Late last year I decided that I wanted a custom hood for my Ranger. The only problem is that there is nothing out there. So one day I decided to make my own, an SVO hood for my SVO Ranger

I started searching for an SVO hood in late October and located and purchased it in December

My Vision



Now, I gotta have louvers. This hood has to look different and unique. So the first thing I did was to cut a hole in the scoop and weld in a louver panel.







After the panel was welded in, the welds are ground down and a little primer is put on. Body work will be done only after the hood is done



Next we need to locate the exact placement of the scoop. We need to get this right the first time



Finally, its time to cut the hood. The hood and the scoop must fit together perfectly because I want it to look like Ford made it. So we take our time here. In fact, we started cutting and fitting around 11 a.m. and finished around 4:30 p.m. We took our time, because if it doesnt fit right, no amount of body work will make it look right





We spent all day Saturday on fit so Sunday we welded it together. We only worked on it a couple of hours.





We did not work on it this week end. Needed a break. We will work on it during Spring Break . Finishing up on the welding and putting the SVO ducting in place will be the goal.

I need to say, I'm not a metal worker, I'm a math teacher. I have learned alot so far, the main thing Patience.

 

very unique! not sure about the louver panel, but the work looks great. maybe i'll change my mind when it's finished and on.

 

so u got a 2.3 turbo with top mount ic

 

Neat idea. I look forward to the finished product.

 

Good work. I gotta ask.... why isnt it centered?

 

That scoop being off centered is going to be pretty neat.

 

My motor is a Merkur 2.3, so there is no intercooler. Maybe someday because all of the SVO ducting will be put in place.


It is off center for the same reason its off center on the SVO Mustang. Thats where the IC should be.
Some day it WILL have an intercooler

 

i know where to get one for real cheap

 

Well, I had some things come up and was not able to work on the hood until today. We finished welding the scoop to the hood and started on the body work. So far everything is on target and everything is going smooth.

We decided to attach the hood to the truck and see where we are and what still needs to be done



Now for the body work, because so much time was spent on fit, body work will be simple and really easy. In fact after grinding down the welds, we saw how little filler would be needed to finish out the scoop.



We went over it with a DA with 80 grit. Shot a little cheap rattle can primer on it to see where we were at. And we LIKED what we saw.



Now to start on the ducting



Now we still have a long way to go, but we are getting it done

 

its looking really good

 

looking good so far. props for a first timer.

 

it will probably bring down turbo temps too

 

Nice work and a lot of it.
What are you going to do to the inside ?

 

I've already done alot to the inside of the truck. Three Power Amplifiers, Two TV monitors, DVD Player and Carputer under the passenger seat that monitors every aspect of the engine performance.



I may be 51 years old, but I'm a serious technology geek

 

Very nice! that is some serious technology there.

 

Ok in the interior, looks good, I like the Video over the passenger’s side.

Sorry for confusion but I meant the underside of the hood ?

51 to be young again !!!

25 would be good.

 

Asymmetric designs kill me, but props on the idea! Can't wait to see finished pictures, the work looks real good.

 

Where is that mobile tv mounted?

 

I like to Show Off

The underside will also be painted. We won't be doing alot of prep on the underside but we will strive to make it look like Ford could have made it. Once done, the original pad will be put back in place.

The pad will be cut where the scoop opening is. Then the SVO scoop to intercooler seal will be put in place. Again, I am striving for a factory look. Its hard to explain what I'm going to do, but be patient. I'll post more pics.

Almost all of my students would agree with you (I'm a high school math teacher). People are hard wired to be symmetrical. So most people will agree with you.

With that said, should I decide to add an intercooler, I really need the scoop to be offset. The Mustang SVO scoops were all offset, but not quite as much as mine. Also the ducting opening had to be moved forward about three inches. This way everything will be in the right place.

 

All Ranger SVOs have an overhead console. My console came out of an Explorer. The Mobile TV mount was custom built by me.

Also notice the Microphone, My truck also has Bluetooth

 

The OHC tv with gauges looks cool as hell. Keep up the good work!

 

Nice work. Do you have a rear view camera operating with the mobile tv, or do you just use your side view mirrors while driving?

 

And we finally finished the body work an shot the primer







Again there is still alot to do. Also my friend and I are both teachers and we are about to take a serious two week break. So no work on the hood for two weeks

 

that's looking really good. I like it

 

The Hood looks great, nice work.