104 What the heck are the temps in mid summer

April we start in the lo 80's and buy the end of the month we're in the lo 90's, Yesterday we were the hottest place in the U.S.A. @ 101,
and no we didn't set a record. June usually runs 102-108, July & August 115 plus/minus a bit, Last year we got to 121. That it wasn't a record either.
Sept it's back to 100-105. Cools off to the 90's in Oct. Usually.

Well the last of the 2 layers of sound deadening will go on the floor/firewall/backwall today. On Monday I'll start spraying on the heat/sound insulation..
That should take about 3-4 days. Then The foam insulation and the interior insulation will be complete.

The new carpeting and floor mats will arrive on Monday. The wiring kits for the amps and subs will be here on Wednesday,
hopefully the new bucket seats will arrive the end of the week.

PROGRESS REPORT:

Well I've gotten the 2 layers of "Damplifier-Pro" down. So far I've managed to put down 4 of the 5 coats of "Firewall" I'm planing to install.
Temps around here have been just over 100 with relative humidity in the 6-7% range. So the Firewall, being water based, has been drying really fast.
Even so I've been allowing at least 24 hours between coats. It's not necessary to wait that long, but I'm in no rush. I'll put the last coat on tomorrow.
When finished the "Firewall" will be 5-mm thick. (about .2") At that point the floor and back-wall will be about 75-80% completed.
After that I'll probably wait until Sunday or Monday to start installing the "Overkill Pro." That should take about 2 or 3 days.
I just talked with the seat builders and they tell me my new seats will ship today. So they should arrive by the end of the week.
My new CD changer is also en-route. (I'm upgrading from 6 to 12 disc changer) It will be here on Thursday. With the new changer,
my audio system is now all new except for the head unit. That's a $1300-1700 item that will have to wait until this fall.
The new carpeting arrived last week. With any luck I'll have it installed by the end of next week. After that the speaker box will go in.
My roommate has been a little under the weather for the last week or so, so progress on the box has been slow.
Then the seats, center and overhead consoles and the interior is finished.

Looks like that stuff could get really messy. What is it like to work with that "Damplifier-Pro"

__________________

The Damp-Pro is the aluminum foil covered stuff in my previous post. (# 23) Damp-Pro is a butyl rubber adhesive covered with aluminum foil.
I't's 80 mils thick (.08") and the foil is 4 mils thick. A sq. ft. weighs .5 lbs. It's a little stiff due to the thickness. Making it a little difficult to work with.
Putting it on a surface with compound curves, like a door or floor, can be challenging. I've found if you cut it into smaller pieces
(it comes in 18" X 32" sheets) of say 2" to 4" by 12" or so, it's not to bad to work with. You will need a sharp razor knife to cut it though.
You also need a wooden wallpaper roller to force it onto the surface you want it to stick to. It's a vibration insulation product.

The white stuff in post # 24 is called "Firewall." It's like a thick paint in substance. "Firewall" is a heat and sound barrier. Living in the southern Calif desert,
I wanted something that would insulate me from the 115 degree temperatures we routinely see in the summer time around here. It's like almost any other paint,
except it's much thicker. I tried spraying on the first coat, but it got very messy and was hard to control in the small confines of the cab.
So layers 2, 3 and 4 were put on with a 3" paint brush. Better control, not nearly as messy, but much more time consuming to apply.

I know "Firewall" works. I put it on my doors and on the ceiling in Feb. & March. Last month I parked my truck in the sun on a 100 degree day for 4-5 hours.
I had a shade in the windshield, and on the driver and passenger doors. Back doors and rear window had the standard factory tint, but no shades.
Normally under those conditions, the truck would have become an oven. I would usually open all the doors and wait a minute or so to let the hot air escape before getting in.
Even then the cab would still be hot for 5 minutes or so with the A/C running at full tilt. After 5 minutes, the in cab temperature would become bearable.
If the trip was less than 10-15 minutes or so, it was a waste of time to even turn the A/C on. This time I got in immediately, started the engine and turned on the A/C.
While the cab was on the warm side of comfortable, it was probably 30-40 degrees cooler than before "Firewall" was installed. Maybe more.
Within 5 minutes I was able to turn the fan down from MAX to the first setting.

When the final coat of "Firewall" is dry. I'll be installing something SecondSkin Audio calls "Overkill-Pro." It's an OEM style foam made of closed cell vinyl infused with rubber.
It's 3/8" thick and is the final layer in my 3 layer system to combat heat and noise. When it's all finished I'll have about 3/4" of insulation inside the cab,
PLUS about another 1/4" to 3/8" as an undercoating outside the cab. All together I figure I'm adding about 100 to 125 lbs to the weight of my truck in insulation.
A great deal of weight and expense. Not to mention all the man hours I've put in installing it. If my truck isn't as quiet as a Mercedes-Benz I'm going to be one PI**ED-OFF guy.

My speaker box is finally starting to take shape. The 2 outer compartments will house the subwoffers. The center compartment will house the new 12 disc CD changer.
The 2 amps will be hung on the end panels outside the box. Right now I'm trying to decide weather to paint it or cover it in vinyl.

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

OK everyone. After being put on hold for the last 7 months for vacation, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. I've started working on my Ranger again. The good Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I should have the interior finished by the end of next month. Sooner I hope.


ON the left is the radio opening ready to receive the new Pioneer AVIC-N4 head unit. On the right is the newly covered and repainted center console and the new carpeting installed.




On the left is the newly covered speaker box. (sorry for the fuzziness. photography has never been my bailiwick.) The box is upside down in the photo.
The speakers will fire down toward the floor. The rectangular hole in the bottom (top) of the box will house the CD changer. On the right is the final layer of sound deadening

Time for an update: On the left is the speaker box installed. You can see the CD changer in the middle of the box.
The lid over the CD changer covers a storage bin for the 4 extra CD magazines I'll carry on road trips.
I have a total of 5 counting the 1 in the changer. That means I can carry 60 CD's total.
Depending on the CD's I pick, I'll have from 50 to 65 hours or so of music available.
At 6-8 hours per day, I figure I'm good for a week to 10 days without repeating.

On the right I'm test fitting one of the 2 amps. These amps are HUGE physically. About 19"-20" wide.
So I had a heck of a time figuring how to mount them in the space available.
After they are mounted an open face box will be built to cover the edges of the amps and hide all the wiring.
The Infinity logo and the blue stripe will be visible. The box will be covered in the same material as the speaker box.

By the way. The photo on the right gives a better representation of the actual color of the box.
Not sure why the one on the left looks so washed out. To much flash I suspect.

WOW....doing a great job on your Ranger and its looking good!!!!

__________________


Proud owner of 1998 Ford NASCAR special edition F-150
(Celabrates the 50th anniversary of F-150 and NASCAR)

http://www.fordf150.net/specialeditions/nascar.php

Looking good!! Great Progress!!

__________________
~Shannon~


MySpace

"Well behaved women seldom make history."

Thanks Nascar & Chick. Guess I should have said this earlier. Last year I did all the sound proofing my self.
This overweight, out of shape, soon to be 70 year old body of mine let me know it wasn't happy with what I was doing.
When I started working on my truck about a month ago, my body really protested. After one 3-4 hr session my back,
shoulder and right leg hurt so bad it took me 3 days and what seemed like a 1/2 case of "Ben-Gay" to recover.
At that rate I figured it would take me more than a year to finish the job and this truck is my daily driver.
So 2 weeks ago I took my truck to a shop here in Palm Springs called "Luxurious Customs."
Their specialty is audio and wheels. Except for body work they also do most other kinds of custom work.
As you have seen in the photos, they do real quality work. I think for this area their prices are VERY completive.
I was there today and my truck is almost finished. With any luck I'll get it back Friday or Saturday.

Below are the nearly completed center console and the installed Pioneer GPS navigation radio.
The other photo is of the completed speaker box with CD changer and AMPS installed.

Getting close. Newly painted radio bezel, glove box door and bottom dash panel.
The speaker box with CD changer and AMPS installed. I love the way the AMP cover came out.




A better look at the radio and bezel. Sorry I forgot to take a pic of the 7" video screen in the up position. The radio is all wired up and ready to go.
Like the way the door panel came out. With 20/20 hind sight I think I should have had the part of the arm rest that's fabric covered done in the same material as the speaker box.
Just a few more things to do inside the cab. Wire up the fog lights. Install the over head console. Stuff like that. Cab should be finished tomorrow.





Thursday they'll start installing this 8.8" Explorer rear end and the air bag suspension. Guess you can tell from the photos I'm having the discs and pads replaced with new ones.

ALMOST FINISHED.


Explorer overhead console installed and ready to go.





This is my backup camera. It comes on automatically when the transmission is put in reverse.





My 4 link air bag kit. The notch installed in back. Rear and springs will be replaces by the Explorer rear and air bags.




Front end disassembled and ready for the air bags to go in.

Start of the front airbag install.




Control unit for the airbag




Front airbag installed.




Hard to see but this is what the front end will look like in the full down position.
The wheel well opening will come about an inch or so below the top of the tire.
It covers about 1/4 of the sidewall and that's exactly the look I was going for.
I'll post photos in the full up/full down positions when I get the truck back.
It should have about 6" of travel or so.

TIME FOR THE WEEKLY UPDATE.


Photo of the back of my truck with the bed removed.
Installation of the Explorer rear end and 4 link has started.



View of the 4 link going in.



Another angle.


A look at the welds for the linkage. This guy does really nice work.

Keep the updates coming...love seeing work in progress. Nice work on the rear end! Can't wait to see it completed.

__________________
...... BRIAN ......

very nice man!

__________________
2007 Ford Ranger
-3.5in suspension lift
-32x11.5x15
-15x8 cragars
-to many mods to list

Here you go SCrew. NEXT INSTALLMENT.


Upper and lower brackets for the air bags.




Trial fitting Cross Brace. Air bags temporally installed.




Cross Brace in Place




Rear cross brace. Passenger side. A similar one will be added to the driver side.
Oscar will weld a triangular shaped 1/4" steel plate over each corner and use
that as the upper mounting point for the rear shocks.




Measuring for front brace.




Thats it for now. Stay tuned for more photos.

Making sme great progress and can't wait to see it finished!!!!

__________________


Proud owner of 1998 Ford NASCAR special edition F-150
(Celabrates the 50th anniversary of F-150 and NASCAR)

http://www.fordf150.net/specialeditions/nascar.php