'85 Ranger Restomod

[85_Ranger4x4]

Pretty much done under the hood. I just want to find some sort of clamp to hold the harness against the firewall near the blower motor housing.

Put bolts back in all the holes for the buckets and center console. Screwed down the shifter bezel (first time ever it has been fastened down) and put the bench seat back in... wow. The seat itself sucks compared to the buckets but so much room... it is nice to be back.

Compared to:

Just have to run a new wire for the radio and it should be mobile again.

 

[dangerranger83]

I just need lumbar support seats in mine.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I just need lumbar support seats in mine.

If you were closer I have two sets of buckets now with power lumbar that need a home.

 

[dangerranger83]

What did you get them out of? Going to be doing a JY run soon for my s10 efan swap (which btw has nice seats in it).

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Highbacks out of a 1993ish Explorer and I think a 1987ish Eddie Bauer BII with the pine trees (what I just took out)

Both very comfortable seats... just for a smaller guy or in a different cab.

Without the console it is also much easier to get it into 4lo and I can get it into first gear.

 

[dangerranger83]

I'm not exactly a smaller guy. I may see about s10 seats and see if they will fit decently.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I'm not exactly a smaller guy. I may see about s10 seats and see if they will fit decently.

Well good luck, I never found honest buckets for a first gen std cab and am tired of dragging home seats that I can't find homes for when I don't like them. The next one will be a nice vinyl bench seat and I will be done. The one I have now is red cloth out of my parts truck, the original seat blew two springs so it felt like you were driving while sitting on a toilet seat.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Seeing as I may not do much offroading in mine anymore, I may get some durable carpet and put in mine to help with noise and air from under getting in from the engine bay. Also gives it a creature comfort.

If you have no carpet you need to get some. Holy cow just that little stupid $4 rug made a massive difference going down the road. I keep getting freaked out the engine died but no, I just can't hear it anymore with the windows up.

I have been kicking myself, I was junking yesterday and found a nice '88 with tan carpet. I grabbed a bunch of nice trim out of it but it wasn't until I was on the way home it hit me I should have nabbed the carpet to tide me over. I didn't look at it real close but around the shifter hole (it was a 5 speed) it was really nice.

Anyway to update on progress:

All the pretty lights working (including the one in the shifter bezel) which is neat.

Pulled apart the dash to update some wiring there, I noticed one of the radio wires was cracking and wanted to replace it. As I was digging down to there I also noticed how nasty by gauges were so I decided to clean them. Canned air wouldn't touch it, used a microfiber towel carefully and it looks really sharp now.

Organized chaos:

Scouted this last weekend in Omaha, really clean hood so I went back and nabbed it yesterday on the way out to meet my GF for lunch in Lincoln after her finals (and to hit the Lincoln U-pull-it).

Still no 5 speeds but a decent day of pillaging nonetheless.

Wrapped up the radio thing today:

I noticed the other night I only had one license plate light working. I went to pull it out to get the number off the bulb. I went to plug it back in and it just rattled around in there, the connector had petrified and wouldn't seal. So while at the JY I thought ahead and grabbed two not knowing how the other side was. Turned out both sockets would also quit depending on how you moved the wires near the base... so it was a good thing I grabbed new connectors. Changed them out and all is right... but now I need different lamps because the paint is flaking off them. Need to check out the ones on my parts truck.

New LED vs the feeble attempts of a 168 bulb:

I got to thinking, gee these are pretty cool, wonder how they would be in the side marker lights. Hard to tell in the pic but they overpower the amber lens and almost look white, not a fan. I think the license plate lights are about as far as I will go with LED's. I have the "super bright" ones for the license plate but I don't think there is much energy savings to be had vs a cheap little 168/194 bulb if I was to get the standard ones for the marker lights. I have had the truck for 15.5 years and have never had to change one... so not much priority there either.

LED:

Incandescent:

Closing down tonight I forgot the very back light in the garage, I thought it made for a neat pic:

 

[dangerranger83]

Isn't it nice that you can take the entire dash apart with just a Phillips screwdriver?


LED make a huge difference in not only lighting but the electrical demand of the old wiring in the truck. Plus it will take forever for them to go out.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Isn't it nice that you can take the entire dash apart with just a Phillips screwdriver?


LED make a huge difference in not only lighting but the electrical demand of the old wiring in the truck. Plus it will take forever for them to go out.

It is a fascinating concept, I can cover a lot of ground with just a mere screwstick.

I know the benefits of LED's, most of the bulbs in the truck are tiny little things that don't pull a lot of current. I think I have only ever changed two bulbs (3 & 4 now but only one was bad), one of which I robbed out of my parts truck when I was in high school.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

The last Duraspark ignition module I am going to buy. I have heard/experienced mixed reviews on parts store modules so I am going to do it right and see if I get better than the mixed results I have had with the parts store boxes.

So this weekend I am going to put a real Duraspark harness back in it with the Motorcraft module and see how it goes.

 

[dangerranger83]

Something tells me that has been on a shelf for a long time.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Not really, I think they tried making too small of a box with too heavy of cardboard so it came out looking a little rough. No fading, no wear, no 10 layers of tape on one end from it not fixing various problems like most NOS stuff I deal with at work.

It is from Rockauto, I doubt it sat around too long.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Used the Ranger to help get the disk on one of my tractors last night (haul the jack and cylinder to it)

GF took and edited this pic while I was bringing the tractor around:

I thought it came out pretty neat.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Finally had a reason to pull something semi long distance (about 10 miles) It didn't care for power (even kicked the rear out starting up a steep hill) and it stayed cool. It wasn't that heavy but I was impressed anyway.

Minus what I need to salvage off my D28 (mainly a spring stud and radius arms) I now have all the parts to get this axle to support my truck.

And the beam is almost ready for paint. I need to get a new wire brush for my angle grinder to reach more nooks and crannys and figure out how to mask where the diff goes (it has nice paint in there and I want to leave it alone)