Hello from Cincinnati 93 Built American Tough

aerus101 · #1 04-28-2010, 10:04 PM

Hi everyone,
Let me tell you all about my Ranger. Before I owned this truck, I used to see it parked in a drive that I passed all the time. I never saw the front of it because it was always parked facing the garage. It just always caught my attention because on the back you could clearly see "BUILT AMERICAN TOUGH" It didn't look good actually, but very striking, and I had no plans of one day buying it. This was about 8 years ago when I used to see it parked.

A couple a years ago started delivering pizza again. One of our drivers was the owner of the truck. I told him about about how I used to always see his truck and he gave me a little history about his truck he called "The Beast" That he had bought used from his cousin. I'm not sure which one of them wrecked it, but it's been busted up for a long time. I am including some photos.

Now that I know the previous owner and his driving habits, I believe I know why he called this this truck the beast. Well it is either because it was a bad ass truck, or that it was tough enough to perform with his abusive driving. I found that it was probably a good combination. He is on his 3rd vehicle since he sold it to me. I actually delivered pizza in it for about a year maybe longer, but after I used it to move last fall I parked it under a tree and it's been there since, just moved around a bit in it's spot. After the winter, it started on my first try.

The reason I stopped driving it is because one day when I used the rear bumper to push a car, I heard a snap. I inspected it to find that the shackles and mounts were rusted away and the suspension was resting on the bottom of the bed, starting to puncture through on the driver side. I still drove it several times after that, but I got access to another vehicle, so I just parked it after I got the most use out of it, and now the plates are expired.

Now that it's warm I am doing some badly need work on her. I found some threads on bed removal and got it off. I am a novice a car repair, so I am trying to learn as I go. My goal is to get my ranger back on the road asap, while doing my best to repair all the damages. The hard part is no extra money at this time, and then working on a budget.

chuckpo · #2 04-28-2010, 11:45 PM

Welcome and good luck on the project!

Tom · #3 04-28-2010, 11:55 PM

Sweet intro, welcome to FRF!

mikesturbo94 · #4 04-29-2010, 12:02 AM

Welcome to FRF

aerus101 · #5 04-29-2010, 12:34 AM

A few things I forgot to mention:
I paid $600 for this truck. I know that seems like too much, but I stole the deal from someone who was going to pay $500, and he let me make payments over a period of 3 months.
The chain on the hood is usually connected under where the header panel should be by a padlock, actually two because one day the hood flew open when one of the locks fell off, it wasn't completely closed I guess. I asked the previous owner how the hood got all bent up, he said he forgot to lock the chain one day in a rush to the auto parts store. I already knew the answer to that question.
The engine is a 2.3 liter, with 2WD manual transmission. The power steering doesn't work the previous owner was trying to repair it, but it pours out fluid. The rotors are paper thin. Despite all it's problems, it still feels great to drive. It's my first truck, but I've driven others.
I just removed the remnants of the the front end damage and spray painted the front end with rustoleum spray heavy rust primer after grinding some of the rust off. I am going to try to fix the e brake first, since it is easy to access at this point. I also painted the back of the frame with black rustoleum rust paint.

aerus101 · #6 04-29-2010, 12:51 AM

I'm sure it's difficult to see, but the previous paint job was designed like the American flag. The hood was blue with white stars, and there were red stripes on the sides I believe.

I think the wheels look nice.

The previous owner also said that he would replace the ball joints first, but I have no idea if he knows what he's talking about. This is not the original motor.

The motor has 8 plugs, but it's a four cylinder. I suppose it's the exact replacement for the original.

TerrenceStuart · #7 04-29-2010, 04:01 PM

welcome to FRF, Ralph!

STL · #8 04-29-2010, 05:42 PM

Welcome to FRF

aerus101 · #9 04-29-2010, 07:26 PM

Thank you guys for your welcome...
I am doing whatever work I can on the Ranger while I am saving for the parts I need. I've taken all the broken pieces off the front end, and I primed that badly rusted area with Rustoleum heavy rust primer, Eventually I may be able to replace that part the rusty section, but for now it should be functional and it won't be visible once the remaining parts are installed. I got the hood much straighter. It was bent from flying up while driving. Now it will open and close without making a loud grinding noise against the firewall cover, and it's no longer getting jammed up. My body work doesn't look perfect, just a major improvement from before.
If you notice in the close up picture of the driver door edge. I'm not prepared to work on this area, the door closes fine. I just want to make it look decent, instead of like a piece of crap.

aerus101 · #10 04-29-2010, 07:44 PM

Since I've had this truck, nearly two years, the only money that I put into repairs was for new spark plugs and wires, about $40, and new front brake lines. about $20. So this truck has more than paid for itself.
Every since I got it the previous owner always tells me. Yeah, that's a good truck, if you put a little money into her, she'll last you for a while. He's probably right. I wouldn't want to get rid of it unless I had another Ranger.
I learned to live without power steering. Now I don't need to go to the gym.

snakeranger · #11 05-01-2010, 09:00 PM

Welcome to FRF.

03crewcabranger · #12 05-04-2010, 12:52 PM

Looks like one good project. Welcome to FRF!

aerus101 · #13 05-26-2010, 05:26 PM

I've got a lot done on the Ranger in the past month. I straightened out as many bent body parts as I could. I got the cab painted with the rustoleum $50 paint job, almost ready to do the bed. Finishing up the leaf spring shackle and hanger replacements. I have one front hanger left to do. I still would like to replace the shocks and the e brake cables, and the gas filler neck is dry rotted and leaks a little when filling the tank, I'll have to fix that, hopefully some good tape will work for now because I can't afford that for a little while, so I'll be taking the bed off again later to fix those few things. Also I still need to get the parts from the junk yard to fix the front end. Once I get the bed back on and get my tags renewed, I will be driving her to the junk yard to look for parts.
I would recommend the rustoleum paint job for anyone who has a car that needs a makeover bad, who can't afford a factory paint job. My truck looks so good now, you don't even notice the wrecked parts. It is amazing. I will get some fresh pics soon. Thanks for checking out my newbie project.

aerus101 · #14 05-26-2010, 05:30 PM

The BUILT AMERICAN TOUGH is theme is going to be replaced with some do it yourself custom flames.
It actually reads on the tailgate "BUILTAMERICAN TOUGH" no space between built and American, and it looks terrible, so it's time to go.

aerus101 · #15 05-26-2010, 05:34 PM

If anyone needs advice on leaf spring hanger and shackle replacement, just ask, it's easy with a few tips and some elbow grease.