Photos Lifted Sport Tracs Picture Thread!

[Dauntless76]

Yeah, the bottom of the front passenger fender was almost rusted all the way through. There was only a small piece connecting the fender to the mounting holes. That was the toughest part of the fiberglass repair because I had to leave everything attached to make sure we got the shape as correct as possible. We ended up using some marine fiberglass that should be stronger. Once that dried up, I took the fender off and layered some more fiberglass on this inside. It's probably stronger than when it came out of the factory.

I had some rust holes in the back corners too, but they were about the size of a sleeve of golf balls.

That's the back corners. I tried to go up and kinda match the lines that the cladding had. Again, I thought it looked better going up high like that than just doing a straight line across. Seemed to match the front better this way and keeps things uniform in a sense.

Dang man! That looks good. I'm definitely doing that when it warms up. Thanks for the inspiration.


Got my skid plate today! The self-tapping screws are really stupid. One of them is stripped out I'll need to go get a bigger size probably, but it would probably be fine I can hang all 200lbs of me off it.

Will keep updating as I do stuff. Replaced the latch in the driver's side door. Oh it feels so smooth now. No more yanking up on it to open.

 

[upther]

I used a dab of Loctite on each screw when I mounted my skid plate. It has been on for 6+ months now and doesn't seem to have budged at all.

 

[OffTrac]

Mine has some surface rust after sitting in my bed all winter under the tonneau. Going to take it to get another round of powder coat when I take some other stuff this spring.

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[Dauntless76]

Came up with the idea that I'm going to drill a hole in the top of the frame rail and get some 6" long grade 8 bolts and run them all the way to the top and use a nut and loctite. Then I can really torque it down and never worry again.

 

[OffTrac]

Came up with the idea that I'm going to drill a hole in the top of the frame rail and get some 6" long grade 8 bolts and run them all the way to the top and use a nut and loctite. Then I can really torque it down and never worry again.

Good idea. I may steal it if it doesn't interfere with other bolts going through the frame there.

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[429CJ-3X2]

Good luck drilling through the frame. You'll need a good drill and possibly more than 1 high quality drill bit.

 

[OffTrac]

 

[upther]

That is awesome.

 

[Dauntless76]

Good idea. I may steal it if it doesn't interfere with other bolts going through the frame there.

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It definitely works. I used 4.5" metal grade bits (15/32) to start but they are about 1/8" too short so bought one of the super long bits lol. Like 18" long. Whatever it worked. Its on there like a beast. Thread locker and some lock nuts to round it out. It'll never move again and would be really hard to steal now. Tightened to 50lbs lol.

Bolts I got were 13mm head, 15/32 stainless steal 6" bolts. Ended up being plenty long, probably should have gone with 5.5" long.

And I haven't gotten a picture yet, but I used the "For super rusty applications primer" from rustoleum and then some black high temp rustoleum rattle cans and took a wire brush to the underbody and painted pretty much every inch of the frame and diffs. I started it because the lower control arms were REALLY obvious after throwing a beautiful black skidplate on. We'll see how it holds up.

Cheers
Daniel

 

[OffTrac]

Glad to see. I'll do the same in a few weeks.

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[Dauntless76]

Glad to see. I'll do the same in a few weeks. Sent from my Galaxy S5 using Forum Runner

Almost burned out the motor in the drill I was using. It's from 1970s that I pulled out of my grandads garage lol. Guess I need a newer drill.

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[MidnightRebel07]

To drill through the frame there you'll need a high amperage drill or a good hamme drill.

 

[OffTrac]

Got a good Dewalt hammer drill.

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[Dauntless76]

Got a good Dewalt hammer drill. Sent from my Galaxy S5 using Forum Runner

Dang I shoulda thought of that. Ah well

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[429CJ-3X2]

Shorter bolts would look a little cleaner (not that anyone will see them), but the longer bolts offer more anti-theft protection just because they'll take longer to remove. My bed extender was missing one of the pivot pins and I replaced it with a carriage bolt that's way longer than it needs to be. It wasn't intentional at the time, but I've left it in just because a thief isn't likely to stand there and take the time to back it out if it's screwed all the way into the hole.

 

[Dauntless76]

Alright folks. Anyone got any idea what part # these little *******s are? I broke two of them off the tonneau cover that came with my trac. No idea what brand, the tarp has "Authentic Ford" on it but that's it. I am hoping I don't have to buy a new tonneau cover just because two of these things broke. Any help would be killer.

Got all the parts for my front end today. New upper control arms and inner and outer tie rods from Raybestos performance line. Waiting on the lower ball joints that are backordered to replace all of it. The new pieces are beefy as hell compared to the originals.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

A lot of new updated pictures and info in my build thread linked here...

2003 Sport Trac - SAS, SOA started and here's a sneek peek.

Sorry too tired to link all the pictures again.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

When I did mine I measured down from the edge of the curve, me fled every 5", ran masking tape along the marks then used a grinder with cutoff wheel to cut. Cleaner and easier than using a sawzall.

 

[OffTrac]

OT, how did you cut the bumper cladding? Specifically what tool, but if you have suggestions for lining it up that'd be great to.

I was hoping nobody would ask, lol. I couldn't get down to the barn where most of my tools are because of the baby so I used the sawzall I had on hand. Took measurements, taped off and cut conservatively. Put back on, remeasured, cut again. Rinse and repeat until a nice fit. Still going to clean up the boogered plastic but the cuts are straight and exactly where I needed them. Gonna be another week or two before this project is fully complete with pictures due to work, school and baby. I'll update with a thorough thread then.

 

[OffTrac]

Thank you. I appreciate it. Here's a couple more shots of the building process of the bumper. (The viper belongs to a friend, unfortunately not mine)

That is awesome. Nice work. Hope to see more of your truck on the forum.