Alright! This is probably going to be a long post, as I got a good amount done today and took a lot of pictures.
So, I'll start with my work space I set up because I was tired of cutting metal on the rock steps to my porch with my foot an inch from the grinder..
It doesn't look like much but it made a HUGE difference in how easily and quickly I was able to make pieces I needed and drill holes etc. If I had a garage and the tools I need like a plasma cutter, this truck would be done in a few weeks haha.
Anyway now to work today.
I had to modify my piece a bit to allow the headlight/grille support to bolt on, and I fabbed up the driver side filler piece as well.
http://i.imgur.com/smxQFdG.jpg[/IMG
Now, I made that notch to fit the bracket that holds the secondary support to the rad support, but the brackets were square and small squares are hard to cut with a large angle grinder, so I also modified the brackets to make everything easier and still strong enough.
[ATTACH=full]410950[/ATTACH]
Drilling holes to bolt the inner fenders/mudguards to the rad support...
[ATTACH=full]410951[/ATTACH]
I'm Re-using the factory lower-front fender support brackets so I didn't have to custom make them, I just added a hole on the filler plates to allow it to bolt on, like it would normally, to allow for adjustment.
[ATTACH=full]410952[/ATTACH]
Test fitting before I started welding anything to make sure I didn't have to adjust anything...
[ATTACH=full]410953[/ATTACH]
Starting the welding...
[ATTACH=full]410954[/ATTACH]
Tight spot around the body mounts so I just went the big and ugly route.
[ATTACH=full]410955[/ATTACH]
Lots of tack welds, just like body work, little more time sitting on each spot though to make sure the weld gets into the 14ga plate well.
[ATTACH=full]410956[/ATTACH]
Before taking the grinder to it (both sides look about the same, after the pass side I kind of forgot about taking pictures on the driver side)
[ATTACH=full]410957[/ATTACH]
Aaaand all done. just needs a good dose of rubberized truck bed liner like the frame horns.
[ATTACH=full]410958[/ATTACH]
Alright so that may be about it for a little while, I have exactly 0 days off that I can use to work on the ranger for the next 8-9 days but If I get anything done in the evenings I will post up the progress!