Project 'Smokey' - '72 Ranger XLT

[Bullitt74]

California Mustang was selling those as repro's a couple years ago. I ended up with one and the studs didn't line up with the holes. Foam rubber felt like a soggy dog toy, not stiff like the OEM ones. I ended up selling it and installed a nicer original. PITA to deal with all those little studs.

I think this one was made with the original tooling, as it had the 'Ford' oval embossed into the foam on the backside (stiff foam). I certainly wouldn't call it a perfect fit, as I couldn't quite get the front edges to suck tight to the metal dash. The studs did line up with the holes nicely though. The reason I think they were 'seconds' was because a guy was selling 3 of them for $200 each. Even at that time, they were at least $400 for the Dashes Direct-made ones that use the original tooling, so too good of a deal to be true. My warpage issues probably have more to do with how I stored it.

Good originals are getting really hard to come by - I think in Canada they probably crack due to the cold. Have you folks in the US had better luck finding originals in good shape?

[Ranchero50]

Last good one I got came out of a camper with the roof top box. I'd gotten another out of an ex U haul truck but it had a blown apart windshield.

[Manny]

Catching up on these threads as i missed a month. Man this thing is absolutely gorgeous, and just fantastic. Thank you so much for your detailed write ups and research! Thing looks great and can't wait to see it finished!!!

[MikeB]

California Mustang was selling those as repro's a couple years ago. I ended up with one and the studs didn't line up with the holes. Foam rubber felt like a soggy dog toy, not stiff like the OEM ones. I ended up selling it and installed a nicer original. PITA to deal with all those little studs.

I think this one was made with the original tooling, as it had the 'Ford' oval embossed into the foam on the backside (stiff foam). I certainly wouldn't call it a perfect fit, as I couldn't quite get the front edges to suck tight to the metal dash. The studs did line up with the holes nicely though. The reason I think they were 'seconds' was because a guy was selling 3 of them for $200 each. Even at that time, they were at least $400 for the Dashes Direct-made ones that use the original tooling, so too good of a deal to be true. My warpage issues probably have more to do with how I stored it.

Good originals are getting really hard to come by - I think in Canada they probably crack due to the cold. Have you folks in the US had better luck finding originals in good shape?

Sounds like a good deal to me Maybe this summer after it’s been in the sun you can get it to mold a little better. It looks good from the picture. My truck has a red one so my choices are either paint an aftermarket or order one from Just Dashes. I’m leaning JD.

[Bullitt74]

Thanks guys for all the kind words and support - it is quite encouraging to keep going (ie: provides incentive to get out in the garage vs. watch Netflix after the kids are in bed...)

Taking steps to put my dash back together, but realized my dash trim needs a bit of help:


So I sanded carefully starting with 400 grit which was enough to get the anodizing off and smooth out the pitting. Then 600 dry, 600 wet, 1000 wet, 1500 wet, and finally 2000 wet sand. Tripoli then white rouge polish and it is probably better than it was new. Now to do the other side, then add a one stage clear coat to prevent oxidation.

[MikeB]

Wow nice job and you didn’t slip and mess up the burl!

[Bullitt74]

Wow nice job and you didn’t slip and mess up the burl!

The vinyl wood burl trim will sand away with 320 or 400 grit, but just discoloured to white with 600 and greater grit. The polishing process fixed that...in fact I hit all of it with white rouge to brighten it up.

Used a small wheel on the drill to polish...wasn’t brave enough to use the stand polisher with these pieces.

Just hit it now with the single stage acrylic clear. 10 min up, time for another coat!

[Lone Ranger]

That turned out very nice!! I'm always afraid to take sandpaper to stuff like that. You can get a new dome light sticker from lmc and it'll look stock- but better

[Bullitt74]

That turned out very nice!! I'm always afraid to take sandpaper to stuff like that. You can get a new dome light sticker from lmc and it'll look stock- but better

Way ahead of ya! Should hopefully have a picture this weekend after installing these pieces.

As an update, I think I executed a pretty successful restoration of these pieces. The 2 coats of one stage acrylic clear worked well - in fact, I can’t even tell clearcoat was applied, which is kinda the point. I did take some time stripping any of the compound left by the polishing process before clearcoat, with degreaser solvent, then the Du Pont Wash & Wipe solvent. I was worried about ‘fish eyes’ with the clear, but the adherence of the clearcoat was great.

The vinyl burl is quite tough - the solvents didn’t discolour it, the masking tape didn’t touch it, and the polishing wheel on the drill with white rouge definitely brightened it up.

My wife asked why I spent so many hours on these pieces...I question that as well. I guess subconsciously I felt that something that close to you when you’re driving deserves to look good!

[Manny]

The trim looks fantastic. I know there was a lot of care in those to prevent damage. Very nicely done. Your build is a ten of ten no doubt. If somebody looks at it and says its nice whack them and tell them no it's perfect!!!!!

[gasnoil]

Great job on the truck. Looks really good !! Cheers

[Bullitt74]

Great job on the truck. Looks really good !! Cheers

Thanks for the feedback! It does give me a lot of motivation to keep chugging along!

[Bullitt74]

Put a good solid day on the truck today. Unfortunately, only got part of the dash cinched up. Takes a lot longer to assemble than it took to take apart.


These bezels do polish up a bit. The "Lights" and "Wiper" bezels were the worst of them, and I might end up replacing them. The others were not noticeably pitted.


This dome light bezel and lens came from Ranchero50's production line - thanks Jamie! If you're reading this and haven't purchased one for your bump yet, I highly recommend you do so, as they are much nicer, sturdier, and the lens allows for more light to pass than the factory piece.


Installed a wiper delay unit using the instructions in the tech section of this site - works like a charm! I got an '89 setup, so had to move the black and white wire to the adjacent slot on the harness to provide power to the washer pump. I did have to fight with the switch a bit, as it was clunking into the dash brace, but it worked out in the end.

[Bullitt74]

A bit more done today - tackled my tail lights, but first they needed a shine and polish before installing them:


Gave the tail light buckets a scuff and prepared to shoot. The housing for the back up light is already shiny, but the brake light portion needs something more reflective than the factory white (anyone who knows why Ford painted the brake and park light buckets white please let me know). Most of the other guys on here had better outcomes with painting something more shiny, so here goes.


I've always wanted to use this chrome paint for something.


While the paint was drying, I sanded and polished the tail light lenses. I started with 400 grit, as the scratches weren't too deep. Then 600 dry, 600 wet sand, then 1000, 1500, 2000 wet sand, followed by the plastic polishing compound on a loose flannel wheel on the drill.


Some compound residue on it yet in this photo, but otherwise better than new.

T
I was amazed how little time and effort it took to polish these lenses. I highly recommend this route vs. reproduction ones if they are free of deep chips/gouges or cracks.


Shiny.


Used some 'metalcast' paint on the back sides as the back seemed quite a bit duller when I tried initally to polish it...in retrospect, I should have used the chrome paint or alumablast instead, as that is probably more what it looked like when it was new. Oh well - good enough for something no one is going to see...

[popeyes71]

Right on, those lenses turned out great! Great progress!