Sportsman Class Race Ranger Build

[TMorf]

Hey guys, figured I would post up my build thread on here and get some more offroad content going.

My buddy Mikey bought this truck a few years ago with the intentions of turning it into a weekend warrior to cruise out to races and have some fun in, basically getting more smiles per mile so to speak. Over time, that went out the window and it turned into a full blown race truck. Long story short, the build got out of hand and he wanted something a little simpler. I talked to him for a few hours and we eventually traded the Ranger, trailer and all the spares for my Chenowth 4LWD race buggy, trailer, and all my spares.

Truck started out lock stock and super clean with very low miles:



The truck was then outfitted with a simple beam kit, bolt in bedcage and some other simple stuff. But that went out the window when he found a deal on some used links, 9" housing etc:







From there he took the truck out a few times going through the usual teething issues with a newly built truck:



Added another spare and swapped some stuff to the back to keep the weight behind the rear tires:



Mounted up the Explorer conversion clip and bedsides before the first race, Battle at Primm in 09 I think it was:



Added some much needed accessories in the cooler, boat seats, and umbrella mount:



From there he ran a couple races here and there and took it out to the desert a bunch. Thats when we ended up swapping vehicles...

[HB Vic]

Very cool and nice work.

[papaletch4130]

Bitchen ranger i always like the bed mounted seats!!

[WMC]

Cool build. I also like the accessories

[TMorf]

Lost my log in info and got tied up with real life, but Ill bump this up next week with more updates.

[TMorf]

So at this point the truck had raced a time or two and gone through the usual teething problems. The previous owner then ran SNORE's Battle at Primm in 2010 and finished somewhere in the top 10 out of over 50 starters despite a stock 4.0 motor and junkyard 5 speed manual, while I placed 4th in Class 12 with a pump gas motor, bus box trans and 101" wheelbase.



We then raced together in August at the MDR California 200, which Im sure many of you know the unfortunate story of.



After the 2011 SNORE Battle at Primm, there was a thread on another internet message board questioning the spirit of the 1450 class. For those that dont know, aside from the safety rules there are only two other rules including a metal cab as delivered and functioning metal doors. Everything else is open, meaning you can literally put a Ford Ranger cab on a tube chassis truck with a big horsepower V8. For whatever reason, I posted that I was willing to trade my buggy dubbed the Mini 12, spares and trailer for someones Ford 1450 truck. I didnt think anyone would actually take me up on the offer until I got a text from Mikey about his interest. We talked on the phone for over an hour going over everything from parts to spares to what was wrong, and a week later we met at Commerce Casino and signed over the pinks.

[TMorf]

After we traded, we put a new clutch in because it was fried and did a general quick prep to take it out to Barstow. It was night and day driving a 4 linked truck compared to the buggy.



The ring gear bolts in the third member came loose, we ejected one of them out of the back of the housing but it was still worth it. Currie hooked us up with a brand new third member and two brand new axles. Took it down to Plaster City to watch the HDRA race in 2011 and took it out whenever the 7S I codrive went testing just to get more miles on it. Later that year in October, we let the girls race Powder Puff in Barstow. First heat we got third in class 1450 after one of them got stuck and we had to give them a tug which wasnt bad. We had more experienced drivers run in 1400, but the first lap the motor was having some kind of electrical issue that a simple wiggle test fixed but about 15 miles later they put a pinhole in the radiator. We loaded them up with water and they would stop every 5 miles or so whenever there were people around and toss them a couple bottles to top it off. We only finished 1 lap in 1400 but all in all it wasnt bad for the first time the truck raced in our hands. Note the ribbon adorned crimson ghost on the hood... ha ha.



After this we took a run from Barstow to Giant Rock southeast of Lucerne to put some more dirt miles on it. We dropped the new radiator in the day before but forgot to burp the system, so after 5 miles the temp went way up so we stopped at Slash X and used some well water to top it off after burping. Shortly after making Giant Rock the stupid electrical gremlins hit and the truck would not run correctly. We drove towards the 247 hoping to make it back to Barstow without some CHP interference but the truck made the decision for us. A la my many cold nights in Baja we snagged a bit of fuel from the truck and lit a fire. This was kind of the nail in the coffin as far as needing to rebuild the truck from the ground up to get it to the point like the 12 car was, dialed prep and no DNFs.

[TMorf]

I ended up picking up a C4 trans with all the stuff to mate it to the 4.0 OHV motor, a new OHV motor with an unstripped harness that I could do myself and spares for spares. We stripped the truck of all its wiring



Couple more lights and real gauges.



Carbon fiber dash to replace the sheet metal one that we cut out.



Ended up selling the stock motor I got and bought another 4.0 from a friend who went to a V8. Luckily this one came with a stripped harness, tuned and chipped computer, JBA headers, bigger throttle body and other misc bolt on stuff. I dont want to build it internally yet, when it starts to get tired I have pistons, cams and some other stuff at the ready.



Mounted up a new Ron Davis radiator and other misc stuff like an overflow.

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Last weekend we pulled the fuel cell out to weld up some misc stuff that isnt welded 360 degrees.

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At this point in time, we are working doing the usual out with the old and in with the new type of work. The new motor is in, has all the wires ran and the computer is mounted. The new radiator is 100% mounted. This weekend we should be able to get the welding done and get the cell back in and hooked up besides the breather that we need to replace because it is too slow. Im guessing that the 90 degree fitting and small tube is to blame, so it should be an easy fix. If we have time then the wiring should start to make headway and hopefully have the ignition done with the new push start and lay out all the switches on the dash. The big hurdle will be ordering a second trans cooler because the C4 likes to get hot behind a 4.0 because of the small bellhousing. Two 11x18" Griffin coolers should do the trick no problem.

There was a lot of work, swapped 5 speeds, late nights and things like that I passed on posting, but from here on out Ill try to have everything updated whenever we make some headway.

[TMorf]

Gauges and GPS mounted, had to rework the support tubes a bit to clear the far left gauge but NBD. Torched in the second battery mount after finally buying a chop saw. Going to have to buy the cooler mount relocation kit but we will deal with it. Going to start some of the pain in the ass wiring today.

[TMorf]

Burned through about 30 feet of wiring today. All that's left is the ECU, starter, battery cables for the second Optima. Gauges aren't wired either but I need a sending unit or two... Almost there, got everything needed to mount the C4 besides another set of hands haha.

Where it all began:



No more keyed ignition, full race:



LED strip for the dome light:



GPS, Eagle aka Lowrance:



Brake, amber and blue light special: