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

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Hopefully tomorrow I can get some work done on the green Ranger again, today was a much needed rest day, but it was kinda miserable out anyway today. If I can get the garage up by this time next year I’ll be able to work in comfort though, lol

 

[rumblecloud]

FINALLY....fixed my Cruise Control....
I've been chasing a cure for a few months now, but by using my new tool (the EVTM) I was able to better trace the issue to the Amplifier.
In my recent visits to the pull yard, the amplifier was one of the items I was able to snatch along with the steering wheel mounted cruise control buttons.
I popped in the amplifier and lo and behold, it worked.



Checking for continuity on the printed circuit side, I found a couple of opens. I'm assuming those were the issues.
Now I can cruise.

 

[superj]

what was open? bad solder joints?

 

[rumblecloud]

what was open? bad solder joints?

Tiny cracks in the print. Plastic was really brittle. Can't see the cracks with naked eye. Prolly could've tried to solder them, but frankly, I'm tired of messin' with this problem. I'll keep this one just in case the working one craps out.

I was really fortunate to have gotten to that Ranger in the Pull Yard before anyone else did. It was in pretty good condition.

 

[97RangerXLT]

Took my Ranger to Illinois yesterday. Nice 3 hour trip one way and I haven't driven it long distance for a while. Also emptied the tank, so a whole fresh tank of gas in it now

AJ

 

[EdgeRanger91]

oh man this is a bit past due

I installed the 2007 Audiophile center console and subwoofer into my 2002 ranger, I also installed 4 Pioneer TS-G680 speakers in the doors, and a Pioneer DMH-W4660NEX head unit. along with a Sirius tuner. we used a step down to eliminate the POP sound. and ran USB-C to lightning, and Aux into the glovebox. we also relocated the airbag on off switch into the glovebox as well for easier access. microphone is snaked through the A- Pillar, and the antennas are snaked the same way on the other side.

I'll post pics soon. the truck sounds great. Im still playing with the new system and trying to learn it and dial all the settings in. bought everything from Crutchfield. They were great.


>>>>>Next up is changing my diff gasket and pinion seal. I'll also install a ford racing alloy cover. and i'll be using a lubelocker gasket. I just need to find a quality pinion seal replacement. any suggestions are great
>>> also next is wheel bearing play in the front wheels.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Finally got the last 8 valves ground for the green Ranger yesterday. Couldn’t get them all perfect, wasn’t sure just how far I could safely take it, but I got 90% or better of the pitting out of them and interesting enough, two of the intake valves (one per head) showed signs of not making full contact and now look like they should. Three cylinders showed oil fouling especially on the exhaust side, but I can’t detect any play or defects but the oil seal things around the valves at the top showed signs of deterioration, so hopefully that’s the issue. I have all new Felpro gaskets and seals so there’s that.

Looking things over, the exhaust ports are a little small in the head but the intake side looks pretty close to a gasket match. Thinking about giving the exhaust side a quick grind to get it a little closer but I can’t find my carbide bits. The lower intake ports where they meet the heads are a good bit smaller than the gasket windows, but since the injectors are right there I’m thinking the turbulence may help atomize fuel better? Not sure if I should give it a little love or not. My aluminum cutter is in my die grinder currently. Really need my garage up so I can organize these tools and have a proper workbench.

Once I do any grinding on this stuff, I can clean it off and re-assemble everything. Still have a few things on my list that I need to solve for, like doing something different with the heater hose lines, I’m not liking the rusty factory ones. But once the motor is mostly back together (heads, lower intake, timing chain and cover) I can set the engine and trans in place and can start working on other things that need worked out.

So quick recap if anyone wants to voice opinions…

1) how concerned should I really be about the oil fouling? #3 was the worst and the two next to it not as bad. Stem seals on all cylinders were deteriorated to a degree. No detectable play or cracks, oil was on both intake and exhaust side, but worse on exhaust, big globs of oily carbon on the valves and in the runners and cylinder side. Block still has factory crosshatching showing.

2) should I bother making any effort to get the lower intake closer to a gasket match or leave it be turbulent?

3) has anyone else done something other than the factory metal heater hose lines and what did you do?

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

So, I got irritated and went to get another carbide burr, started at Ace, since it’s the closest, but they don’t stock any at the local Ace, so as much as I didn’t want to, I had to make the trek through town to Rural King. A couple Milwaukee Packout boxes followed me home, a three drawer and a small organizer. Oh, and the Forney carbide burr from RK was made in USA, so at least that was a win. For anyone wondering, Packout stuff is made in Israel. Got home and ended up helping dad with a carb on his chipper. I think the carb is toast.

 

[Maritime Drag Racing]

Saturday morning time trial launch at Cape Breton Dragway. Black box contains the starting line photocells

 

[Uncle Gump]

Saturday morning time trial launch at Cape Breton Dragway. Black box contains the starting line photocells

Glad to see you're getting some seat time. Every time I see your truck it makes me want a go fast Ranger. I'd have to make it street-able though... I did the drag race thing for several years and it was just to much hurry up and wait for me.

Did any of your hard work make your passes any quicker?

 

[Maritime Drag Racing]

Actually had to de-tune it a bit LOL. Can't go any quicker right now since we're too close to the mandatory roll bar rule(7.35 in 1/8) at 7.40. I do have the roll bar, downbars and all the frame standoffs made but didn't get it installed yet.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Did an almost gasket match to the exhaust ports on the heads for the green Ranger, headers are almost gasket matched and I don’t think I can grind them so I did an almost job to the heads just to promote smoother flow. Then I scrubbed the heads down and all the parts. Hopefully tomorrow I can get them back together and start putting the motor back together. Hopefully that’s the end of the time consuming work and this thing will stop fighting and go back together. Anxious to drive it again.

kicking around the idea of getting some POR15 or the like and get the frame while I can get in there, but I might stick with the original idea and to just slop it all down with some greasy/oily undercoating stuff. We shall see if I get something in time or not.

Currently sitting on the porch with a cigar to celebrate progress

 

[rubydist]

I have had good results with the POR15 type stuff as long as it is not exposed to direct sun, as it has no uv protection/resistance and will break down quickly in those locations.

 

[superj]

we took the topper off the ranger because my son said he likes it but only would like it on when we have to use it. its fine with me either way so we took it off. it worked out good because than i had to use the ranger to take my mountain bike to meet someone for an evening ride. its way easier to put the mountain bike in with no top on, thats for sure.

and the ranger feels a little quicker without the weight of the topper on so thats nice too

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I have had good results with the POR15 type stuff as long as it is not exposed to direct sun, as it has no uv protection/resistance and will break down quickly in those locations.

I need to order some stuff from Bronco Graveyard and they have something like POR15 that says UV resistant, but I can always squirt some paint on whatever. I have to do some frame patches and when I’m done, I’d rather not have to deal with the frame for a few years. If I can put something on the frame to keep it rom getting worse, that’s what I want to do.