[ad_1]
Lauritzen, a Dane, loves to build project cars, and he likes to take his finished projects to the slopes or long stretches of open road where he can hear his machines in action.
Lauritzen, a senior at Powell High School, is working on porting the V8 engine from a 1998 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer Edition into a 1993 Ford Ranger. Not only that, but it also gets leather seats, dashboard and center console, as well as other interior details. That’s not all—he also wants to install a transmission from a 1980-1990 Ford Mustang because “it has the gear ratio I want.”
Lauritzen smiles like a mad scientist as he explains that the two machines don’t need to be locked together.
“I have a Bronco on the front. So I don’t have to do this whole project and this truck worked perfectly. There was no need to do all this,” Lauritzen said. “It’s just something I wanted to do because it seemed like something interesting, and the idea of a V8 in such a small truck.”
Recently, Lauritzen spent three to four hours a day on the truck, which he said turned into a restoration. That means he will strip the truck down to the frame, coat the frame, and “replace what should have been replaced a long time ago.”
Lauritzen also paints a Ford Ranger similar to the Eddie Bauer Edition, he even Photoshopped the final goal to show before completion.
Dane is not afraid of DIY and is even willing to make his own engine mount. At school, Lauritzen builds a model Ranger transmission.
“I don’t know why, but something about how the transmission works and how the rear differential works is what led me to model it,” Lauritzen said. “So in school I studied different gear geometries and how they work. And then to design my own transmission, learn how to make different types of transmissions and eventually work to get to the point where I can build a whole model of how the Ranger works and drives after the swap.”
Lauritzen started working on cars when he bought his first Ford Ranger at the age of 15. According to him, when he turned 16 and got his driver’s license, he became more motivated to communicate with cars.
“I started the engine (of his first Ranger) because it was having some problems,” Lauritzen said.
Lauritzen drove it until he traded it in for his Ford Bronco. He also has ideas about working on the Bronco, but not quite yet.
While some of his projects are larger in scale, he said he finds it important to know how to do basic repairs.
“I think the amount of time and effort it takes to unscrew two things, let the oil drain, screw them back in and put new oil in is worth a lot more,” Lauritzen said. “And that little bit of mechanical know-how might come in handy later. I think it’s a lot more worth it than going to someone else and paying them whatever it costs to change your oil.”
Lauritzen has had about four project cars, including his current Ranger. He said the work doesn’t have to be done, but he likes to do it.
Lauritzen said he hopes to have the car roadworthy by the end of the year, but “all the little things” could take time. Some of the parts he needs cannot be bought; they must be obtained directly from auto parts.
[ad_2]
Source link