Project Ethel

Not to rain on your parade, But If it looks rust free, It might not be. I bought a truck and though it had just a little... Nope. Entire back wall and rear cab mount joint is gone, around e-brake cable and cab mount is gone, and multiple holes in cowl tub.
So, New cab time. 2 years later I found a "rust free" cab again. Inspected it good and found nothing. $350 later Its home. Begin to strip it for paint... One long hole under VIN plate behind dash, Hole started at rear wall and mount joint (It had just enough paint and dirt left to hide it), and a 1.5 inch wide hole under rear sliding window.
Mind you, Unless the owner allows you to, These are not places you'll normally see without tearing it down and not many people will let you tear their truck apart.
Word to the wise, Especially up north, Think its rust free, Strip it down and double check. And this is in Texas where everyone swears our trucks don't rust....
And, to add alcohol to the open wound, The core support mounts were shot too. And I've only heard this truck run for 10 minutes before it blew a headgasket.

Well either way its mine now ha. If any rust pops up and Im sure it will, I'll deal with it. Long term I plan on stripping the whole truck and painting it.

On the fuel tank front, I've decided to pull the bed. Since the bed will be off Im going to wire wheel and paint the frame.

Also, Behind the fenders on side of the firewall is two body drains for the cowl. Might not be on OBS but on bricks there is a rubber flap. That gets hard and traps dirt and water. When I pulled off fenders on two cabs, that rubber was steel hard and had a handful of mud caught in there. You can access the back by removing your kick panels and that steel plate with 6? bolts, remove that and you're in. All brick cabs gas or diesel have it. Ford uses it to mount the ECM to. It WILL be a pain because it has a foam gasket holding it on. But it could save you alot of trouble.

A new tool arrived today direct from India. Its an injector pop tester. Maybe now I can figure out which one of my parts store injectors is giving me a miss at idle

Been a while since I updated the thread, frame has been painted, 38 gal tank is in and Ive put about 2k miles on it. Its now becoming my main work truck and the ac is the next project.

Anyone know where I can get a new blend door? Pretty sure mine is broken

The blend doors are notorious for not sealing very well when they get old, so before you commit to replacing it, you might do a search on the heater core bypass valve, which bypasses the heater core when your a/c is engaged. I believe it's a factory part off a Ranger, do some research and I'm sure you'll find the part number. I did one on my old IDI and it helped quite a bit.

If you truly have a broken blend door, ignore all the above

Good luck either way

Ive had trouble with the blend door since I bought the truck. So Im going pull the heater box apart and see whats up. Its way too hot and humid here not to have AC.

I pulled the lines off the compressor and it was full of trash. So a new compressor, condenser and evaporator are on the way.

Oh and yes Im going to do the ranger valve mod. Amazon has the motorcraft part for ~$20

Look what the Craigslist gods blessed me with. Its an older Borgwarner S362 with a .81 hot side.

Ok guys, I think Im gonna need to stud this thing to prep it for boost. How hard is it to pull the heads in the truck? Really dont want to yank the engine but I will if need be.

I have not done it but I've been told it's tough and I "think" it is necessary to get all the studs in the rear holes. I have read guys replacing one bolt at a time without disturbing the head gaskets and it being okay. It might be worth starting a thread to ask this specific question.

Pulling them is not the issue - studding them and getting the head back on is. I never studded mine, but I pulled heads and oil pan in frame. I'll never pull the pan in frame again.

Easier to pull the engine, not much to disconnect on these trucks

Well I guess its decided, I'm pulling the drivetrain out and setting her up for boost. Gonna have my spare trans sorted out and re-seal everything while it's out.

Sounds good, get ready for all the "while you have it out" suggestions:
If you're going boost it I would recommend getting the block and heads decked to make sure they are flat, and might as well have the machine shop look over the heads to see if valve guides and seals may need replaced as well as magnaflux it to check for cracks. Additionally now would be a great time to upgrade to comp 910 valve springs and even throw in a cam.
Of course time and money takes priority every time so do what you gotta do man

This will be FUN ($$$$$) to watch!