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Scott B's 93 Ranger XLT V8




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..:shifty_ey ..It's all in the proof..:D
 






Cooling Problem

There are certain situations when the water temperature gets too high. At speed (going down the interstate) even when it is 107 degrees out, the temperature is fine. But slow down, climb a long hill, and the temperature creeps up.

The electric fan I am running moves about 2400 CFM of air. For the horsepower I'm running, I really need a fan to move 4000 CFM.

So, off with the electric, and on with a mechanical (engine driven) flex fan. This means I need to fabricate a fan shroud also.

While the radiator is out, I will also have it checked for leaks. I think one of the fan mounts wore a small hole in the radiator.

Photos:

New fan - 16"

Fan shroud kit

Radiator (with fan center marked)

Truck without radiator (2 views)
 

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Fan Shroud

I fitted the shroud to my radiator and fan position.

Photos:

Driver's side of radiator

Passenger side of radiator

Removal of excess width

Fitting on radiator

Marking for fan cutout

Final cutout
 

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Fan Shroud Continued

Continuing the fabrication of the shroud:

2 halves welded together

Ring around the fan fitted and welded

Top mounting bracket
 

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Nice work Scott! You have a good eye for the fine details--
 












Looks awesome. Who's your rad from? Whered the shroud come from also? Want to try and copy you
 






Looks awesome. Who's your rad from? Whered the shroud come from also? Want to try and copy you

The radiator is from James Duff, and the shroud is from Summit Racing.
 






Ranger rebuild and refinements…..

Scott, I just finished your whole build thread… man you did it right! A man with many talent's :thumbsup: can't wait till DE IV, I will take a real close look then. Michael
 






The custom fan shroud looks awesome. Great work:chug:
 






The custom fan shroud looks awesome. Great work:chug:

Thanks.

It is really tight in there. Everything fits and nothing hits - but, putting it together took several hours...
 






Hey, Scott, just wanted to say, nice job, especially on a truck that was once a stocker, that you turned into a true expedition rig (lol...the tail-lights you installed make me think your rig is a mini-Expedition, haha! Get it? ;) :D lol)

I thought that when your truck turned 20, that you would have taken a drive back to the dealership where you got it, so you could show them the truck and what you've done to it since you bought it. Pretty sure that they would have never thought you would have stuffed a Mustang V-8 underneath a Ranger hood, tho! :)

Hopefully, I'm going to try and find two more 1992s, to go with the one I already have--and one of them I hope to make into a trail-worthy rig that, while it may not rival yours, can be an inspiration to those of us who, like you, want to turn ideas into reality.

I can honestly say, sir, that I am thoroughly impressed with everything you've done, and can't wait to see what improvements you have in store for the future! And, I hope that your truck stays a faithful servant for the next 20 years. Nice job on everything. My hat is off to you, sir.

Just a quick question, Scott--when you took out the original cruise control system on your '93, where was the cruise control amplifier located? I ask because I was tracing some wiring, on my own truck, from the servo, and it first went to the transducer (box on the driver's side, located similar to the ECU), then it went to a white box, located under the dash, underneath the ash tray (near the transmission tunnel). I'm asking because it seems like my '92 was wired like your '93 was originally. Also, was your cruise on your '93 put on at the factory, or was it dealer-installed? Any information would be helpful; thanks.
 
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:exp:
Hey, Scott, just wanted to say, nice job, especially on a truck that was once a stocker, that you turned into a true expedition rig (lol...the tail-lights you installed make me think your rig is a mini-Expedition, haha! Get it? ;) :D lol)

Thanks. As a stock truck, it did pretty well. Of course, it is much better now!

I thought that when your truck turned 20, that you would have taken a drive back to the dealership where you got it, so you could show them the truck and what you've done to it since you bought it. Pretty sure that they would have never thought you would have stuffed a Mustang V-8 underneath a Ranger hood, tho! :)

Good idea - except the dealership is on the other side of the country from me.

Hopefully, I'm going to try and find two more 1992s, to go with the one I already have--and one of them I hope to make into a trail-worthy rig that, while it may not rival yours, can be an inspiration to those of us who, like you, want to turn ideas into reality.

I can honestly say, sir, that I am thoroughly impressed with everything you've done, and can't wait to see what improvements you have in store for the future! And, I hope that your truck stays a faithful servant for the next 20 years. Nice job on everything. My hat is off to you, sir.

I hope it goes for the next 20 years, too. I ran just over 300,000 miles in the first 20 years - I wonder how many I will run in the next 20?!?!?

Just a quick question, Scott--when you took out the original cruise control system on your '93, where was the cruise control amplifier located? I ask because I was tracing some wiring, on my own truck, from the servo, and it first went to the transducer (box on the driver's side, located similar to the ECU), then it went to a white box, located under the dash, underneath the ash tray (near the transmission tunnel). I'm asking because it seems like my '92 was wired like your '93 was originally. Also, was your cruise on your '93 put on at the factory, or was it dealer-installed? Any information would be helpful; thanks.

I did not remove the cruise control system. My intention is to retain it, just move the control buttons to the dash.

I removed the steering wheel, and took apart the "controls". Wiring wise, it is pretty simple - there are only 3 signals going through the slip ring under the wheel.

I need to figure out how to wire the buttons, and send those signals to the slip ring (the wiring under it) to mimic the factory switches.
 






Scott, from what I can tell, you should have three wires coming off of the slip rings:

1. YEL/LT GRN: This wire is for the horn system.
2. BLK: This is the cruise control switch ground.
3. LT BLU/BLK: This is the wire for sending the cruise control signal to the Cruise Control Amplifier.

What I would do is to get some different color wiring; trying to keep to the original colors, simply extend the wiring from the connector to the proper switch. The other thing I would do is for the "coast" function, I would use a push-button style switch, so that all you have to do is push the switch to coast, and let up on the switch to resume.

The only other advice I could give would be to use a multimeter and find which ring controls the horn, which ring controls sending the switch signal to the cruise control amplifier, and which ring controls sending power to ground. Using those things, you could wire your cruise up with the switch grouping you want to.

Lastly, thanks for the information you provided. I found out that the cruise control amplifier is actually located in a place that REQUIRES--no choice in the matter--me to take my dash out to test the component *shakes head, questions Ford's Engineering sanity*. (They could have mounted the amplifier in a hell of a better place, IMHO).

The other thing I'm wanting to know is, did you keep your ABS on your truck? I took out my fuse for my RABS (my truck was built before AWD ABS), and the cruise on my truck doesn't work--doesn't even turn on. I've been doing some research, and some diagrams I've seen show the ABS system--even RABS--is tied into my cruise system somehow.

Your thoughts, Scott? And can I pull of the 'skin' of the dash to get at the amplifier, or do I have to actually remove it to get at the amplifier?
 
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...

The other thing I'm wanting to know is, did you keep your ABS on your truck? I took out my fuse for my RABS (my truck was built before AWD ABS), and the cruise on my truck doesn't work--doesn't even turn on. I've been doing some research, and some diagrams I've seen show the ABS system--even RABS--is tied into my cruise system somehow.

Your thoughts, Scott? And can I pull of the 'skin' of the dash to get at the amplifier, or do I have to actually remove it to get at the amplifier?

Sorry for the delayed reply - I didn't read your response closely enough... :(

Yes, I have the RABS on the truck - mine was built with rear-only also. I'm not sure why - it has only activated a handful of times in the 20 years I've had the truck.

Check the cruise unit itself - my ex had an Ex that had a cold solder joint, causing the cruise not to work. (It wasn't me that found it, so I don't know any other details.)
 






Fan Installed

Here are a couple of pictures of the fan and shroud installed (I forgot to post these earlier.)

As you can see, there is not much room in there for hands and wrenches!
 

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Battery Upgrade

The Situation

A couple of weeks ago, I was out in the woods, wheeling with some friends of mine - a test drive for the new fan and shroud - when I had a problem.

The Optima RedTop that had worked flawlessly for the last 2 years suffered an internal problem. It was out gassing SO2, got really warm/hot, and the top of the case bulged. Electrically, as far as the truck was concerned, all was fine - the truck started and ran same as always.

Unfortunately, any time a battery has these symptoms, serious failure is imminent. I certainly did not want the battery to explode (or even crack the case) - sulfuric acid all over a new engine would not be good. Not to mention anyone who happened to be standing by!

Of course, this problem was discovered on a narrow two-track, on the side of a mountain. Moving the truck meant starting it, and using the battery - which could push it over the top, causing catastrophic failure. So, with minimal PPEs, I disconnected and removed the battery while the truck was parked on the trail.

Once the battery was out, we wrapped it in a tarp, stashed it in the back of the truck, I switched to the 2nd battery, and all was fine.

The Resolution

Optima offers a 3 year warranty with its batteries, so I figured I could swap this one for a new one. However, one of the guys I was wheeling with knows OptimaJim. We sent a couple emails to OJ, asking if he was interested in receiving the battery to do some testing, and determine the cause of failure.

Shortly after, I received a phone call from OJ. Yes, he is interested in getting the failed battery, and would send me a replacement. Not only that, he upgraded me to a YellowTop! That is good customer service.

Not to be an Optima Battery commercial, but I am very happy with their batteries. Sure, the one should not have failed in only 2 years, but sometimes things happen - all mechanical products will fail at some point. Excellent customer service and honored warranties say a lot about a company.

Here's a photo of the new battery in place.
 

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Scott B's Ranger......

Scott have you finally got most of the bug's out of your truck? Is DE IV still a go? If so what date are we going to start? Once again we are in SC for the winter so I would need to know so we can go north in time for me to prep for the trip and allow me enough time to make my west in time, let me know ok? Michael
 



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Most of the bugs worked out - still have one or two to tinker with.

As for DE IV, I sent you a PM on Expo a few months back - all is still a go.
 






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