Scary Jerry's Ranger.... Reborn!

[Chuck Most]

First, to familiarize yourself with the particulars, here's the full story on the long suffering machine... 

Now... Let us fast forward to October of this year. The sightseeing business Jerry founded (and still co owns) was heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, to say the least. Fortunately the limos and vans were put to use in other, more essential industries, but the main business would be sidetracked for a minute.

Being a respected member of the community, it was no surprise that Jerry was in the thick of relief efforts in his community, from delivering groceries to elderly shut-ins in lockdown, distributing supplies, and just plain being there for people... Albeit from a safe distance, as indicated by the CDC.

And naturally, wherever Jerry went, the trusty old Silver Bullet took him there. Until that fateful evening in early October of 2020...

Jerry had been running around town with his girlfriend Cheryl in her Jeep Renegade. But he'd gotten a call from a fellow by the name of Earl. Earl was in ill health to begin with, 86 years old and recovering from an earlier surgery. Another six weeks and the doc said he'd be just fine... Until he started showing signs of Covid. Earl is a tough customer, but when you're eight and a half decades old and hit with a serious virus while recovering from surgery, well... Let's just say it looked bad when a storm had damaged his roof.

Jerry being Jerry, he loaded up the Ranger and headed to Earl's with the intent to at least patch the damage temporarily, or repair on the spot if it wasn't as bad as Earl was letting on.

Let's just say Earl and his roof recovered, and both made it to the present just fine. Unfortunately... The same couldn't be said for Jerry's trusty Ranger.

True to form, the Ranger made it all the way to Earl's when the engine just stopped. Purring along and bang... Nothing. Jerry dropped it into neutral and coasted it the rest of the way. Jerry fixed the damaged roof and called a wrecker. It turned out one of the Ranger's main bearings had failed, seizing the crankshaft. Jerry actually felt unexpectedly emotional when he realized his old buddy just wasn't worth a new engine. Not having the heart to scrap his longtime companion, Silver Bullet was parked behind the barn. Jerry went to G.R. Wilson Ford-Lincoln and once again worked with Ed, going home in a clean, low mile 2015 F150 XL. Why used this time? Let's just say that Jerry is a regular cab kinda guy for one thing, and he learned all about sticker shock that day, for another.

And that's how the story would have ended. The Ranger would have quietly rusted away in the barnyard. But Cheryl had other ideas.

Cheryl and Jerry had been together for about two years, shortly after she'd moved to town with her two daughters (Nikki and Erin) to take over her father's business- The Country Mile, a convenience store/fuel station/laundromat/car wash on the outskirts. Standing merely 4'10", Cheryl had a personality that far exceeded her physical size, and Jerry had always had a weakness for brown eyed redheads, so it was no wonder she captured his attention.

Cheryl and Jerry shared an interest in cars, and both were fans of Overhaulin'. So it came as little surprise when the rollback from nearby Patrick Auto showed up one day whole Jerry was out doing Jerry stuff, and drove off with the Ranger. 

Monty Patrick had known Jerry for years, and he'd reworked his share of hulks, and he described the Ranger as something not even he would have touched under most circumstances. But with Cheryl and the girls acting as project managers, the trashed truck began its transformation.

Monty had suggested a 5.0 swap, but Cheryl quickly shot this down. The 4.0 had been one reason why Jerry bought the truck in the first place. So a remanufactured unit was sourced. Aside from some chrome valve covers, a cold air intake, and some paint work, it's stock. The transmission was in surprisingly good condition, so it was basically just cleaned up and treated to new seals and fluid. Monty did change out the clutch while he had it all apart.

Moving to the chassis, it was cleaned and repainted wit a few rusted mounts and such replaced. It was given a lowered stance with dropped beams and spindles in front and a flip kit in back. Jerry maintained that there was no such thing as a bad looking five-spoke wheel. Though Cheryl would point out a few examples whenever he said that (Chevrolet SS-R being her go-to), she knew he'd always wished he'd hung onto the Americans he'd had years ago on his Continental. So... On went a set of American five spokes.

Speaking of Lincolns, Jerry had owned a 1988 Mark VII as a second vehicle from 1997 to 2002, when it was sadly totalled in a rear ender at a stoplight. Monty found a set of VII seats for the Ranger's refurbished interior.

As Monty and a select few of his gang (sworn to secrecy) thrashed like mad men, one big issue had yet to be addressed. The Splash grille would stay, and it would stay black. But Jerry had never been overly Fond of settling for silver. After some back and forth it was decided to go with Atlantic Blue, a 1998 Mercury color. That decided upon, the crew set to work replacing the rockers, cab corners, both doors, and the rear wheel arches. Quite a bit of new structural material was also replaced. Monty had wanted to hot tank the body, but worried there may not have been enough metal left to weld on the new material. And finally, once it was all back together, Monty had reinstalled the aftermarket fog lights with new wiring and LED lighting.

Cheryl and the girls opted not to do the Overhaulin'-style prank. And really, Jerry had been so busy he'd never even gone back to check the Ranger in the two months it was at Patrick Auto. 

In the early morning hours of December 4, the Ranger came home. Monty and his guys put the Ranger back in its spot and drove off. After Jerry awoke, Cheryl, Nikki, and Erin came into the house, exclaiming someone had "messed with" the Ranger.

The look on Jerry's face upon seeing the rejuvenated Ranger? If you were there, no words are necessary to describe it. If you weren't, there are no words to even begin. He wasn't over the moon. More like way past Pluto and on a direct course to the Delta quadrant.

But there was one little problem.

Jerry had transferred the Ranger's plate onto the F150, and he felt like the former Silver Bullet (now called Baby Blue, to complement Cheryl's nickname Big Blue for the F150) needed something a little more special than random numbers and letters. It was Erin's remark ("Hopefully it's good for another 28 years") that led Jerry to select "28 MORE" for his new plate.

And there you have it. Silver Bullet (as Jerry still calls it to mess with people), Baby Blue (as Cheryl and the girls call it), The Ranger of Theseus or The Two Month Headache (as Monty calls it) lives again. And while she's now too nice to be a pure workhorse, don't think for a second Jerry is done making history with it just yet.

Now the pictures...

The fog lights had to stay. Unfortunately I didn't remember where I got the ones I used on the "before" truck. I happened to peek into an AMT Ford Probe kit and...bingo. 

Tires are the big and little Gatorbacks from an AMT 57 Chevrolet step side,with wheels from the 66 Mercury Park Lane reissue. 

The original slider leaned and didn't latch so Monty replaced it with a single pane. On the model it's from a snap/promo Ranger. The roll pan is just.040" plastic sheet. My buddy Erik did the plate for me.

Just a basic detail job under the hood.

Thanks to model magic we can see the "before" and "after" at the same time...

...and the same plate existing on two vehicles at once...

Big Blue and Baby Blue. Big is a Maisto diecast, completely factory stock aside from the plate to tie it in with the storyline. The reasonably close paint match was a happy accident. My supposed "1998 Mercury Atlantic Blue" is actually Testors Star Spangled Blue.

Edited December 4, 2020 by Chuck Most

[mikemodeler]

Cool trucks and even greater story!

[thatz4u]

nice pair of Blue Ovals, well done

[PappyD340]

Super nice!

[Koellefornia Kid]

Always nice to hear news from Jerry! I like his new ride!

[Plowboy]

That's a sharp looking little Ranger Chuck! Makes me want to build one! 

[DRIPTROIT 71]

Beautiful build Chuck! I always like your stories too! Great story with a great build!

[slusher]

Fantastic looking Ranger Chuck". Great color..

[ChrisR]

Looks great!