to play with. :D

If I buy this truck it won't be the last Ranger stuff I get. I'll be keeping an eye out all summer long for more "junk", hopefully in some cases for FREE!

Right now I just want to get a Ranger in my back yard that I can start fiddling around with. I'm feel "second childhood senility" setting in and I want to take advantage of it before I give up the ghost entirely.

The more I start fiddling with these Rangers the more I learn about them.

You may want to make sure your outside of the airbag and anti-lock break years. I think your fine with a 91. But some later trucks will legally require an air bag and anti lock.
YES! I definitely want to avoid air bags. If this truck as an air bag the deal's OFF! I can't believe I didn't ask about that first. I guess I was just hoping that it wouldn't have one. I'm hope your right that a 91 won't have an air bag. That's deal killer right there.

A truck built before 1974 will also have a lot less restrictions even if you tag it as a regular truck and not a custom or antique. After 74 things like headlight signals and markers all had specs that must be followed to meet fed restrictions. I try to stay away from things that will require parts i dont want to install like retractable seat belts and crash zones. Funny how many laws accompany building a car. if you get a title and just need to do paper work thats great but will never be able to insure it for anything more than the price of a 91 ford ranger. Certainly want to protect your work. Registering it as a 34 ford will help with that a lot. But that will require the dmv to inspect the truck when complete.

Just trying to help.
I appreciate the help. I realize that I'm going to need to deal with all the legal garbage. And I'm used to PA being extremely strict. But there are "sly" solutions to these things. For one thing, I live in a very rural part of the state which really helps. The bureaucrats typically only see the paperwork, they don't really see what's going on in the "real world'. :D

This sometimes helps a lot. For example, if I register this 91 Ranger truck and get it inspected and drive it for a little while, my garage mechanic knows I have this truck. If I then show up at his garage next inspection cycle with a 32 Ford Deuce Coupe. He'll come out and say, "Wow! Nice car, where did you get that?", and I would say, this is my Ford Ranger, I just did some body work on it."

Then we would get into a discussion while he checks over the vehicle for inspection. Instantly upon doing the inspection work he would recognize that this is indeed the Ford Ranger Truck chassis that he has previously been inspecting. Then I'd hand him the paper work and he would say, "I don't know about this, you did one hell of a lot of bodywork on that".

Then I would say, "Is there any law against doing bodywork on my truck?"

He would smile, and say, "No I guess not". And then proceed to put the sticker on the windshield. :D

The bureaucrats would never even know it happened. :thumbup:

As far as they are concerned I'm driving a Ford Ranger.

I just looked in my title box. I actually have a title for a 1975 Jeep Sedan. I think it was actually a CJ-5. I still have a little piece of the frame in the barn. I could weld that on somewhere and claim that this is rebuilt 1975 Jeep.

I think sticking with the 91 Ranger is more realistic though. At least all the parts will be 91 Ranger parts.

It really will be a just 91 Ranger Truck that had a "face lift". :pimp:

Mechanically it's just going to be this Ranger truck with a different body. There really shouldn't be any big deal about it actually.

The claim that all I did was do some "bodywork" on my Ranger truck won't be all that far off from the truth. Granted it's going to be some massive body work. But still just bodywork. :thumbup:
 
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