Lets fix this rusty pile of @&#$
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First plan, knock off a few post offices to fund this idea.
The truck is over 5 years old now, so it needs a little TLC. My plan WAS as follows:
Remove everything I added. Rear lid, bars, lights etc.
Sweep the rust off the driveway - thanks Ford.
Fix the oil leak on the crank seal
Fix the weeping on the front diff seals
Refurbish the alloy wheels
New grille DRL's
Refurbish all the LED lightbars
Full underseal treatment
Repaint the brake calipers
Full valet
Paint the oil sump and treat the rust
Refurbish the towbar
Polish the rear aluminium lid
New decals
Sort anything else that has dropped off
Would be nice if time:
LED lamps all the way around
Arch extension kit (either black or colour coded)
Wheels spacers to match the above arches
Bonnet protector guard
Interior gauges
Install integral air compressor
Catalytic converter bypass using electric valves and maybe a second muffler
New BF Goodrich tyres
Fit a front mounted winch behind the grille
This part of the list turned out to be a little too optimistic...
This is the predicted state of my Ford Ranger in another year...
Strip down to err.... something solid... there must be something solid somewhere
First job then, remove all the lights (which was easier than I thought). When I refit them, I will add inline plugs and sockets to make future removal easier.
The front chrome 'A' bar was in pretty good shape and just needed a damn good polish. The LED bars on the front however were not looking well. They have suffered pretty badly with corrosion.
I think it might be a case of dis-similar metals not helping. From what I can work out, the end caps of the lights are galvanised (which has corroded really badly), with an aluminium extruded centre section (heatsink) and then very rusty metal support brackets.
The front chrome 'A' bar was in pretty good shape and just needed a damn good polish. The LED bars on the front however were not looking well. They have suffered pretty badly with corrosion.
I think it might be a case of dis-similar metals not helping. From what I can work out, the end caps of the lights are galvanised (which has corroded really badly), with an aluminium extruded centre section (heatsink) and then very rusty metal support brackets.
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To be honest, you ask yourself whether its worth fixing these items. The LED lights are SO cheap now, that you might as well just go and buy new ones.
So... 6x new lights have been purchased. At £16 each it is just not worth trying to renovate the old ones. The old lights now live in my workshop as bench lighting. The stainless clips I used to secure them are OK. A good clean should sort those out. Also purchased some decent inline connectors. Originally I used shrink-wrapped inline crimps, but being able to unplug them would be handy. |
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Surface rust all over the place.
Behind the rear bumper is pretty bad. Underneath has yet to be investigated, but there are certainly signs of surface rust all over the chassis. I WISH they would underseal these trucks from new. |
I coated the rear of the bumper with rust converter (after a good cleaning and degrease). Once it had turned purple, I coated all the metal with smooth Hammerite. Its all out of sight really, but I want to try and prevent it getting much worse.
Polished the chrome and she is ready to refit. However, I need to sort out the towbar first, as this rear bumper attached to the towbar supports.
Polished the chrome and she is ready to refit. However, I need to sort out the towbar first, as this rear bumper attached to the towbar supports.
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The plastic coated towbar is proving to be a real pain to clean up.
Where the plastic coating has rusted underneath... easy, it just scrapes off. The heat gun or blowtorch (what toxic fumes?) makes it even easier. But, where the plastic coating is still adhered to the metal, its almost impossible to get it off. I ended up starting a fire in my steel garden incinerator at the end of the garden and throwing it in there. |
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Wow, that worked a treat. All the coating turned to dust and it came out completely back to the bare metal.
Hammerite smooth will be the weapon of choice. I have already drenched the entire metal framework in rust to metal converter.
Hammerite smooth will be the weapon of choice. I have already drenched the entire metal framework in rust to metal converter.
Just when you think Ford can't get any worse...
Well the weeping front diff seals and slight oil leak on the crank seal were the top of the fix list. I shopped around for the best price for this work, as you need special tools to remove the diffs.
Amazingly, my local Chippenham Ford garage came in cheapest... that should have been the warning.
After 2 days I get a call to say 'Oh, we can't do them as we don't have the special tool'. FFS REALLY... You are the Ford commercial garage!
So they sent off for the tools, but that meant not getting the truck back for the lovely sunny bank holiday weekend. So no progress on anything else yet.
Have I mentioned how rubbish Ford are?
Anyway, nearly 3 WEEKS later I get it back. Completed, and after they broke the ABS sensors (at their expense).
So, I start cleaning and undersealing the rear of the truck. A horrific messy job that basically ends in throwing out your clothes.
Hmm. what's that patch of oil under the front? Oh, the new crank seal is leaking. ARRGHHH
Back to Ford for them to have another fumble in the dark and repair at their expense. I just don't trust their work.
So, the truck was off the road for another week while they repaired what they have got wrong once already. Trouble is, I don't trust them to have repaired it properly now, as they just don't seem to know what they are doing.
So, while investigating this oil leak, I remove the front sump guard. That was rapidly disappearing in a pile of rust as well.
The mounting points are a horizontal crossbeam that sits behind the front bumper. Rusted.... totally gone. Could just pull bits off.
The quality of this truck is just appalling, I would never touch another Ford again after seeing this build quality.
I love the look of this truck, its better than the VW Anorak in my opinion, and the bland new shape Navara. Hilux etc.
But... NEVER AGAIN. Ford Rangers are just not made very well (even the guy at the Ford garage admitted that).
Let a week pass. IT'S LEAKING AGAIN.
The only reason I am letting Chippenham Ford London Road have a third attempt is because why the hell should they get away with it.
I drop it back again, and this time they tell me they need a special tool to align the crank seal. So how the hell did you align it the first two times then? #Bodgingmechanics
I leave it with them for a further 2 weeks. We are approaching 7 weeks to fix an oil leak that they made worse.
Now they apparently have to borrow the required tools.
When I call for a progress update, I get the 'we will call you back in a minute' crap and nobody ever does.
Finally, I collect it on the Saturday morning, but I am informed that the crank cover is slightly bent and that they have filled the gap with sealant. Brilliant. I wonder how that cover that has been fine for 5 years got bent then?
Seriously.
DON'T BUY FORD.
DON'T BUY FORD RANGERS!
Amazingly, my local Chippenham Ford garage came in cheapest... that should have been the warning.
After 2 days I get a call to say 'Oh, we can't do them as we don't have the special tool'. FFS REALLY... You are the Ford commercial garage!
So they sent off for the tools, but that meant not getting the truck back for the lovely sunny bank holiday weekend. So no progress on anything else yet.
Have I mentioned how rubbish Ford are?
Anyway, nearly 3 WEEKS later I get it back. Completed, and after they broke the ABS sensors (at their expense).
So, I start cleaning and undersealing the rear of the truck. A horrific messy job that basically ends in throwing out your clothes.
Hmm. what's that patch of oil under the front? Oh, the new crank seal is leaking. ARRGHHH
Back to Ford for them to have another fumble in the dark and repair at their expense. I just don't trust their work.
So, the truck was off the road for another week while they repaired what they have got wrong once already. Trouble is, I don't trust them to have repaired it properly now, as they just don't seem to know what they are doing.
So, while investigating this oil leak, I remove the front sump guard. That was rapidly disappearing in a pile of rust as well.
The mounting points are a horizontal crossbeam that sits behind the front bumper. Rusted.... totally gone. Could just pull bits off.
The quality of this truck is just appalling, I would never touch another Ford again after seeing this build quality.
I love the look of this truck, its better than the VW Anorak in my opinion, and the bland new shape Navara. Hilux etc.
But... NEVER AGAIN. Ford Rangers are just not made very well (even the guy at the Ford garage admitted that).
Let a week pass. IT'S LEAKING AGAIN.
The only reason I am letting Chippenham Ford London Road have a third attempt is because why the hell should they get away with it.
I drop it back again, and this time they tell me they need a special tool to align the crank seal. So how the hell did you align it the first two times then? #Bodgingmechanics
I leave it with them for a further 2 weeks. We are approaching 7 weeks to fix an oil leak that they made worse.
Now they apparently have to borrow the required tools.
When I call for a progress update, I get the 'we will call you back in a minute' crap and nobody ever does.
Finally, I collect it on the Saturday morning, but I am informed that the crank cover is slightly bent and that they have filled the gap with sealant. Brilliant. I wonder how that cover that has been fine for 5 years got bent then?
Seriously.
DON'T BUY FORD.
DON'T BUY FORD RANGERS!
GALLERY OF RUST
So, after quite literally using up an entire wire brush and two full tubs of Rust treatment, we are ready to start putting the back end of the truck together again.
I converted as much of the rust as possible to a decent surface and then undersealed all the chassis rails and box section.
The driveshafts, rear diff, and all associated equipment got a coat of black direct to rust paint.
You are not supposed to paint moving parts, but quite frankly... most of it doesn't actually move and if I don't do something, the only place it will move is onto the road as I am driving.
I converted as much of the rust as possible to a decent surface and then undersealed all the chassis rails and box section.
The driveshafts, rear diff, and all associated equipment got a coat of black direct to rust paint.
You are not supposed to paint moving parts, but quite frankly... most of it doesn't actually move and if I don't do something, the only place it will move is onto the road as I am driving.
I think I am going to retitle this page to ...
Catastrophic Corrosion Event
While working under the back, I had the wheels chocked, a pair of 3 tonne axle stands and a 3 tonne trolley jack. Although, if it fell on me, I would probably just go straight through the bodywork in a plume of rust dust.
The rear drums were pretty bad, but I simply rubbed them down and painted them with direct to rust paint. Ideally, they would get replaced, but you have to draw a line somewhere.
I did notice that the rear shock absorbers are pretty... well, shocking. They will also need changing pretty soon.
The rear drums were pretty bad, but I simply rubbed them down and painted them with direct to rust paint. Ideally, they would get replaced, but you have to draw a line somewhere.
I did notice that the rear shock absorbers are pretty... well, shocking. They will also need changing pretty soon.
Rangers Assemble
So, undersealing is completed as far as I can go. I painted the diff housings, driveshafts and 'mechanical' metalwork with either brush-on, or spray satin black Hammerite. Any severe rust was treated first (especially anywhere under the Waxoyl sealer.
Rear graphics were a mere £4. And, I actually like them. I wanted to go down the route of a full side graphic, but just could not find any that didn't look nasty.
Lights re-installed, painted the grille on the snorkel (it had rusted), roof rack back on and re-fitted the wheels.
Painted the centre hubs on the alloys as they were pretty shot. The alloys have corroded, and I planned to get them refurbished, but its just not worth it.
You can get new alloys so cheap now it almost isn't worth the effort getting the old ones repaired.
Installed the DRL's I got from Ebay. Yea, fit a Ford Ranger do they? #negative feedback. They took some serious adapting to make them fit.
Rear lid re-installed, and were are nearing the finish line. The CB aerial (yes, I have a CB - does anyone else?) corrodes very quickly.
I have repainted that thing several times. Again, cheaper and quicker to just replace it.
Rear graphics were a mere £4. And, I actually like them. I wanted to go down the route of a full side graphic, but just could not find any that didn't look nasty.
Lights re-installed, painted the grille on the snorkel (it had rusted), roof rack back on and re-fitted the wheels.
Painted the centre hubs on the alloys as they were pretty shot. The alloys have corroded, and I planned to get them refurbished, but its just not worth it.
You can get new alloys so cheap now it almost isn't worth the effort getting the old ones repaired.
Installed the DRL's I got from Ebay. Yea, fit a Ford Ranger do they? #negative feedback. They took some serious adapting to make them fit.
Rear lid re-installed, and were are nearing the finish line. The CB aerial (yes, I have a CB - does anyone else?) corrodes very quickly.
I have repainted that thing several times. Again, cheaper and quicker to just replace it.
Looking a whole lot better
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