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.
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/8Yqs3FB.jpg
Drilling holes to bolt the inner fenders/mudguards to the rad support...
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.
Test fitting before I started welding anything to make sure I didn't have to adjust anything...
Starting the welding...
Tight spot around the body mounts so I just went the big and ugly route.
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.
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)
Aaaand all done. just needs a good dose of rubberized truck bed liner like the frame horns.
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!