1987 Ranger Project

[Awesom-O]

I’ll snap a pic of the seats tomorrow as they are definitely newer and a different colour, but yeah my niece has a 91 and she has the taller seats as well. Thanks for the info. How do I determine what transmission is the M5OD? I was wondering that as it has a completely different shifter than the 87, and of course a push button transfer case. But the whole interior is different than the 87 so probably not a any kind of identifying factors there.

 

[Blmpkn]

I know for sure that the m5od won't have a transmission pan.. where I believe the other options did but not positive.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Yeah, that (and the M5OD has an integral bellhousing so it's one piece of aluminum about 2' long until the tail housing) and the transmission code on the door sticker would be an M I believe (going off of memory...)

 

[Awesom-O]

Looks to be an M5OD by your description and the VIN. Thanks for that. Can the manual transfer case be mated to this transmission? Is it stronger/superior to what’s in my 87?
Forgot to snap pics of the damned seats. Lol.

Anyways, got the rest of the interior removed in the 87 today, and pulled the headliner. That’s going to be a challenge to re-skin that as it’s very fibrous and not a solid card under the foam. I’ll figure something out.
Prepping the back panels to change from red to black tomorrow.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Yes your manual 1350 will mount to a M5OD (definitely an M5OD), it's the same 5 bolt pattern for all '83-11 Ranger transfer cases , the problem is the front driveshaft with doing a D35 swap as you need 1" shorter to work with things with the older 1350 T case and a D35, that's part of why I swapped everything when I went D35, swapped to a 1354 which has the dual cardan front output instead of slip spline like a 1350... Strength wise the 1350 and 1354 are the same, basically the same T case other than the front output since the 1350 has an internal U joint to point the front output down some. The shift linkage is different between the two and different between the M5OD and other transmissions (with the 1354 there was only one linkage between the auto and manual transmission though).

In short, might be easiest to keep the manual transfer case and the stock transmission and get the front driveshaft shortened 1" unless you take everything...

 

[Awesom-O]

Thanks Scott. Is the M5OD far superior or have advantages over the stock trans? I can definitely take everything, but then one has to somehow make the push button transfer case work I assume?

 

[scotts90ranger]

Unfortunately I don't know the most about the other transmissions than the M5OD since I've only had M5OD's... The M5OD is supposedly better but by how much and how I don't remember, I know I've read about it, hopefully someone else will chime in...

 

[Awesom-O]

Should have some updates with pics shortly. Finally got all the red interior parts converted to black. Working on vinyl wrapping my disintegrating headliner fibrous card. I’ll let you know how my strategy for this pans out. Repaired the cracks in the dash and everything is almost ready to be re-installed.
One question, and I’ve seen the answer here before but after searching, can’t seem to find it again. Still looking for an 8.8. What years of the explorer have the diff I’m looking for. And what years of explorer have the 4.0 OHV engine. Thanks in advance.

 

[scotts90ranger]

'91-01 are solid rear axle with 31 spline 8.8, '91-94 are drum brake and '95-01 are disc brake, if you want disc brakes grab an extra passenger side soft brake line while at the junkyard (or get a new one, whatever) to put on the drivers side of the axle then get two new brake line nuts and cut then flare the center of the hard line on the axle for your stock center drop soft line, it's the cleanest and easiest if you are going to do offroading, the stock drivers side drop setup on Explorers is kinda limiting on a Ranger... the drum brake Explorers used the same setup as a Ranger for the rear soft line.

As for the 4.0 OHV I'm not sure but I'm pretty sure '91-96ish maybe a couple more years...

 

[Awesom-O]

Well, I bought a couple 1991 Rangers with the 4.0 for a future swap this last weekend. (and a low KM 86 Bronco II the weekend before. With AC! )
Lots of good parts that I’m going to actually make two good trucks with the 5 Rangers I now have. I’ve been on a Ranger mission lately and the wife has been not only tolerating my shit but actually supportive. Bonus.
I got the headliner done. It turned out OK with what I had to work with. I coated the entire top and bottom with rubberized bed liner and flex seal. Yeah that shit you seen on TV. Lol. That kept the disintegrating fibrous headliner from separating and allowed me to add a smooth vinyl card with the upholstery spray glue. That smoothed it out pretty decent so as not to see all the imperfections of the wasting now rubber coated fibres through the vinyl.
Not perfect, but not bad for the first attempt, not knowing if I was going to be wasting a couple hundred bucks on sprays and the vinyl? So the fact that it worked and looks about 5000 times better than the raining foam particles on your head that it used to be, is a for sure win. Now in the process of designing up a map light upper console from scratch just for kicks. Forgot to snap pics of that. Will do when completed.
Added a little bit of Dynamat on the cab sheet metal and roof to aid in reducing the tin can sounds, and all painting of the interior parts is finally complete. Seat belts were a bitch to change to black but it’s done.
Now it’s time to start putting it all back together. Just have to disassemble the gauge cluster to clean it, and added some green LED bulbs. Restored the dash, fixed all the cracks and painted it up. Added the chrome lines to the vents as factory. Hopefully this week I’ll have time for the interior to be buttoned up so I can start on the exterior rust. One of the Rangers I bought this weekend has an absolutely mint box that I will swap, and it will save me weeks of body work.
That only leaves one small front fender patch, and two patches on the cab. Then I swap the Dana 28 for the 35, and I’m hoping to get an explorer 8.8 LS with disc brakes for $100 off a guy. Install the lift and custom winch bumper and we are in the homestretch. Paint will come later. I’ll rebuild both the 4.0s and make that swap maybe in the summer after the annual spring bear hunt coming up.
My girls have claimed the Bronco and one of the Rangers for themselves when they turn 16. Lol. Love it!

 

[Awesom-O]

Could you tell me and take a picture of where your fuel injection wire harness connects from the engine to the truck? I'm having g wire problems with my 87 and trying to figure out what plugs into where.

Man sorry I missed this post! I’ll snap some pics tomorrow.

 

[Awesom-O]

Could you tell me and take a picture of where your fuel injection wire harness connects from the engine to the truck? I'm having g wire problems with my 87 and trying to figure out what plugs into where.

Hey man. So sorry for taking so long. If you still need this info I’ve taken pics of both the 97 Ranger and the unmolested 86 Bronco II. I don’t know how much the Ranger has been screwed with over the years but I’m almost 100% positive the Bronco is legit from the factory. Hope this helps. Let me know if you need more detailed pics. First pics are of the Ranger.

 

[Awesom-O]

Well not much to report as life has gotten in the way of the Ranger project with other chores as it tends to do. Been busy building a deck around the pool, and cleaned the shop as I was tired of the mess and chaos and whatever else was on the honey-do list.
On the cab, I cut out the rust and welded in a new patch panels. Added some bog and blocked that out so it’s smooth. Just one more fender patch panel to go and then I’ll remove the box and swap it out with the replacement. Hoping to button up the interior this week as I still haven’t done that and then it’s on to suspension and drivetrain work. My wheels and tires finally arrived at the tire shop so I will grab those today. Hope to update soon.

 

[Awesom-O]

Found these on eBay today. Ordered a couple sets for the Ranger and the Bronco. Hope they are quality. Been looking for something like this since I started.

 

[Awesom-O]

Well, looks like the replacement door had a previous repair in it. I noticed some cracks in the paint and started to investigate. Of course it was bondo cracking as it was really thick. I blocked it way down and ground out the cracks with my dremel. Bondo should never be over a 1/4 inch and this was for no reason as I took it down to almost metal, and built it back up. Maybe a 1/8th inch now and the whole door is smooth. Unexpected work but I’m glad I found it and dealt with it. Sprayed some etch primer on to keep the bare metal from flash rusting as it’s been raining for 2 days straight.