410Custom's builds a 2007 Ranger V8 - custom truck build - Project "Ranger Premier"

[fordpickupman]

It's looking great Jamie!

 

[410Fortune]

big update coming, I must get this truck running this month! Yes I know there are 9 days left, getting much closer!!!!
Any who had a chance to sit down and upload some pics
I have been working on the interior, dash skeleton is in, column and cluster goin in, I am finally ordering rear shocks today! (08/22)
Share with you guys the latest news

New upper and lower radiator hoses will be here tomorrow......... waiting on parts is the new normal!
Then I can finally install the fan and shroud, all that is left in the engine bay is some sort of intake without a mas meter

Guess who finally showed up to the party?

The re worked RCV axle shaft!!!
Looks just like what I was about to accomplish with the dremmel!! Oh well now I have a bunch of cool dremmel bits still new in box. Eddie money said it best when I told him I have the cv axle in my hands he said

“Hallelujah!!!”

Truth.

Now more goodies
We will be doing a console shifter in this rig no column shift!!
So to start we are using this setup from another ford

Packing peanuts!!!! Party foul. I hate these things……

Hiding in there was 08 mariner console, wicked cool.
To go with it eddie sent me a escape shifter and trim piece as well as new paint for the whole she bang bang
I get to hack this up and make it fit between our seats, as well as hide the Holley pcm

Muahhahahahaha

Nasty, going to need some serious cleaning and prep. It did come with all the parts and pads which is awesome!!

Our buddy @mhoward has already done this conversion before us so that is where the idea came from… really updates the interior. Will go well with our 2014’seats!!
I’m not sold on the escape shifter though it looks cool it is also 18”’tall! I may gut it and install an older stang shifter to make life easier but still look like the escape unit

 

[allmyEXes]

Did you remove the inner dash, the fiberglass duct work etc ?

 

[410Fortune]

Interior paint color and adhesion promoter
Eddie is very thorough when he sends parts

 

[410Fortune]

I did not remove the hvac box from the firewall no just the main dash skeleton, makes it easier to install all this custom wiring and gizmos

 

[fordpickupman]

I like the shifter...... it'll look legit factory to the untrained eyes

 

[CDW6212R]

The shifter looks very good, but as you said it might be too tall. The middle part of it looks kind of straight, plastic, and thick. You might be able to section it and make it shorter to match the height of the console. How did the other person use those parts, and in what truck?

 

[EddieMoney]

The shifter looks very good, but as you said it might be too tall. The middle part of it looks kind of straight, plastic, and thick. You might be able to section it and make it shorter to match the height of the console. How did the other person use those parts, and in what truck?

Here is the original floor shifter mod thread for anyone interested.

Ford Ranger forum

The Premiere Site For Ford Ranger Enthusiasts

ford-rangers.com

 

[CDW6212R]

That turned out great in that other guys truck. I think I have seen that thread or one with many of the same pictures, showing how the shifter gate had to be cut and filed some. That will be very nice.

 

[410Fortune]

the shifter gate filing pics are from my 96 mustang floor shifter, a completely different animal. Early in that thread we were just discussing what shifters would workm in a ranger, I shared that I already use a console mounted (floor) 96 stang shifter in my BII... it was easy compared to this!!

this escape shifter does not have a metal gate at all, the whole assembly is plastic and COMPLETELY different it has park and brake interlock built in...... fun fun
I will be tackling this shifter install soon, right now I just need a dash, steering column and a drivers seat!!!!!!!!! hahahahahaha
the console and console shifter mod is next!!

 

[CDW6212R]

Ah, I saw the shifter in that thread and recognized it as like the SN95 Mustang. I have one myself stored away to convert my 4R70W into my 92 Lincoln. Some people have used that to convert other Mark VII's, so I got it for $20 with the cable the last day I was at my Pick-n-Pull etc. I think the cable is what I need the most, but someone had already gotten most of the shifter bolts out, console gone etc.

 

[410Fortune]

Allright I have made HUGE progress on this truck over the last few weeks, I am getting ready to turn the key for the first time and hopefully program the Holley and then..................................vroom

I have a few things left to do before that happens, working on this truck daily I have cleared the rest of my schedule until it is driving around.
Before all that though we need to get this thread up to speed, so this morning I am taking the time to post a big update!!!

I have about 60 pictures to post so this could take a bit

Preparing the interior for the dash to go back in. All wires to the Holley have been run, time has come for interior

those are the "before" pictures

dash was cleaned, interior of truck was cleaned, I scrubbed all the dirt off the floor under the floor mat and big vacuum and then everything was wiped down to remove years of dust and buildup

Before the dash could be bolted in I needed to make some repairs and run some wiring. The new seats were taken out so they can be heavily modified to fit back in.


wiring repairs, I hate vampire clips!!

somebody at one time had added some vampire clips to the ignition switch on this truck, typical practice in the audio/alarm industry....but not at my shop! These things lead to problems down the road....so I fixed it. remove the clips, leaving exposed wiring, perfect time for liquid electrical tape

clips removed

.

repaired

Now forgive me as I bounce around a bit, the last stages of this conversion has me working on several different areas at once, tying up loose ends. So I am posting in the order the pics were taken to keep it simple on my end

The radiator fan, shroud, and hoses have been installed (pics coming) so it was time to move onto the trans coolers to finish up the cooling stack. I am bypassing the tiny "cooler" in the radiator for a couple of reasons, this truck is not living in the arctic so it does not need to "preheat" the transmission fluid which is the main function of the small fluid/fluid cooler inside the radiator, also if our "made in Mexico" tig welded aluminum radiator fails we will not end up with water in our HPP 4r70w transmission!! (High Plains Performance). This is a tried and true method to keep the 4r70w cool, running two stock style coolers in series, then back to the trans.
Two factory coolers were cleaned, flushed, the fins repaired, then fitted to the core support

before

after

installed

the second coolers flange is bent straight for better mounting to the ranger

return line is cut to length, filed, and a simple flare added

done

 

[410Fortune]

As I mentioned the radiator, fan/clutch shroud and hoses have all been installed

using a 96-97 5.0 metal fan, these might be slightly heavier then the 98-01 nylon fans but these also do not crack over time
fan and shroud cleaned / degreased, anti seize on the water pump threads and install

overflow hose also installed. You can see I chose the stock MAS sensor wiring holder to now retain the Holley wide band 02 sensor connectors.

Now we jump around a bit because my neighbor came down to help me finish up the sliders and drop bracket supports that we were building together, we finally had time to finish those projects up. The rock sliders came out sooooo wicked!! Too bad they did not make them like this to begin with

supports bent and welded, now these bolt to the body/rocker seam

3 coats of paint over the modified areas/welds and now they can be final bolted to the truck!

solid as a rock (no pun) using the two factory slider mounts and three of the outrigger bars bent up and bolted. These are now 100%A bolted to the body (NO FRAME) and strong as heck!! More pics of those later

Also finishing the drivers side drop bracket support, remember we built these from the old T bars and T bar brackets

again more on that later (ran out of shielding gas on labor day weekend!!!

 

[Rick]

Any idea if the fan is interchangable with a OHV 4.0? That would be a nice upgrade.

 

[410Fortune]

now back to the dash going in, interior was dusted, dash was cleaned all over (all the spots you cannot get once it is in the truck!)

there are 7 large bolts that hold the dashpad to the truck, two on the drivers a pillar, one on the pass a pillar, then 4 along the glass

you will never be able to clean this area again! LOL

or here, the whole dash was "blown out" as was the cab interior all dust removed from the duct work as best I could

PITA by yourself but I do it anyways

see how clean behind the dash now?

BAM dash in

see all the Holley wiring coming up through the floor
EXCITING!!

 

[410Fortune]

the fan clutches are completely different v6 vs v8, the v8 fan is tucked up tight to the clutch so they do not take up much space and the threads on the water pump are way different.
I have no idea if you could bolt the metal fan to the v6 clutch? I never tried!!
I do know the early bronco dudes are hot after these metal fans I could easily sell every one I get for $80-100+

I do have about 12 fans out in the shop right now, I was picking the best one for our project here, I will take a sohc fan clutch and see if the 5.0 metal fan will bolt to it!! Now you have me wondering. I can tell you would gain about 1-1.5" of fan to radiator clearance the 5.0 stuff is built to be tight to the block

only about 55 more pics to go!!! hahahahahaha hang in there
Summer was crazy! I spent much time just trying to keep my wifes FJ cruiser on the road, it had alot of needs.... new rack and pinion that then failed and was replaced with a toyota part ($350 down the tubes!! warranty will only give me another POS rack!) I had to rebuild her front coilovers, all new steering linkage, upper control arms came in and they needed modified, her 4 month old Duralast brakes ( calipers, pads, rotors) failed BIG TIME (I have now sworn off Autozone for GOOD!) money leaks leaks......... much work was done to the BII, F350, Excursion....etc etc it goes on and on but I am winning these battles. Oh also my son almost failed the 7th grade for being sneaky so I spent the last two months with him playing catch up and for all our hard work he has been accepted into the 8th grade thank goodness! I am now proficient at 7th grade algebra and geometry if anyone needs a golden rectangle drawn with a compass or you want to break down some fractions into whole numbers Im your man! WOW what a summer....... now it is fall and it is firewood and truck season. I MUST get this rig to @EddieMoney before the snow flies!!
Talk about lack of sleep, having a teenager is stressful! Hopefully he has learned his lesson!!!!

 

[Josh P]

Any idea if the fan is interchangable with a OHV 4.0? That would be a nice upgrade.

There is a 9 blade ford super cooling fan fits the 4.0L clutch. This one maybe the same thing. The bolt pattern on the fan clutch is a standard size, I'm using an 11 blade GMC fan on my 4.0L OHV.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

i just want to see it run!

 

[410Fortune]

Me toooooo!!!!!!!!!!! I have family friends forum all asking me.... no sweat! She will run, I want to hear the cam through the TMH mendrel, "catless dual" exhaust and spin techs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I haver done a bunch more wiring.......... so back to the pics

First up I needed to finish the under hood wiring

The alternator power feed for the IVR (internal voltage regulator) is the yellow and white wire on v8 trucks this is headed to the power dist box and a 30 amp mini fuse. 2002+ trucks like our ranger here, this wire has fusible links internal and goes directly to the PJB battery + post.
I do not like the inline fusible links, so when I do these trucks I add a fuse to the stock fuse box (SJB smart junction box 05+ ranger)

The green/red wire is the feed from instrument cluster battery light to the IVR. These two wires are found in the 12 pin C139 connector on the truck side.
I ran two new wires from the ALT IVR to the truck and built a male side C139, now our engine functions will plug into the truck like factory.

Alternator wiring cannot just be connected to the SJB

To add a fuse to the stock SJB I robbed a few wires and pigtails/fuses from another 05 Ranger harness I have (donor)

Before:

I added a 30 amp fuse for out alternator IVR feed AND I added 3 more..........wooooooohahhahaha
Now I have 3 fused feeds of battery + I can utilize simply by adding the fuse

The alternator IVR power wire does not just run directly to the SJB, in order to make it like factory and easier to remove the engine this wire is run through connector C139....more on that in a minute

red wire near brake booster is coming from new fuse, to truck side of C139 (female)
I created a new male C139 so our wiring will plug into the truck just like stock

The 5.0 harness uses a similar 12 pin plug, but it is also female....
Other wires that run through here are oil pressure switch to instrument cluster
dark green/white, careful here the dark green with white on the 5.0 side actually goes to the oil level / temp switch on the side of the pan. I ran a new wire directly from this plug to the stock oil pressure switch

AC high pressure switch is Red/Yellow and black/white, all of these wires pass through the the new male C139

white with pink and a black ground are also for the oil level switch, this truck is not equipped with.



While I am in here in the SJB, it is time to bypass the PATS control over the starter relay
This truck will have no PATS (Holley PCM) 07 Ranger PATS is part of the PCM and that went away

the starter relay ground control from PCM is right here, DB/OR
I will use a factory pigtail to create a new ground right near SJB

now the ignition switch has control over the starter relay

Alternator wiring was removed from engine, re-wrapped and then laid back in place.

One more thing to do to finish our 5.0 conversion wiring here at the SJB
5.0 battery harness leads for alternator charging wire and battery + terminals are the wrong shape to fit our 05 Ranger SJB

marked and carefully cut with a grinder, then file
Engine and truck were covered for the grinding event. These are soft metal? easy to cut
Also had to snip a little plastic

fits like factory

SJB is done...for now I may need to add some mini fuses as well as I install all of these electronics!!

 

[410Fortune]

new fuse added

Leads to be used later hanging off the back
Sjb good to go

Alternator wiring wrapped
moving on