Owner: Kevin Pitt
Ride: '94 Ford Ranger
Hometown: Woodbridge, Va
We've all been there before, at one time or another. You're in your garage, working on your truck, yanking that blown motor out and getting ready to swap in a small-block. Then while you're there, you decide to clean up the frame and build new tubular control arms, and because you're going to build new arms, why not just build a new frame? Well, that my friends is the inevitable snowball effect that has now become known as "Mike Alexander Syndrome." Yes, it's true. I can't seem to finish a truck. Okay, I get it. But it just seems that the "while we're there" excuse isn't working for me anymore. The story of this Ranger hit home for me because after years of my own personal battle trying to build the perfect mini, I'm finally looking down the final stretch and about to round third and make the mad dash for home plate. But enough about me, back to this badass Ranger that sits before you.
Kevin Pettit's story is very similar to this, as he too fell victim to the "while we're there" philosophy. Kevin started off by turbo-charging the factory 2.3L with more than 200,000 miles. That obviously didn't last long, so he pulled the motor, took it to a machine shop, and then had it built to hold the boost. While the motor was in the machine shop, he decided to 'bag the truck to lay it out on 20s. When the motor was back in and the truck had a more respectable stance once again, then the motor became a big headache. It was constantly blowing head gaskets, breaking driveshafts, and demolishing clutches, and Kevin refused to turn the boost down. He said, "It was fast as hell and fun when it was running right." However, he finally got tired of the 2.3L cleaning out his wallet and went out and found a 289 V-8 and a C4 transmission. Then, he called upon a friend from way back in middle school, Kris Abrahamson, to help build the V-8 to run and sound mean as hell-which he knows he should have done from the beginning. Since he had to do some minor frame modifications in the front to accommodate the V-8, he decided it was a good time for a stock-floor body-drop, a four-link, and a wild tubular 'bag setup, which his buddy Jeremy Stanley built.
After a year of the truck just sitting, he finally decided to stop working on other peoples' rides and finish his own. (If only I could stop working on the mag for like six months and finish something, haha.) So, with a lot of help from Patrick Kennedy, Kevin finished the bodywork, smoothed the inside of the bed, and got all the interior parts ready to paint. Next, he called upon his boss over at Razor Custom Paint, Kenny Dean, nicknamed Von Dean, to layout the sick flame job you see now.
So after six long, hard years, Kevin was able to achieve the ultimate satisfaction of draggin' a beautifully finished mini down the highway. Congrats on the amazing Ranger, Kevin, and a special congrats for having the dedication and determination to follow through on such a big project. We can't wait to see what's next.