Not really having any luck posting images yet, but there should be some in my gallery. I will upload some more when I get a shot.

1975 Ranger XLT, 4WD, 390 (currently), NP435 (originally a C6), 205, D44 (standard), D60.

This truck migrated to Connecticut from Oregon about 10 years ago. Although I bought this locally (2/1/15), it is 100% rust free. Its time in CT has been garaged, and rain/ snow/ salt free.

I had been looking for one of these "highboys" for a couple years now, and ended up with this one; the stars aligned, I suppose. My Dad had a '73 that he bought new, which is where my inspiration came from. This isn't a DD; basically garage art unless I want to cruise it, or use it as a truck for house projects. I want to keep it pretty stock, although I am going through it little by little.

So far:
*Repaired and rewrapped the underhood wiring harness
*Fixed the in cab wiring, added a tach and gauge trio
*New headliner
*New cab lights
*New sun visors
*New shift ***** (custom made round jobbies)
*Saddle blanket style seat cover (this is temporary).
*Steam cleaned the under carriage
*Full engine tune up
*NOS exhaust manifolds, gaskets, and new (correct) hardware; stock
*Replaced the entire front axle assembly, as the original was bent. All new king pin bearings, wheel bearings, wiper seals, pinion seal, etc, etc.
*New shocks
*Wheel studs
*New 16" wheels, with fresh 315 75 16, load range E Firestone Destination A/Ts

I've been busy, and there is alot more coming. I just ordered a body mount and bushing kit. I just ordered a complete kit to rebuild the 205 (and a set of poly mounts). I have a bunch of new interior bits, and I am currently having new driveshafts made (front and rear).

Its a fun project, and I look forward to updating my progress here.

 

Sounds like a good project! I had a 75 back in the late 80's and am now "bit by bit" fixing up & restoring a 78 (I'm also in Oregon). You're a bit ahead of me although I've gotten mine drivable enough to make a 3 mile trip to Home Depot but not towing to the coast from Portland. I'll be dong a full engine maintenance this summer (new carb, all new hoses, plugs, wires, etc.) but I did get some relief that the compression was great in all cyl's.

Curious, what does the bushing kit entail and what does it gain you? I'm sure the ones in mine are pretty toast and if it gained you some quietness and ride control, I'd be all over it...probably next summer though.

BB

 

Sounds awesome! Let's see it!

 

 

Looks like the picture may have worked?

Sorry its the best one I have right now. I wll upload some more shortly.

I am doing the bushings because its supposed to firm up the ride a little, but primarily because I think failing bushings are to blame for a mismatch between the cab and bed body lines.

 

Mighty nice looking HB you have there. Are those original colors.

 

Excellent truck!

Love the color

 

The door tag shows the color code as M8, which is white/ green. I have seen the green called yellow/ green metallic, as well as Hatteras (sp) green?

I adjusted the timing yesterday. I was noting some hard starting, as well as very light pinging under certain engine loads. I discovered there was over 20 degrees of initial timing. I moved it back to 10, and all seems to be well.

I also added the carpeted door panel sections to the doors. I should take more pictures.

 

Some more pictures:

This was from the original Craigslist ad:



#2 from the original ad:



#3 from the original ad:



Picking it up on 2/1/15:



At home in my garage the day I picked it up:



The door tag:



Sticker in the door jamb:



One of the first things I did was change out the mirror hardware, and polish the mirrors with steel wool:



Steam cleaning the undercarriage to prepare for the service, front end rebuild, etc:



Honorary Oregon front plate I put on:



Previous owner added white gauge faces... not my favorite, but they will stay for now.



This shows my custom *****, fixed dash wiring, and the gauges I added:



This was taken after I put the new front axle in. The truck had a cambered driver's front wheel when I bought it. I thought it was king pin bearings, but it ended up being a bent housing. I soruced a replacement front from a '73, replaced all the bearings and seals, and painted it:



This is the most recent, previously posted:



There has been alot of project "scope creep" on this truck since I bought it. I haven't documented it well with pictures, though. Everytime I look at it, I end up ordering more parts.

 

The 390. The PO made a big deal about these Cal Custom valve covers (as well as the west coast steps the truck came with). I removed the steps, and these VCs are not far behind. I have a "correct" air cleaner and VCs that need to be painted. My Dad had a set of NOS manifolds in stock:



There was no battery hold down when I bought the truck; I got all the correct pieces from LMC. New plugs, wires, cap/ rotor, air filter, belts, coolant, oil/ filter, fuel filter, heater hoses, radiator cap (rad was new), and I wrapped the underhood harness in convoluted tubing. The original tape wrap was leaving town:



The truck has original tattered seat upholstery. I bought a cheap saddle blanket cover under I can source a local shop that will recover it (black/ white), with the original style pattern I want. The door panels were replaced by the PO (Dennis Carpenter/ metal pulls), and I added the carpeted lower sections. Can't see the new headliner and sun visors here (and I did the cab lights at the same time). I ran with the white faced gauges; I usually use Autometer, but they don't have a line that I thought "fit" the truck well. I also did all new pedal pads, and painted the pedal arms, and sticks. This was originally and automatic truck; the PO did an awesome job with a correct conversion.

 

I was looking back over some stuff for the truck and found some more pictures. of my truck. I really should document this stuff better; I will try and update this thread more!


When I took the truck apart to change the king pin bearings, wheel bearings, etc, I discovered that the driver's side housing stub was bent rearwards, and upwards.








You can somewhat make out the bend in this picture:



I must have been the only idiot in the world looking for a low pinion, closed knuckle 44. At the time, I was trying to minimize the truck down time, and did not want to fool with the master cylinder, brake valve, etc (which I ended up changing anyway).





All back together. This was an epic thing for me because I had driven the truck about 50 miles all together at this point...





This was the picture that spawned the next project session on the truck. The mismatched body lines on the passenger side were very concerning to me, even more so once I had discovered the front axle housing had been bent.

 

Wow, it took a hell of a hit to bend that... Lol someone had a good weekend.