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View Full Version : Bought a 1990 Ranger cheap and now it's running!


strapon
04-25-2010, 11:25 AM
Hi, I'm new to this because I bought a 1990 Ranger about a month ago for $750.00 with a blown head gasket. I was looking for a decent 4x4 with some power and after doing some checking I ended up looking for the 1990 standard cab long box Ranger's. The one I found had a 4.0, auto, and the 8.8 rear. It had new Toyo tires and only 20K on a rebuilt transmission with 160K total miles on the rig. Prior to purchase I bought a '96 4.0 with 70K on it from an Explorer for $200 complete. After I got the truck home I found out it has 3.55 gears and overall looks like a decent pickup and wasn't beat or anything like that. I pulled the engine, swapped the EFI to the newer engine and had it running in about a week. I removed the cat's and installed a single 2.5" in/out magnaflow muffler. Everything bolted up pretty easy except the upper tranny bolts are hard to get to. It started right up and runs great with plenty of power. The trans shifts great except it shift a little too soon for my taste. I cleaned the interior and for now all I need is 2.5" tail pipe, center caps for the wheels, and I need to get it level. It drives good and the front suspension is pretty tight. So far I've got about $1,300 into it.:yahoo: I'll load some pics hopefully soon. Bill

strapon
04-25-2010, 11:50 AM
A couple of pics
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r46/70charger/DSCN1008.jpg?t=1272213988
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r46/70charger/DSCN1000.jpg?t=1272214189

wahlstrom1
04-25-2010, 11:55 AM
Definately a clean truck for a second gen 4wd, I find raising the tranny until it just hits the floor really helps in getting to the upper tranny bolts, and I do them from under the hood.

jhammel85
04-25-2010, 09:24 PM
Looks good! not bad at all!

I think itd look better without the cap. Thats just me though:icon_twisted:

strapon
05-03-2010, 11:54 PM
Took a trip to Seattle on Saturday, truck drove good and has plenty of power. Seems to be getting decent mileage also. It had a couple of vibrations up front so now I'm going to check out the wheel bearings.

ozziemo27
05-04-2010, 01:36 AM
Definately a good deal! Sexy truck!