‘94 4x4 Swap/Build

[DRanger024]

Finally putting heat in the shop. Picked up a 60,000 BTU Modine Hot Dawg from my buddies parents for free. Unfortunately it ended up costing me a trip to the ER and the dentist already.

Tripped while carrying the heater from one side of the garage to the other and caught the edge of it in the mouth. Sent the broken front tooth in the above picture clear through my lip causing it to shatter on the heater. I had to go to the ER to have the tooth shards extracted from inside my lip. Below is a couple days after. Likely should have had stitches but they gave me the option and I declined.

Got the sucker hung anyways and tossed some stickers on it. It’s not plumbed for gas yet nor the exhaust. I also need to pull wire for an outlet in the corner for power.

Once the electrical is ran, I can finish insulating and sheeting the shop side of the garage.

 

[Uncle Gump]

Dude... I can relate.

I got tangled up in an extension cord... face first into the Bronco II front bumper. Busted up both lips... black eye... broken teeth. It also knocked me out.

You didn't hurt the heater did ya?

 

[DRanger024]

Heater is fine unbelievably! I bench tested it the next day.

I think you take the cake for facial damage though. Holy smokes. I didn’t knock myself out but I had no clue what happened initially. I tripped on my little air compressor that I had failed to put away after my big one died and I needed to inflate a soccer ball for one of the kids.

 

[DRanger024]

Well I’ve been fighting the truck every inch of the way with piddly little nickel and dime problems since the engine swap. As soon as I fix something, another issue will almost immediately arise. I’m hoping to have it ready for the 25th anniversary round-up with zero issues.
The oil pump drive is currently making noise and rightfully so. It has somewhere near 300,000 miles on it.

I have a weird swirling squeal noise on semi warm restart that isn’t there when the engine is cold or hot. That appeared after I fixed the rusted off dipstick retainer tab.

It’s grinding into gear on the 2-3 up shift and 3-2 downshift which is strange because it’s switching between two different synchros. I can drive through it with a patient shift strategy. I just switched it back over to 5w-20 motor oil from ATF. This has proven to solve this in the past and has greatly improved it this time.

I have a hard Ranger lean now, likely due to no sway bar and soft coils but I also have gained a pull to the left. When it warms up some outside, I’m planning to set it on jacks and square everything up again as well as put the sway bar back on.

I need cab mounts BAD, cab corners are completely shot and the frame needs some attention. I love Wisconsin

 

[rumblecloud]

Seems like we've all tripped over something. Mine was a bullet heater while carrying a 55-gal barrel stove through the shop.

Congrats on the heater though - that's a set-up I would love to have instead of a the wood stove I have now -- my wife's idea. She made me get rid of the barrel stove and replace it with a Kitchen Queen wood stove -- "So then I can come out and cook on it while your working on stuff..."

GREAT IDEA HUN!

 

[Lefty]

Hang in there buddy. Sooner or later everything gets fixed.

 

[DRanger024]

Hang in there buddy. Sooner or later everything gets fixed.

Thanks bud. Getting a little burned out on it so the motivational words really help.

 

[Lefty]

Thanks bud. Getting a little burned out on it so the motivational words really help.

There is a reason why we restore them. Trucks like this are not made anymore.

And yet they are still loved. I was at the Ford dealers today. The salesman told me that those old Rangers sell fast. Most are gone in just 2 days. no matter what the condition. It took me a long time before I found a decent one.

 

[Josh B]

Everybody got a better deal than I did, but I jumped right on it and didn't let go.
I had been looking in the newspapers every day, Nashville had two, The Tennessean mornings and Nashville Banner afternoon.
I had already decided either a Ranger or F150. I had looked at 2 already, Sunday morning and at a car lot.
I cannot recall how far apart I looked at them but the smut in the tailpipe failed them both, both wanted around 3K

Another was pushing his sons truck which had been fitted to be a jukebox on wheels and the fella could hardly believe I hadn't just started counting money soon as I saw it.
Too bad they don't much have newspapers anymore most places, it was a great place to find one long as you looked it over well, and knew how to, and if you got there early you could maybe catch a good one, which I finally did.
Woke up around 4 am and drove downtown to the paper and sat in the parking lot and shortly they brought the first stack of papers out to go in the box.
I sat at a counter at Shoney's looking it over, and there was a 93 Ranger for 3K. I didn't call till after 8 and she had just gotten off of work as a Sherrifs dispatcher in Nashville. I went out to look it over and wound up buying it.
It was by far the best thing I had seen, and going through emissions I discovered it needed a clutch
That's a lot better than some of the other problems I might have had

 

[Angry Possum]

@DRanger024 Just last month I took a spill bringing the garbage out. I went up in the air came down, shoes went flying off my feet. I came down and landed on the side of my spine. It could have been worse. Just a few bruised ribs in my back, pain was gone in 12 days.. My back actually hit the edge of the step full force when I landed.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Rigs can sit, I've got burned out on a few of mine a few times over the years, if you aren't making payments and have a daily driver just get yourself gathered, if it leaks cover it up (or not, part of why the '90 doesn't have carpet and the floor plugs are pulled) until it sparks again... my '00 Explorer I got for $800 with what I thought was just stripped spiders in the rear axle, threw some junkyard ones in then went for a ~6 mile drive and got back and had no reverse or neutrals, sat for over a year before I got the gumption again then took the trans to my friend and it was like $1000 just in parts (me buying from the shops directly, no markup)...

 

[DRanger024]

@Lefty I do love this goofy little truck. The body is fading fast though. I've convinced my wife to let me dig into the body work this summer but I need to invest in some tools to do it the way I want to.

@Josh B That's a great story. I bought mine off of my sisters ex after the 4.6 in my Grand Marquis started smoking heavily. I pretty much had to put the money in his hand and take the keys to get it. He bought it brand new and drove it all over the Unites States after serving in the Marine Corps through Desert Storm. That history alone is enough to keep this little truck alive in my eyes.

@Angry Possum I've managed to avoid messing up ribs my entire life. I've broken lots of teeth though. I guess I like to use my face to catch my fall

@scotts90ranger It kind of sucked the joy out of driving it. I've managed to fix the vast majority of the issues already because it drives me nuts to the point I lose sleep. Amazingly, the cab does not leak at all. Swapping the engine and having it run great but feel lethargic under load was a major disappointment. It's been ridiculous stuff constantly after figuring that out.

 

[DRanger024]

Went for a ride today to see how hard I could get the truck to flex. I think I could stuff a 35 pretty easy but I can’t get a 33 up in the fender well yet. I’m afraid to try driving it over the taller berm in that same area. I have myself convinced the truck will get stuck or break. I’m sure that would get me closer though.

Currently working on some adjustable coil buckets and want to switch to f250 shock towers when I get the buckets done. May have to push the front axle forward a bit in the future.

I need to get my crap straight and regear the truck. The 3.73’s are useless with 33’s unless it’s in low. The next set of tires WILL be 35’s so I’d like to go to 4.56. I don’t even remember what torque feels like lol. I’d also like to finally get the dang thing out on some trails that will give it a workout.

 

[Dantheman1540]

Looking good! The 250 shock towers are such a cheap easy upgrade.

 

[DRanger024]

Thanks! I made my own shock towers a couple years back but they put the shock too close to the spring bucket.