Hit a damn deer...

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cgrey8
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Hit a damn deer...

Post by cgrey8 »

It was bound to happen eventually. I was driving to work and a stupid #@%!$* deer jumps out in front of me. Fortunately it didn't do a massive amount of damage. It completely shattered the DS headlight and crumpled the DS fender enough that it cracked the paint and has exposed metal, so the whole fender will need replacing. I just got it replaced a few years ago when I had it repainted.

The grill and bumper seem OK. But like I said the ENTIRE headlight, blinker area are shattered and 95% gone. The problem is they were aftermarket headlights and blinkers. I found the aftermarket headlight assembly still for sale, but nobody sells the "clear" style blinkers anymore. The closest I could find were these new combination headlight-blinker-bezel things. They don't look quite as good as what I had but it's what's available if I don't want to return to OEM...which I don't want to do. So I got some of them ordered.
Image

When I got the paint job done, I purposely bought black bezels to go around the headlight which go much better with the black billet grille. But these have "built in" bezels that are silver. BOO! So I'm probably going to tape them up and take a can of Plasti Dip to them to make the edges black again. While I'm at it, I'll likely plasti dip my chrome bumper and wheel well accents so there will no longer be ANY shiny on the truck. The youtube videos make it look pretty straight forward and the results are more than good-enough for my purposes.

So one thing I remember being available for these trucks were black brush guards. But I can't seem to find anybody that sells them any more. Does anybody know where they can still be found?
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331, ported GT40p heads w/1.6RRs, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, ported Explorer lower, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, A9L w/Moates QuarterHorse, Innovate LC-1, James Duff traction bars, iDelta DC Fan controller

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JAMMAN
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Re: Hit a damn deer...

Post by JAMMAN »

When is deer season in your area? Ours was last week, we see a lot more accidents during this time.
Are you OK?
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Re: Hit a damn deer...

Post by cgrey8 »

Yeah, it was a small deer and I wasn't going that fast...maybe 35-40 before I hit the brakes. Actual impact was probably somewhere around 30. Even as it was happening, I wasn't thinking about safety. I was thinking about how much it was going to damage the truck.

Depending on your hunting tool of choice deer season starts at different times. Bow hunters get a little longer AND there's more public land opened up for them than there is long guns (shotgun or rifle). I've never been much of a hunter. I don't have anything against it...it's just never been my thing.
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331, ported GT40p heads w/1.6RRs, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, ported Explorer lower, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, A9L w/Moates QuarterHorse, Innovate LC-1, James Duff traction bars, iDelta DC Fan controller

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Re: Hit a damn deer...

Post by JAMMAN »

I don't hunt either but about half the people I know do.

You have created a new hunting season.

Bow season

Rifle season

Ranger season

Glad nobody was hurt, sorry about your truck :?
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Re: Hit a damn deer...

Post by cgrey8 »

$#!^ happens. And all things considered, it could've been worse. But it's still annoying none-the-less. But yeah Ranger season is pretty much all year here in Georgia. Deer aren't just a problem during the fall. That's why I was reconsidering putting a brush guard on the front of the truck, but it seems nobody makes them anymore. And why would they? There simply aren't that many 89-92 Rangers/Bronco IIs/93 Explorers on the road for people to be buying dress-up stuff for to justify the market.

What's more annoying is having to drive the 97 Ranger. It's a reliable second vehicle, but it is not a joy to drive. Compared to the 89, it's got crap for power and gets worse fuel economy! I can eek out 21-22MPG on my daily commute with the 331 stroker. The 97 Ranger is usually in the 17-18 range for the same commute. I keep that truck for one reason only...it is reliable.

Trying to find the silver lining, all this does give me a convenient opportunity to play around with the plasti dip stuff. I've wanted the bumpers and the side strips black ever since I got the new paint job. When I first heard about plasti dip from a Miata guy that I used to work with, this has been a seed in the back of my head just waiting for fertile ground. Now that I've got to spend time and money getting the Ranger back in driving condition, I might as well take the time to do this too. So I began research. Well research may be a stretch...youtube watching!

Some of the videos from people that know what they are doing with the stuff can make things really look better. And it seems to be a common theme to want to cover chrome parts and make them black. And while an up-close inspection might make it obvious it isn't paint (particularly to the touch), from a casual distance, you'd never know it wasn't paint. And there are dozens of people using the stuff on bumpers doing exactly what I want...changing chrome to black. My initial concerns were that it's rubber covering chrome. So any knick it gets is going to shine bright. I was concerned by how durable it'll be on a bumper where rocks and debris will be a constant assault. People advocating the stuff on youtube say the trick is getting it on thick...a minimum of 8 coats for a bumper and there are no more concerns.

However an interesting twist on the theme was if you DO need serious durability, they do make do it yourself bed liner and people have coated bumpers, grills, and other various body panels that are near the road with that stuff. If that stuff can stand up to things scraping in and out of the bed, it'll stand up to a rock flung from the road no problem. The downside is you don't get a smooth finish. When things are coated with bed liner, they look like they are coated with bed liner. There's no mistaking that lumpy texture for paint.
...Always Somethin'

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Re: Hit a damn deer...

Post by JAMMAN »

Was just eating some Venison sausage a friend gave me for lunch, and thought of you :)

Probably reasonable weather still down where you are, have you worked on your truck?
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Re: Hit a damn deer...

Post by cgrey8 »

I never followed up, but I've had the truck back for a few weeks now...coming up on a month now. But I like how it came out. I'm really impressed by how good the Plastidip looks. Doing my research, it seems you can get away with a 4-5 coat job, but to get a durable coat that won't easily tear, 7-8 coats is recommended. So that's what I did.

From the picture above, you can see the chrome surrounding on the headlight enclosures. I taped them up, sprayed them, and the body shop installed them. When I first sprayed them, I thought it wasn't that great. It was my first foray into Plasti-dipping anything and as a result, the surface started getting an odd texture after about the 3rd or 4th coat. Every additional coat just amplified this. It even got a bubble here and there. But from a distance, it looks great. And unless you really closely inspect them, you wouldn't guess that they weren't made this way.

While I was dipping them, I also took the opportunity to dip the fender accents. Here's what the fender accents used to look like:
Image
Ford did make a chrome and black fender accents in this year. But the black ones only ever came on the el-cheapo Rangers (i.e the Ranger CUSTOM editions). And so they have long since quit being available from Ford and don't appear to be available anywhere else. So if I wanted them black, I had to make mine black...and Plasti-dip did a great job of doing that too. Just like with the headlights, I went so thick that there is a surface texture, but it's consistent enough that it looks intentional.

These results have convinced me to go ahead and spray both front and back bumpers to get rid of any chrome on the truck altogether. The only chrome left will be the center caps on the rims. And there are people out there that have sprayed their rims as well. While I like the idea of black rims, I'm not sure how stock Ranger rims would look black. But given Plasti-dip isn't permanent, if I decide to do it and don't like it, I can just rip it off.

If others are interested, I'll work on getting some pics posted up of what the truck looks like now.
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331, ported GT40p heads w/1.6RRs, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, ported Explorer lower, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, A9L w/Moates QuarterHorse, Innovate LC-1, James Duff traction bars, iDelta DC Fan controller

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Re: Hit a damn deer...

Post by MalcolmV8 »

Chris, how's the plasti-dip holding out? My son used it on the trim of his fox body last summer and it didn't last very long. We noticed within a few months minor pealing and issues and it's super sensitive so he'd be making sure not to touch the frame of the doors when handling the car to shut the doors etc.

From what I saw him do with all the hours of prep work and sanding etc. I would have just sprayed real paint and been done. Now he has to re-do it all at some point.

BTW - sorry about the truck. A big deer with some more speed would have been the end of it so luckily that was very minor as far as hitting deer go.
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Re: Hit a damn deer...

Post by cgrey8 »

So far, it's doing just fine. The fender accents are really what looks great. I'm just dumbfounded how much nicer it looks with black instead of chrome. The front headlights wouldn't look right at all with the chrome just because the front grill is black. So it was kind of a must that they be sprayed to get them black. But they seem to be holding up. There's a few tiny places right near cut-points on the headlights that I can see are "loose" but they've been loose since I cut them and pulled the protective plastic back. I think they were places where there was a tiny bit that wasn't completely cut and pulled on the rubber and just barely lifted the edge that was intended to stay on the headlight. It doesn't seem to be getting worse or showing any signs of getting worse.

I've still got plans of spraying the bumpers and the flat silver plate that covers the back of the tailgate. It just hasn't happened yet. I need some help lifting the bumpers back on. If they were just bumpers, I could do it myself, but with the plasti-dip on them, I don't want to risk scrubbing or scraping the sprayed surface trying to get them back on. So I'm waiting for a friend of mine to get a weekend to head up and help me out.

In the meantime, I've done something else that might be interesting to others here. I'm experimenting with LED headlights. I've learned a good bit of info both from researching as well as actually getting a set and finding out what they are really like. To read more, check out the thread over on EECTuning.org:
My ramblings about LED headlight conversions
I do warn, it's a long read. As you know, I tend to get diarrhea of the fingertips. This thread is the epitome of that syndrome.
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331, ported GT40p heads w/1.6RRs, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, ported Explorer lower, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, A9L w/Moates QuarterHorse, Innovate LC-1, James Duff traction bars, iDelta DC Fan controller

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Re: Hit a damn deer...

Post by JAMMAN »

Wow, I'm ADHD and I still read that entire article, awesome putting together the pieces of fiction VS reality meets product review.
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Re: Hit a damn deer...

Post by cgrey8 »

That's exactly what the thread morphed into.

The hope was that it would be informative and help others considering LED conversions.
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331, ported GT40p heads w/1.6RRs, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, ported Explorer lower, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, A9L w/Moates QuarterHorse, Innovate LC-1, James Duff traction bars, iDelta DC Fan controller

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Re: Hit a damn deer...

Post by cgrey8 »

I FINALLY got around to Plast-dipping my front and rear bumpers. Now that it's done, I'm glad I did it, but what a PITA!!!

Most of the pain was me not knowing how the front bumper came off. I started by taking the fog lights and the bottom plastic dress off. Then I assumed I'd need to remove the Plastic molding that goes around the outside of the bumper that acts as an accent. There are some bolts that are under that plastic, so I initially assumed that plastic would have to come off. But I found the body shop afixed that accent plastic with these single-use locking washers that appear to tear themselves up along with the plastic shaft they hold onto. I eventually figured out there are only 4 bolts that actually hold the bumper to the frame. Once those 4 nuts are removed, the entire bumper comes off. Ditto for the rear, but that was much more obvious.

With the bumpers off, I cleaned them up thoroughly with blue disposable shop cloths and a big bottle of 90% isopropyl alcohol. Next, I set them up on a sizeable plastic box that a microwave came in along with numerous other broken-down boxes under it to catch the over-spray. There was some rust on the rear bumper near the hitch ball that I had to sand off. But for the most part, they cleaned up nicely. Then I sprayed them with the plastic molding still in place since I couldn't remove those pieces without damaging them or risking not getting them to stay back on the bumper once removed. I put 8 coats on each bumper with the first two being exceptionally light coats, and layers 3-8 being a generous spray. For 8 coats, I would've thought it would "feel" thicker. But from a casual distance, it looks like the bumpers were supposed to be black from the factory which was exactly my intention. I don't yet have pictures of the results, but I'll get them shortly. I should probably wash the truck before taking pictures.

Since this just happened this weekend, I obviously can't speak to how durable the coating will be. Although I can say the plasti-dipped headlights and fender accents are still holding up quite nicely. The only criticism I have is the passenger side front fender's accent has a kind of gummy feeling to it while all the others feel normal. I don't know if something has spilled on it to soften the rubber coating or if it gets more exposure to sun? The coating is still in tact and no sign of peeling, wear, or bubbling. But if one fails, I expect it'd be that one to fail first just because of how it has a tacky, early-stage rubber dry-rot kind of feel to it.

I'll followup after a few months and report back with how well the bumpers hold up. For now, all I can say is I really like the results.
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331, ported GT40p heads w/1.6RRs, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, ported Explorer lower, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, A9L w/Moates QuarterHorse, Innovate LC-1, James Duff traction bars, iDelta DC Fan controller

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Re: Hit a damn deer...

Post by plowboy34 »

Well where's the pics at. I was excited to see a new posting, I still miss the action this site once had. Anyways pics please
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Re: Hit a damn deer...

Post by cgrey8 »

I meant to get some this weekend after washing the truck. I also Plasti-dipped (i.e. sprayed) the silver tailgate cover as well. Now it's a solid flat-black panel that matches the flat-black bumpers. And I have to say, I REALLY like the look. I did notice on one of the wheel well trims, something flung up and hit one of the trim pieces and there's a tiny place where the chrome is showing through. But I didn't notice it until washing the truck. It looks like something that'll be easy to "repair". I just have to take the trim off, clip the tiny piece of rubber that's kind-of hanging. And then spray a few more coats right where the chrome is showing through. It's easy enough to spray them.

Now that I know someone is still out there monitoring the forum, I'll be more motivated to get the pics.
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331, ported GT40p heads w/1.6RRs, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, ported Explorer lower, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, A9L w/Moates QuarterHorse, Innovate LC-1, James Duff traction bars, iDelta DC Fan controller

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Re: Hit a damn deer...

Post by cgrey8 »

Here they are. Notice I also dipped the silver tailgate panel. I went a week or so with just the bumpers, and while I noticed, it wasn't something that was super obvious. But dipping that silver panel is a HUGE noticeable change that's hard to ignore.
Attachments
Front_reduced.jpg
Back2_reduced.jpg
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331, ported GT40p heads w/1.6RRs, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, ported Explorer lower, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, A9L w/Moates QuarterHorse, Innovate LC-1, James Duff traction bars, iDelta DC Fan controller

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