89 Ranger GT Restoration

Hey guys. Pretty new hear and new to fords but I learned to drive a stick with my fathers 91 Reg cab 4x4 Ranger and Loved these trucks ever since. I Read up more on these trucks and found they made a "GT"..... Ever since i seen pictures of the GT I have been hooked even more. Found one here locally, i think its probably the only one here in Nova Scotia. Which is right up my alley, Love having something different that no one really has or knows about.

SO anyways! I found this 89 Long Bed GT 5 Speed...Perfect, the newer body style I like and a GT. I wanted a project truck and well....lol i certainly got one. I paid nearly next to nothing for it but it will require ALOT of time and Alot of money to restore it....

The good: Truck is almost completely Original. Great frame. Runs, drives and stops. All the Ground effects are their minus the fog lights.

The bad: Severly neglected and abused Severe Canadian winters certainly took their toll. And as well as numerous owners who think they know how to repair a vehicle...





Interior is just discusting....looks like it has never been cleaned. But under all that dirt, grime and whatever else there is, the interior is in nice shape and it will clean up well. Missing a couple minor pieces but its the least of my worries.

Some of you diehard GT fans may throw up or cry when you see some of these pictures....So ill let the pictures do the talking.














I drove an hour and half to get the truck. Parked it at my father inlaws house which was 10 minutes away.. This is where the truck will be restored. The next day I had to get wisdom teeth out so all I could do was vacumm out the truck and remove the loose garbage.

Friday rolled around, out came the wisdom teeth. Saturday morning came and All I could think about was the truck....Packed the wife, dog and car and headed back to the father inlaws to start picking away at my new toy. Lots of pain meds, few beer and a few hours later I got a fair amount off the truck.


Cracked, horribly painted and lose Grille was the first to go....Pathetic craftsmanship here...the hood is painted as equally bad.









Whats with people and mechanics wire? or chicken wire? They even used this crap as a muffler hanger!!! It was wrapped around swaybar links...in and outta the frame. You name it!

Also found about a dozen wood screws, drywall screws and deck screws holding the ground effects to the body....Some up to 3 inches LONG! WTF! Not only is this wrong....now I have to fill all these holes in the ground effects and fix alot of the cracks and splits in them...

So i Pulled all the Ground effects off the truck. Some of the original brackets are still in good shape and are salvagable...Some not so much.

Take a deep breath....these pictures are worse than the last ones.









Yup.....she needs alot of work! Needs a box, Cab corners, rockers, LF Fender etc, etc etc,

Instead of someone repairing the cab corner properly, which also looks damaged. They decided to use about 10 pounds of fill....







The fill is SOOO THICK that i cant slide my fingers between the cab and the box.....the box has about as much fill in that one area...



RR Quarter panel..... After taking this picture I hit it a couple times with a hammer and almost all of it fell off, there was almost no metal under there as well.

So far this is what I have to work with. I dont plan on having this done in a month or so... this is a Long term project but I plan on being very detailed with it.

After a long day of tearing parts off. Shaking my head numerous times. Cussing and Laughing at the "repairs" made to the truck, I ordered a LMC Catolog for the old girl.

Next time I work on the truck. THe box is the first thing to be removed and thrown away and the Frame, engine bay, cab, etc etc will get degreased and a High pressure wash so i can really see everything.
Seized Ebrake cables will be removed.
Hopefully clean up the frame and paint it to protect it until I get a newer box for it.

Thats it for now...I will update it when I can!

Matt

Wow! I'm almost speachless. I'm surprised the fuel tank is still attached. Luckily Rangers are common so sheet metal shouldn't be a problem. This will be a fun build to watch.

Good lord that's a lot of damage.

You might be able to find the ground effects for sale someplace. Alot of people pull them off from GT's.

I'm going to subscribe to this thread and keep an eye on it. I LOVE Ranger GT's. I want to get one myself, and put in a 460. Then it will really be a GT.

LMC Truck is your friend...

I'm glad to see that someone is taking the annitiative to fix up an old GT, especially a second gen. I haven't seen too many of those.

Tough break on the rust man, looks like the salt got under the body kit and went to work. Gotta love the stuff eh.

At least the frame is still good. Body work isnt fun, but isnt something that is hard to do, just takes alot of time.

No duct tape holding anything on? I've never done bodywork but I bet with materials and 10 minutes on google I cold do a better job than the previous owners. I'm surprised the interior wasn't trashed to hell and back. Good job on rescuing the old girl from a crusher, because unless someone bought it to restore, it probably wouldnt be long til it wound up at one.

Hey guys

Thanks for checking out my build thread.

Koda6966 - The plan later on is to do a very clean, stock looking 5.0 with 5 speed. Minor bolt ons. But for now the body and chassis is my main focus, I will just clean and tune up the 2.9 for the time being. Once the truck is painted and in good running order then I will start collecting everything for a 5.0 swap

rangerrookie429 - I tell ya man...these eastern winters are terrible if you dont look after your vehicle. The rough winters can certainly do alot of damage over a short period of time, they need to move away from salt.

I wont have much time this weekend to work on the truck as I will be traveling. Which sucks. If I could dedicate everyminute of this long weekend into the truck I certainly would! Once the box is removed and a couple of minor things looked after I think I will start removing the rusted metal from the cab and start prepping it for new corners and rockers.

Theres so much I want to do to it....Theres so much that really needs attention its hard to find a spot to start. You remove one thing and find 2 more that need attention or replacement.

What do you guys think i should do for Color? It was originally White, but im not too big on white on these trucks. I do however love the black and think painting "RANGER GT" a dark red or burgandy to match the interior. What do you guys think?

Revert back to Original White with red lettering and pin stripping? OR Paint it another OEM Color and add some personal touches?

Matt

Wow! I don't know what to say other than you've got one heck of a job ahead of you. I'll be watching this one as well..

1989LongbedGT said:

What do you guys think i should do for Color? It was originally White, but im not too big on white on these trucks. I do however love the black and think painting "RANGER GT" a dark red or burgandy to match the interior. What do you guys think?

Revert back to Original White with red lettering and pin stripping? OR Paint it another OEM Color and add some personal touches?

Matt

Click to expand...

Since you're already straying from stock via the engine swap, I'd say make the painjob personal. I like the black and red idea, one of the best color combinations imo.

I hate to think of what condition the floor boards are. Sorry if it seems like Im bangging on your truck but Im not. Good thing is you're fixing her up and giving her a new life.

Hey guys quick update before I get home and upload the pictures

I do agree with you that I have quite the job ahead of me. This truck will certainly test my skills and abilities but I am up for the challenge and im very anxious to work on it.

The more I thought about the black with red accents the more it grown on me. I was keeping my eye out for colors that might have suit the truck. Like Dark Shadow Grey on Mustangs and Lightnings. Or sonic blue or Red but I think Black would suit it the best as well.

Surprisingly the floor pans are in really good shape. The carpet is damp so I will have to pull it out soon to prevent any more damage.

Things that got done this weekend

Engine bay Degreased and High Pressure washed
Frame High Pressure washed to remove mud and Scale Rust
Box removed and frame high pressure washed.
Headlights, signal lights and headlight trim removed to be reconditioned and repaired.

The frame is in really good shape, needs minor repair. Theres a new spring shackle on the RR and a new Rear Diff cover.

The LR Shackle and Mount, Flex line, rear brake line, lines on rear end, Ebrake cables and equalizer need to be replaced. Some Cross members and the rear bumper support need some repair.

Pictures to come very soon!

Matt

Wow my jaw literally dropped when I saw the pics of the bed. That is amazing, it looks like a toyota! lol.

As for the damp carpet, pull your dash out, you'll probably find this..


Good luck with your project! Please keep us updated it will be exciting to see what you do with it.

Alright time for some pictures.

Was in a huge rush to get back to the father inlaws before dark...still ended up workin on the truck well past dark anyways lol. Anyway, Soaked the engine bay with a heavy duty degreaser and let it soak for about 15 minutes. Then took out the pressure washer and went to town....

Heres the engine bay before:



And heres the engine bay now:





I was quite surprised how well it turned out! Alot better looking than the mud that was in there thats for sure lol. Now I can really get in there and see what needs attention without getting too greasy. Pressure washer blasted off alot of heavy grime and grease off the engine block, heads, p/s box etc etc.

Let the truck sit over night and she fired right up the next morning. For as much as a Piece of Shit this thing really is, it still surprises me sometimes lol.

We headed out for vacation for a few days and managed to come back a day early. Some how talked the wife into staying the night so I could work on the truck a little extra longer lol.

SO! OFF came the box!



We used the tractor to lift and pull the box off. Honestly we really didnt need it but we wanted to have some fun.

Now I got to look what lies under that rusty old bed....




No wonder the rear brakes didnt work.......



Broke off the sending unit harness connector when pulling the box off......



Another back yard repair.......




Take another look at that last picture..I near shit myself laughin when I had another look at that exhaust lol.




Is this square stock OEM on the frame? Almost looks like a piece added for a topper camper? lol? another one on the other side of the frame but its rusted.





Now pressure washed off. Pictures are a little blurry Ill get better ones next time im down.





Ebrake cables.

Noticed the steel part of the filler neck in pretty good shape and would clean up very nicely. So off it came and a paint can cap fit perfectly over the rubber hose lol.



So terrible...


took home the headlights, signal lights and light trim, Plastic cover for rad support and filler neck all to be restored and some painted.





So im kinda in a Rut here.... I know the truck needs alot of work, Almost damn near everything on the truck needs attention. Which I am willing to do but I dont know how far to go with it?

Im debating whether to pull the Cab off the frame now? Sandblasting the Frame, Repairing it, Fully painting everything. This is all VERY time consuming and can get very expensive.

Is it worth it to go that far with this? I am impatient tho and would like to enjoy the truck soon and not be working on it for 5 years straight.

What do you guys think? Any thoughts or Ideas?

Matt