76 Ranger Upgrades

[crawlin68]

A friend of mine recently purchased a 76 Ranger EB for his 16 year old daughter for her first car as soon as she get her drivers license. This was her choice of vehicles to drive. I thought that was pretty cool! Overall it's a really nice Bronco. It looks like someone did the bare minimum to get it ready to sell. Zip ties everywhere, 2 bolts holding down the seats down, bolts missing from the door hinges, The doors are so far out of alignment you can barely even open and close them, the heater was not even hooked up. Just a lot of detail work was missing. So I have taken it on as a project to get it ready (and safe) for his daughter to drive. Upgrades that we have talked about so far include, new door hinges and align the doors so you can open and close them. Boom mat everywhere, carpet kit, headliner, roll bar padding, Holley Sniper EFI, new fuel tank, Vintage Air system and just a ton small things that need to be addressed.

Oh yeah, I turned him on to the Marti Report and he got the report back showing that is indeed a real Ranger. Pretty cool.

[904Bronco]

Re: 76 Ranger Upgrades

I am Watching this thread Patrick

[CityHick]

Re: 76 Ranger Upgrades

Awesome, I really like the way that Bronco looks. Good stance, good color, not overdone. Sounds like a lot of good upgrades to come as well.
Someday I want to build a closer-to-stock Bronco. This is a pretty good template for my ideas!

[onpier55]

Re: 76 Ranger Upgrades

Nice looking first vehicle.

[71BRONCO71]

Re: 76 Ranger Upgrades

zip ties and missing bolts....
sounds like my rig.

[crawlin68]

Re: 76 Ranger Upgrades

I got the interior removed and installed the Boom Mat everywhere that I could reach. I put it all the up in the rear quarter panels. I removed the heater so I could get it all the way up the firewall to the cowl. I took the doors apart and put in inside the doors too.

[904Bronco]

Re: 76 Ranger Upgrades

Nice work Patrick... That is a lot of BM!

[crawlin68]

Re: 76 Ranger Upgrades

I got the carpet kit fitted and installed and reinstalled the seats along with some retractable 3 point seat belts. WOW, what a huge difference the Boom Mat and carpet made. Huge reduction of road noise in the Bronco. Now you can hold a normal conversation quite nicely while driving down the road.

[onpier55]

Re: 76 Ranger Upgrades

Where did you pick up the boom mat?

[crawlin68]

Re: 76 Ranger Upgrades

Where did you pick up the boom mat?

I got it at Summit Racing. They are running a special right now when you buy the box of Boom Mat, they include the roller tool for free.

[onpier55]

Re: 76 Ranger Upgrades

Thanks.

[California Monkey]

Re: 76 Ranger Upgrades

carpet kits really bring the interiors of the bronco up a level. Love the plush-ness.

[House]

Re: 76 Ranger Upgrades

Looking good Pat!

[crawlin68]

Re: 76 Ranger Upgrades

I dove into the Vintage Air installation this weekend. I started under the hood first. Since this Bronco is equipped with power steering, I first had to relocate the power steering pump lower to make room for the compressor. I got the power steering bracket and the compressor bracket from Vintage Air. They are both nice pieces that came with all of the needed hardware. I was a little disappointed that the brackets came raw steel. I thought they would have been powder coated or at least painted. Oh well. As you can see, the upper radiator hose is right in the way of where the compressor is going to want to be. Here are a few pics.

[onpier55]

Re: 76 Ranger Upgrades

Cool. Looking good.