Life after the "Terminator"

[jbrown1238]

Early this morning I sprayed the outside of both doors and fenders. Even though the inside of the fenders are not visible when installed I did decide to spray that section Dark Shadow Grey to match the floor pan. Now they just need to dry for two days and I can go ahead and hang them back on the cab. I can’t wait to get the cab weather tight. After the doors are hung the solid rear window will go in next weekend. Just a quick color sand and buff around the window opening and I will be good to go.

I paid special attention to the jamb along the hood opening and the door opening of the fender. The outside of the fender will be color sanded and polished but the jambs will be left with what ever comes out of the gun. I wanted to make sure these areas went down wet so there would be plenty of gloss and a very slick finish when the job is done. That way the towel will slide freely for years to come when I dry the jambs after washing the truck each week. : )

 

[jbrown1238]

I managed to get the sheet metal hung today and aligned. I also got the windows rolled up and the doors “sealed” so no rain should get inside the cab. I am still working between the rain drops trying to get a little done each day as I am able.

The motorcycle jack and the removable guide pins in the door hinges really helps make the removing/installing of the doors a one man project. Keep your fingers crossed! So far no nicks or scratches.

 

[jbrown1238]

This weekend my son was visiting home from Gainesville and the two of us disassembled the Explorer short block preparing it to be dropped at the machine shop for inspection. If everything checks out it will probably end up being the foundation for the 99 Ranger. This 100,000 mile engine is very clean inside and the pistons wiped clear with brake cleaner, a shop cloth, and very minimal effort.

Today I went ahead and tapped the oil galley holes. It was the last thing on the list before the block goes out for machine work. I started with a 1/4 NPT-18 tapered tap and cut all three holes under the timing cover. Now I can skip the press in plugs and go with a more secure alternative.

I then test fit the NPT tapered pipe plugs to make sure they mounted flush to the block. Once comfortable with the fit I removed them and stored them away until the block is ready for assembly.

While I was outside working on the block Fed Ex showed up with my Silvolite Pistons. I have been waiting for these for a long time. They have been "out of stock" at most suppliers for a while now.

 

[jbrown1238]

In between a busy work schedule this week I had a little time to media blast the oil pan and valve covers. With a little luck I will get a coat or two of primer and some color on them before the end of the week. I am still waiting for a break in the work schedule to get the block in for machining. I am just having trouble setting time aside during business hours to drop it off. My son will not be back from basic training until mid December or mid January. That is when we are planning to assemble the motor so I guess there is no real hurry on the machine work.

 

[jbrown1238]

I got the two coats of primer on the oil pan and valve covers a week or so ago. Now a quick scratch with 400 grit wet and they will be ready for another trip through the parts washer before the color goes on and the pieces get bagged and tagged while waiting for installation.

 

[jbrown1238]

I picked up the 8.8 rear from the media blaster. It sure looked nice clean down to the bone. The bare metal is 100% free from dirt and rust.

I put two light coats of primer/sealer on it before getting it ready for color.

 

[Cobra(ed) Up]

There is life after the Termi?

 

[jbrown1238]

After a quick dry scratch with 320 grit the black base color went on. Now the housing will be shelved until it is ready to go out and have the axle tubes trued and welded. Once that has been completed it will be rebuilt and then touched up with a final coat of paint before being installed.

 

[USNjocson]

Best build thread ever.
Click refresh and bam more pics.

+1 lol

OP with the attention to detail and hard work you put into this I hope you wont have to sell this ranger like you did to the terminator. Very clean project

 

[jbrown1238]

I almost forgot, the engine plates showed up from stradashop. Great bargin by the way! I test fit them and decided to take a little off the sides so they will be going out for a trim before paint.

 

[jbrown1238]

I cut the excess material off the engine plates and also “clearanced” the inside section of the left side plate where it interfered with the engine block. After the adjustments the plates were test fitted and painted flat black.

 

[jbrown1238]

As the engine assembly date grows closer I am still adding last minute items to the build list. Christmas 2012 was good and many of these items were dropped at the front door by Santa over the past week.

Clevite Assembly Lube

Clevite 77 rod bearings, CB-634 P Standard size

Clevite 77 main bearings, MS-590 P Standard size

ARP flywheel bolts

Ford Racing timing chain set

Fel Pro valve cover gaskets

Fel Pro oil pan gasket

 

[jbrown1238]

I picked up the crankshaft from the machine shop after being polished. Once a few quick photos of the finished work were collected I took a couple measurements with a micrometer to verify everything was still within spec. 2.248" main journals and 2.123" rod journals.

After that the crankshaft was cleaned and lightly oiled then bagged and stored away alongside the heads and intake.

 

[jbrown1238]

The block is now at the machine shop going through the paces. First step is a run through the thermal cleaning process. File photos.

Now out of the oven and ready for the next step.

Then the block was rotated inside a blast cabinet while being hit with steel shot to clean off the ash and any excess material.

Next step is a .030 overbore, bringing the old Explorer 5.0 block up to 306 cubic inches.

Last step is a final hone to bring the bore diameter and bore finish up to perfectly match the diameter of the oversized Silvolite pistons.

 

[jbrown1238]

The machine shop took a few extra days finishing up the work on my 5.0 block. They called to let me know it would be ready at 4:00pm today. I picked it up, got it home early this evening, lightly oiled the machined surfaces, and managed to collect a few photos. It is currently located inside my house next to the crank, intake, and heads.

 

[jbrown1238]

I did some minor clean up on the block today and double checked to make sure I covered all the machined surfaces with a good light coat of oil the other night. It was late when I got it home and rushed through the process a bit quicker than I would have liked. After that I went ahead and painted the exterior black and moved it back inside the house where it will be measured once again just to verify the machine work is accurate.

Lets hope my wife doesn't need anything from the second bedroom! She won't like this! Getting away with this sort of thing is all in the details. A new hand truck was secured so no dirty wheel marks made it on to the carpet. Then a quick reminder note to run the vacuum over the wheel impressions and poof! they are gone! Now the block can go in and out of the house with ease.

This is one of my personal favorites. It shows my new 306 block along with a photo of my first V8 Ranger leaving work under throttle.

New Clevite cam bearings installed.

 

[TClark22]

That looks like great work.

But looks like you could have kept the cobra for all this work to 2 rangers?!?

 

[jbrown1238]

+1 lol

OP with the attention to detail and hard work you put into this I hope you wont have to sell this ranger like you did to the terminator. Very clean project

You and me both. I admit part of doing the Ranger is the fact that it will never be worth any real money. All the more reason to keep it.

 

[jbrown1238]

That looks like great work.

But looks like you could have kept the cobra for all this work to 2 rangers?!?

Probably so. But space was limited and it was getting more and more difficult to keep everything clean.

 

[jbrown1238]

I started today’s task list with cleaning and chasing the main cap threads in the block. First a good shot of brake cleaner down the bolt hole, then a swipe or two with a wire brush, followed by a well oiled main cap fastener threaded deep into the hole.

After all of the holes were chased I carefully wiped them down with a clean cloth and then wiped down all of the main cap fasteners. Then I test fit the main bearings into the block and each of the main caps.

Then I lightly set the main caps and torque them down to 65lbs per square inch and moved on to measuring the main cap bore diameter with the Clevite bearings installed. After the math was done I ended up with .0025 of oil clearance on each of the main bearings at 90 degrees from the parting line.

Then I moved on to measuring the piston diameter. I came up with 4.030 across the board on each of the eight Silvolite pistons.

Next step was to check the cylinder bore diameter to verify piston to wall clearance. I zeroed the dial bore gauge and moved forwarded in the same manner as with the main bearing oil clearance.

Now that several of the critical measurements have been established and the machine work has been verified as correct the block is ready to be fully washed and prepared for final assembly. The main caps will be removed and the main bearings will be numbered by location and individually bagged and sealed until they are needed.