What did you do to your Ranger today? (Part Deux!)

[Rick W]

Oh (first gen) wise ones….

The ‘87 Missing Linc has driver and passenger windows that are full glass, no vent windows. I’ve seen several first gen rangers that have the rectangular side windows, and also have the vent windows. I always assumed that they were earlier models. Then I saw an ‘87 today, like mine, that had the vent windows, looked online, and I found both on the ‘87s.

Did the early ones come with the vent windows, and then they changed to a full-size window mid year and ‘87? Was either an option to the other?

I real question is, if I find first generation doors that have the vent windows, can I just take out the mechanism and move it over and then have vent windows on mine? Do all the first gen doors interchange? Can I just swap the doors?

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Oh (first gen) wise ones….

The ‘87 Missing Linc has driver and passenger windows that are full glass, no vent windows. I’ve seen several first gen rangers that have the rectangular side windows, and also have the vent windows. I always assumed that they were earlier models. Then I saw an ‘87 today, like mine, that had the vent windows, looked online, and I found both on the ‘87s.

Did the early ones come with the vent windows, and then they changed to a full-size window mid year and ‘87? Was either an option to the other?

I real question is, if I find first generation doors that have the vent windows, can I just take out the mechanism and move it over and then have vent windows on mine? Do all the first gen doors interchange? Can I just swap the doors?

My 88 Bronco II, my two parts Bronco IIs, and the 89 Eddie Bauer Bronco II all have/had the vent windows. My 89 Ranger parts truck might, I don’t remember offhand. My 89 Bronco II Choptop and my 92 Ranger both have full windows which I’ve always hated. The vent windows are nice.

I’m not certain if you could swap the glass and related bits, probably could, but the doors, to my understanding, were the same for Ranger and Bronco II from 83-92 and the vent windows were available all through that range. I don’t remember seeing a 1st gen without the vent windows though. Always seemed to me to be more of a 2nd gen thing

 

[Rick W]

My 88 Bronco II, my two parts Bronco IIs, and the 89 Eddie Bauer Bronco II all have/had the vent windows. My 89 Ranger parts truck might, I don’t remember offhand. My 89 Bronco II Choptop and my 92 Ranger both have full windows which I’ve always hated. The vent windows are nice.

I’m not certain if you could swap the glass and related bits, probably could, but the doors, to my understanding, were the same for Ranger and Bronco II from 83-92 and the vent windows were available all through that range. I don’t remember seeing a 1st gen without the vent windows though. Always seemed to me to be more of a 2nd gen thing

So the doors from the first gen before the nose mod will definitely fit, and maybe the ones after they modified the nose? Does anybody know about the revised nose doors?

I’d love to find a couple doors with power windows and power locks, I don’t think they cost anymore from the scrapyard

 

[scotts90ranger]

The doors interchange from '83-92 like said, the door panels changed in '89. I've heard of people swapping in the vent windows, I've never thought too hard about it on my '90

 

[JoshT]

Did the early ones come with the vent windows, and then they changed to a full-size window mid year and ‘87? Was either an option to the other?

It was an option, not a year dependent thing. My 84 came with solid glass. I the 85 out back has vent windows, and the 86 has solid. I couldn't tell you which was standard and which was the option. I personally prefer solid on the Rangers, so the 85 will be getting converted if it gets built.

I real question is, if I find first generation doors that have the vent windows, can I just take out the mechanism and move it over and then have vent windows on mine? Do all the first gen doors interchange? Can I just swap the doors?

Yes, you can install the vent windows in you solid window doors.

Do all the first gen doors interchange? Can I just swap the doors?

Yes, all first gen door can physically interchange. Some had power windows, some had vent windows, some had different mirrors, but all of the doors will bolt in place of the other and the guts can be swapped between them. Even the 89-92 2nd gen (/face lift/nose mod/modified nose/revised nose/etc) doors will bolt on, but IIRC the inside face may be a bit different due to the different door panels. Possibly different mounting provisions for the updated panels.

You can just swap the doors, but I wouldn't recommend it. Just swap the vent window guts over to your doors.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

So the doors from the first gen before the nose mod will definitely fit, and maybe the ones after they modified the nose? Does anybody know about the revised nose doors?

I’d love to find a couple doors with power windows and power locks, I don’t think they cost anymore from the scrapyard

I’m not sure what exactly you mean about “revised nose” unless you’re talking about 2nd gen. This whole “facelift” and “revised nose” and stuff is ridiculous, IMHO. 83-88 has been 1st gen and 89-92 has been 2nd gen for longer than I’ve been involved in Rangers. Front clip, dash, interior door panels, and electrical all changed between those two.

If you don’t have power windows, swapping in power may require doing some electrical. You may or may not have the wiring in place or part of the wiring. My 89 Bronco II Eddie Bauer I had in college did not have the “premium sound” package but had wiring behind the radio for both regular and premium.

I do not know how much that part of the electrical changed, but if you’re after power, you may want to look for power 1st gen doors. Maybe someone else knows specifically. I do know that all of the vent window doors I have are all power. I haven’t figured out exactly how I’m going to handle that yet because I’d really like a set of vent window doors on my second gen’s. Been too much other stuff to deal with to worry about that yet though.

 

[Rick W]

I’m not sure what exactly you mean about “revised nose” unless you’re talking about 2nd gen. This whole “facelift” and “revised nose” and stuff is ridiculous, IMHO. 83-88 has been 1st gen and 89-92 has been 2nd gen for longer than I’ve been involved in Rangers. Front clip, dash, interior door panels, and electrical all changed between those two.

If you don’t have power windows, swapping in power may require doing some electrical. You may or may not have the wiring in place or part of the wiring. My 89 Bronco II Eddie Bauer I had in college did not have the “premium sound” package but had wiring behind the radio for both regular and premium.

I do not know how much that part of the electrical changed, but if you’re after power, you may want to look for power 1st gen doors. Maybe someone else knows specifically. I do know that all of the vent window doors I have are all power. I haven’t figured out exactly how I’m going to handle that yet because I’d really like a set of vent window doors on my second gen’s. Been too much other stuff to deal with to worry about that yet though.

If I do it, I’ll probably just get 83 to 88 doors and repaint the doors. If I could find power window/lock doors, I can figure out the wiring, that doesn’t bother me.

 

[Rick W]

Question about my ‘97, the Road Ranger. I have the “chrome” grill. It’s actually chrome across the top bar right up against the hood, and most of it is actually silver. The silver has a few chips in it, and it looks like it’s chrome underneath the silver.

Here’s the question: is it really chrome under the silver? If I can find something to strip off the silver paint, would I have a 100% chrome grill?

 

[97RangerXLT]

Question about my ‘97, the Road Ranger. I have the “chrome” grill. It’s actually chrome across the top bar right up against the hood, and most of it is actually silver. The silver has a few chips in it, and it looks like it’s chrome underneath the silver.

Here’s the question: is it really chrome under the silver? If I can find something to strip off the silver paint, would I have a 100% chrome grill?


View attachment 136797

my 97 has the chrome strip above as well, but the grille itself is just painted plastic. (OEM) I have had toi repaint it twice in the 20 years I have owned it. I used a rust oleum spray paint that is supposed to give a "hammered" metal look. it does not, but the grey is spot on for the factory color.

 

[JoshT]

I’m not sure what exactly you mean about “revised nose” unless you’re talking about 2nd gen. This whole “facelift” and “revised nose” and stuff is ridiculous, IMHO. 83-88 has been 1st gen and 89-92 has been 2nd gen for longer than I’ve been involved in Rangers. Front clip, dash, interior door panels, and electrical all changed between those two.

You can probably thank the wikipedia crowd for that. As you said, amongst the active Ford Ranger crowd (TRS, RPS, and other Ranger sites) there was always a generational split at the 88/89 model year change over. According to the crowd that edited wikipeda the 89 model year revisions were cosmetic and mostly amounted to a facelift. There were edit wars on the Wiki page and the facelift crowd won out, primarily because they cried a lot and had plenty of time in their moma's basement to edit it. Since the world seems to have decided that Wikipedia is a valid source (makes no sense to me) 83-92 are now considered one generation.

They place the generational splits for the old Rangers at at 93 and 98. Both may look square, but if you actually look below the skin, there were as many changes from 88 to 89, there were in the wiki splits. The ones you mentioned, the frame was changed and the front suspension was also heavily redesigned. You can't really intermix any of the front 2wd suspension parts between -88 and 89+. In fact if look you past the rounded body, the 89-92 probably had more in common with the 93-94 than it did the 83-88.

83-92 had the same cab and bed, same HVAC plenum, and similar engine bay. Many engine differences, 2.0 and diesels discontinued in 83-88, 4.0 added in 90, 3.0L added in 91. Front suspension was entirely redesigned for 89, they are same style and will swap as a whole, but no parts are individually interchangable. The frame was different in the front bumper and frame horn area. Lets gloss over the fact that the front clips aren't bolt on interchangeable either, something that is commonly possible for mid-generation facelifts.

89-94 had same suspension and brakes, same frame, same engine options*, same interior and dash, same HVAC plenum, almost the same engine bay. Engines did vary some, but not near as much. The 2.3/2.5 stayed for the whole run, 4.0 there for most of it, and 3.0 replaced 2.9 for 91/92, then that lineup basically continued through 1997.

Heck the 95-97 could about be a separate generation as well. It has got almost as many changes from the 93-94, as 93-94 did from the 89-92.

Sorry, I get a bit irked when the subject comes up and climb onto my soapbox.

 

[sgtsandman]

You can probably thank the wikipedia crowd for that. As you said, amongst the active Ford Ranger crowd (TRS, RPS, and other Ranger sites) there was always a generational split at the 88/89 model year change over. According to the crowd that edited wikipeda the 89 model year revisions were cosmetic and mostly amounted to a facelift. There were edit wars on the Wiki page and the facelift crowd won out, primarily because they cried a lot and had plenty of time in their moma's basement to edit it. Since the world seems to have decided that Wikipedia is a valid source (makes no sense to me) 83-92 are now considered one generation.

They place the generational splits for the old Rangers at at 93 and 98. Both may look square, but if you actually look below the skin, there were as many changes from 88 to 89, there were in the wiki splits. The ones you mentioned, the frame was changed and the front suspension was also heavily redesigned. You can't really intermix any of the front 2wd suspension parts between -88 and 89+. In fact if look you past the rounded body, the 89-92 probably had more in common with the 93-94 than it did the 83-88.

83-92 had the same cab and bed, same HVAC plenum, and similar engine bay. Many engine differences, 2.0 and diesels discontinued in 83-88, 4.0 added in 90, 3.0L added in 91. Front suspension was entirely redesigned for 89, they are same style and will swap as a whole, but no parts are individually interchangable. The frame was different in the front bumper and frame horn area. Lets gloss over the fact that the front clips aren't bolt on interchangeable either, something that is commonly possible for mid-generation facelifts.

89-94 had same suspension and brakes, same frame, same engine options*, same interior and dash, same HVAC plenum, almost the same engine bay. Engines did vary some, but not near as much. The 2.3/2.5 stayed for the whole run, 4.0 there for most of it, and 3.0 replaced 2.9 for 91/92, then that lineup basically continued through 1997.

Heck the 95-97 could about be a separate generation as well. It has got almost as many changes from the 93-94, as 93-94 did from the 89-92.

Sorry, I get a bit irked when the subject comes up and climb onto my soapbox.

Because of stuff like this, I don't view wikipedia as a primary source for information. They can be a starting point, but any information they provide has to be verified elsewhere. The same thing with anything AI puts out when one does an internet search. Too many times, it has been shown to provide inaccurate information.

 

[rumblecloud]

Nestled in its parking space for the winter


I'm working on the ATV in the shop and needed the room so this is where she sits for awhile...strategically located underneath the hoist for when I get around to pulling the bed sometime in February or March.