94 ranger build

[SteveMostly]

Hey guys, new to the forum
I posted this in the rangers forum but it’s kinda dead so I’d like to archive here now

I’m building a 95 Ranger/Mazda
Located in norcal/ oakdale area

So to start this story my brother has been in the scene for a while now and has had a few trucks and I bought his first truck from him after he decided to upgrade
The truck was an 88 single cab ranger he got for $400 sold it to me for $700, I threw some 10” kings on it and scored some f150 beams for it as well.


Took it to a few tough trucks and rolled it on my second run out. Pretty much wasted the truck. Cage was crap as it was just bolted to the cab. Parted it out mostly and waited to find another deal to actually build a legit truck.




That was in 2018 so fast forward to last year in august we moved from the Bay Area to the valley. My neighbor had an extended cab ranger on a trailer with a flat bed and he was trying to get rid of it for a friend, offered the guy 400$ and we drove it over to our yard. Pulled the flat bed off and sold that for parts fund.




Then started the disassembly stage
Pulling the front off and engine



Found some d44 ends I needed for some giant WIY beams we were gonna run
And started chopping those up to weld to the new beams

Me and the gf went to Disneyland and I figured it would be a good time to grab the beam kit , ended up getting hangers from Geoff as well since I was gonna need them anyway

We got back and pulled the truck into the shop and removing all the front steering and suspension.

 

[SteveMostly]

Mocked up the hangers for a pic then I ordered some diy off-road plans for I think is baker fab steering swinger


Also got an affordable bender and started on the beams, was my first time using a bender, I think they came out okay
And my brother does all the major welding since he has a ton more experience in it than I do I’ll usually tack where we want it and he’ll finish it up


Front end all cleaned up ready for fresh parts







Bought the cage from. TE Designs , nice cage and really easy the assemble everything is marked with a laser so we prepped the tubes and started getting everything together




Beams finished and mocked up



Next was radius arm pivots from baker fab


Started to work the tie rods with some scrap I had to kind of see how everything was gonna fit and started plating the frame

 

[SteveMostly]

We went racin at prairie city just outside of sac and ended up getting second with my brothers truck. Have some overheating issues but other than that the truck rides good, it’s short track racing with NorCal rock racing in the Prerunner class



Also got a 350 from a friends table for free so started tearing that down to clean and rebuild with a cam






Started making a new pitman arm with a little more reach
And more steering tubes mocked up


Hit up oddball motor sports for the radius arms and started welding those up and figuring out the camber and caster for the beams




Had some holes needed filling in the cab so got on those as well



More radius arm pics
And some candy showed up from poly performance





And started on designing some master cylinders for the brakes
These are 3d printed for mock up purposes


Brothers truck was in the shop getting some work done so I had to swoop a wheel and see how it would look
Gonna need a set asap


Masters mocked up
Ended up taking out the whole firewall so we’ll have to remount these guy

And a Toyota one peice on a ranger?? Brother in law wanted to see how it looked




Lower shock mounts

Cam showed up and made a stainless steel double shear for the pitman arm

 

[SteveMostly]

Made a bracket for the brake set up and a billet pedal instead of the stock wilwood pad

And started to box the frame in





Now was time to throw the engine in and get the mounts tacked in



Realized we wanted to push it way back so there goes the tunnel and firewall



Engine mocked up to get mounts set for turbo400 and engine



Pitman arm double shear tab


Shift kit for the th400 going in noW




Next was engine cage



Engine tear down for cam and parts





New ls6 springs as well


Resurfaced intake rod and new exhaust rods

Going back together

And while I was rebuilding this one I picked up an lm7 from my brother in law







Got the front part X in the cage gonna run the LS after my first season, gonna build it up while I run the 350 for now



Rear trailing arm pivots came in so I’ll mess with those soon

Engine is mounted now and headers going on soon

 

[SteveMostly]

Started working on interior paneling cage and firewall recently

Mounting shifter and ebrake



I know the tacks look like shit for now but we’ll be cleaning them up after final fitment


Seat mounts being tacked in and got some McNeil glass for the rear came in makes the stock real look tiny





Engine is close to being ready for a test start and cam break in
Did some quick and dirty wiring to get that going as well as a 3d printed gauge bezel so they’re not rolling around the floor


Hoping to start it later this week or next week


Also 3d printed a dome light mount. Here’s half other half is still printing.

 

[2012SVTSC]

That looks like a fun truck! Nice work, it's going to be a blast when you are done.

 

[SteveMostly]

Finally started the engine
This is my first build so I was stoked that it started right up and we broke in the cam for a bit
Camburg rear end showed up so we put the upper link bracket on and threw the snout on, still need to weld those up

Was down south for a Harley show and hit up Geoff from giant and picked up some WIY lower links.

Also my fiberwerx dash showed up so mounted that as well still gotta get the gauges figured out and gonna wrap it.



Pulled the motor and trans today to get all the panel and firewall tubes 360 welded and waiting on the panels now to mount them and getting ready to cut the back half off. Shooting for tmrw on that.
Post more pics when we start the work in the next few days.

 

[jonsangel]

That 3D printed dome light is cool.

 

[SteveMostly]

That 3D printed dome light is cool.

Thanks dude
Yeah it’s billet now
I usually 3d print everything for fitment before machining parts

 

[SteveMostly]

Back half was cut off today
Threw the links and rear end near it to just drink a beer and take it all in

 

[exp24]

A complete back half will turn out way better and look clean!

 

[Chancegoodman]

Are you doing the back half yourself or did you buy the te kit?

 

[SteveMostly]

Doing it ourselves
My brother has had a few trucks so we’re gonna just fab it up

 

[SteveMostly]

Since the last post I got some of the panels
My guy was taking too long so I decided to just grab a sheet of steel and do most of the stuff myself
Ended up making a small press break for my press to bend sheet.


Fire wall and interior paneling is done now
Was doing some fitment checks on the rear fenders with the wheels on

Started the back half and got the fuel cell set where it was going to go

Fully tucked
And started working on the spare mounts


Got an old Toyota throttle pedal assembly cuz the billet one that was on the floor wasn’t going to work with the space I had down there
Gonna make a billet cover for the plate it’s and all my washers for the dash and panels are at anodize right now getting gunmetal gray

Also got the rear shock mounts in from sent cut send and welded those on too

It’s getting close but there’s so many little things it needs to be driving
Still need driveline 3rd member/ axles / wheels and tires

Probably start brake lines this week. The engine is back in after I painted the firewall and the interior so that should be done for now
Gotta get a couple spark plugs, 2 snapped off when removing the engine last time

Then the headers can go back on and I can get the plug wires and the engine wires buttoned up.

 

[SteveMostly]

Firewall and front end tubes painted

Also painted interior tubes and raptor lined the floors pic is too big I’ll take one tmrw and post it

Started on the radiator mounts as well I’ll prob get that done this week as well
Gonna start sourcing some radiator tubing to get that plumbed and gotta make oil and trans cooler mounts


Designed and made some hubs, 2.5” timken bearings waiting on the set from anodize too.




Started to get some panels wrapped
The dash looks like shit prob try that again another time but for now I’m just gonna leave it
Threw the gauges in for the picture made a billet switch pros faceplate anodized the gray to match the rest of the theme.

Also was down in San Diego last weekend so had to grab some springs from king. Always wanted to check that spot out and their shop is sick.

Should have another update soon

 

[FasterNU]

you must do Mosport Machine?

I want more info on that brake pedal pad for wilwood pedal ... but i didnt see it on website

 

[SteveMostly]

you must do Mosport Machine?

I want more info on that brake pedal pad for wilwood pedal ... but i didnt see it on website

I’ll send you some pics on instagram I only made one for now but I’ll get some made and throw them on the site

 

[FasterNU]

Ideally.. i would want one to extend the pedal length some in addition to the larger size of course..

 

[SteveMostly]

Ideally.. i would want one to extend the pedal length some in addition to the larger size of course..

No problem just give me the size you want and I can do a custom
Same bolt pattern?

 

[FasterNU]

ok, I am game for one for sure. pretty sure it is same bolt pattern.

i will sketch something out when I get some time. might be a little bit. I need to focus on paint in next few weeks. And taking old truck, 2ghetto, to the TerraCrew event.

Edit: What is current dimension on height and width from bolt pattern. I'd like to compare to the wilwood one.