'85 Ranger Restomod

[Ranger850]

I dont think we cured much with smoking...

well, it's not a ham.

 

[Uncle Gump]

Funny...

Smoking cures (at least takes my mind away from) some of my aches and pains.

Glad you got it back together...

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Funny...

Smoking cures (at least takes my mind away from) some of my aches and pains.

Glad you got it back together...

Smoke coming from a vehicle has the opposite effect...

 

[Ranger850]

Smoke coming from a vehicle has the opposite effect...

Nah, same effect as @Uncle Gump talking about

 

[Lefty]

I should have started one of these a long time ago, so there is some catching up to do.

In late August 2000 for my high school vehicle, I don't remember what day it was but I got insurance for it on 9-11-00 (I remember being shocked right after 9/11 when I went to put the new card in it)

Just like this but with a black grille and an aluminum toolbox that has came and went several times since:



I joined here for the first time in 2002, when my first A4LD died. I got a parts truck for the trans and that is where I got the chrome grille.

In 2003 I made a grille guard from some salvaged steel.



In 2006 I added a 3" bodylift. In 2007 I picked up a set of 235/75-15Dunlop Mud Rovers (same size as the street tires it came with) I don't have a pic of it with the regular tires, take my word for it... it looked stupid. The front bumper bracket followed shortly thereafter.

In 2008 I picked up a much better looking set of rims at a swap meet for $75.

Later in 2009 I picked up rollbar for $20 off of craigslist



Along the way I had been gather things to replace the dying 2.8 with something that if it didn't beat 10mpg... justified it. I got sidetracked on an engine that needed a ton of work, eventually I found a good one.

Swap thread:

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61372&page=3

I finished that somewhere around March (it is in that thread somewheres)

Final specs

1987 non-HO shortblock
Weiand Stealth intake manifold
Edelbrock 1403 500 CFM carb
Duraspark ignition
Hedman 88400 headers
2" true duals with glasspacks, routed between the frame rails and coming down between the bed and frame in front of the rear bumper.
M5ODR2 5-speed and twin stick NP-205 t-case

Initially after the swap it looked like this:



Now the engine bay looks like this:



A very subtle hint that it isn't a normal Ranger, the V8 badge off of the back of a 2002+ Explorer in leu of the V6 badges that it should have had (but didn't )

While I had the interior gutted I installed the interior out of two different '93 Explorers, the console out of one and the seats out of another.

As it sits now:

Photobucket has my build thread in shambles with no easy way to fix it. I am creating albums on Flickr to get pics back out there. I bought my 302 late 2010 and worked it over that fall before installing it in early 2011. 8.8 Swap took place that summer. Explorer FEAD upgrade happened summer of 2012. Bunch of little stuff in between but that should somewhat help you get words to go with pics. I am working on getting it somewhat indexed. If all else fails PM me.

Prepping the 302 preswap (Tri-Y's didn't fit so they were not used)

https://flic.kr/s/aHsm1L5zJT

V8 Swap

https://www.flickr.com/gp/152407235@N06/7013b1

1996 Explorer 8.8 Swap

https://www.flickr.com/gp/152407235@N06/646ktj

V8 Swap (initial) - Early 2011
Instrument Cluster Restore - Late 2016
Battery Tray Swap - Early 2017
Rear Sway Bar Install - Summer 2020
Rear Bumper Build - Summer 2020

Great work!

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I have been driving it all day to work to test it out. With 100*+/- temps it has been a bit of a stress test for it too.

It hasn't missed a beat.

Tonight I started transitioning it from being a period correctish show truck to a long distance tourer again. Pulled out the complete ash tray and reinstalled the modified ash tray with the GPS. Made sure it came on with the key. Reinstalled the GMRS mic and tested to make sure it worked. Threw my amber magnetic implement light on the back wall behind the seat so I can have a blinking light on the rear like all the cool kids if we get into a dusty conditions. Assembled the front driveshaft minus the boot clamps which I have yet to procure, I hope everybody is as impressed as I am after 4 years I found the boot right away. And I am hoping to sneak it into work Saturday to do the annual tire rotation, chassis lube... and slip the front driveshaft in it for good.

Mulled what I need to get rounded up for tools and camping supplies as I puttered around and deemed it too hot, sticky and late to deal with tonight.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Ran it into work on my day off. While waiting for another guy to finish with the four post I cleaned the inside of the windows in my topper, holy cow what a difference.





Also assembled my driveshaft.



Rotated tires, even washed out the inside of the wheels. Especially the rears were getting fairly caked up.





Drumroll please...



Poof, real 4wd any time all the time!



If it doesn't work I can find a driveshaft that just has a seal instead of a boot and go that route easily from here, it is close but I think it will work.

After I am sure it will work I probably need to put a cross in the front of it... but until I know it will work it can ride for now.

I also greased all the ujoints, ball joints and steering while it was up. I still need to go thru all the fluids yet.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Truck went to Kentucky and back and really did great for as little test running as it had.

Rear view mirror fell off the windshield on the way down, I snagged some super duper JB Weld superglue and just glued the button to the glue on the windshield so I might have something running the gauntlet in St Louis. Let it set up with just the button for about 20 miles and then mounted the mirror. Worked great the first time. Also used it to glue Amanda's glasses back together and it worked great for that, I am impressed.

GMRS Radio... I really need to get the interruptor thing. My radio is mounted on the PS kickpanel where the OEM ECU was. At flank speed it is super hard to hear, especially with the windows down.

Burning oil... hard to say. Used to be a quart a day on the road. It took me a quart to get down there (two days) and do the exploring activates on Saturday and then two quarts to get back home (two days of driving each way) We also went farther so there is that too.

Now that it has significant run time I am going to pull plugs and see if I can nail down where the issue is. I will then pull the valve cover and springs and make sure I didn't have any valve seals shift on me. It happened to me before and the same clown installed these. After that... not much more I can do without a ton of time and $$

I ran a ton more interstate than in years past too, that may effect my oil burning either way, I dunno. Running more than half the trip with her ears pinned back running 65-70 vs running 60 and slowing down and accelerating in every small town along the way... I dunno

Later yesterday and today I was smelling like oil cooking off on valve cover smell, I need to recheck how tight they are. I couldn't see anything obvious but that won't helpf engine oil retention.

Exhaust... pretty sure the guts for my drivers side glasspack have left the chat after cruising at 3k RPM for like 7 hours. Although it sounded freaking awesome down in the hollers and off the rock walls it attracts attention to myself I would rather not have. I have a pair of Magnaflow Magnapacks I never installed on my old F-150 I might put on if I can get them to fit.

Used the Garmin more than ever and I like it more and more.

Didn't even lock in the hubs so nothing to report on the front driveshaft operation.

But yeah, truck ran great, averaged around 16-17mpg and was flirting with 18mpg on one leg of the trip. And it used a quart less of oil than in years prior which might as well call a win. Power and cooling on the trail was great.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Finally got around to pulling the plugs to see how things were looking in there. I know the left bank/right exhaust pipe was smoking at times on the trip so I was especially keeping an eye on that side.

Sure enough, #1 was a little more crusty than the rest of them. Really not bad though, even at its best my 2.8 could oil fowl the plugs in like two weeks and I have like 2k miles on these plugs (they were new with the head swap)

Plugs are sitting as they are from the front of the engine bay, #1 is bottom left.



Bank 1 (passenger side)



Maybe kinda ashy, maybe kind of normal overall, maybe I just need more miles... I dunno

Something is going on with #1 I think. Probably trashed rings but I am going to go ahead and pull the valve cover and valve springs and make sure a seal didn't move. If not, then it is what it is until I turn up a fresher engine.

And yes springs, because I have dual valve springs I can't really see the seals in there...

Kinda miffed though, it is using less oil but smoking more...

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Found the pic of my old plug, this was #1 before. It had also been in for several years.

 

[Angry Possum]

Dang that's a sweet ride there. Did you have to do anything with the stock transmission to put in the 350?

 

[Lefty]

A nice old truck....or should I say "new?" A wonderful story behind it all too.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Dang that's a sweet ride there. Did you have to do anything with the stock transmission to put in the 350?

Returned it to the jy as a core when I got the M5od for the 302.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Anyway, the truck has been sitting since I checked the plugs as I build ambition to pull the valve cover(s) and check valve seals. I got a wild hair and drove it to my brother's bachelor party last night. It was kind of coldblooded in the morning but it was cool and who knows what gas I got on the way back from the trip. I threw 8 gal in on the way out of town and it made no difference.

It was a weird miss. Idled great, let it breath and it stepped to attention. Midthrottle it was where it did its weird intermittent miss. It when I got after it the thing came back out of it with such vengeance it almost kinda acted like timing.

So we shot bluerock and rifles and grilled steaks in a hay field. Nice cool night and I don't have a ton of confidence in the truck so I just take gravel home. Make it like 3 miles from home, I downshift to go thru a railroad tunnel and the low oil pressure light comes on as I clutch it... the fire went out.

So I crank, it lights right off and dies. Crank again, lights right off and dies. Ok, likely something to do with the primary ICM wiring. In start mode the wire from the starter relay ques the Duraspark module to retard the timing so it starts easier, once that goes away it rolls over the main 12v feed. I get my little $2 harbor freight testlight out of the glovebox, pull up my diagram on flickr on my phone and sure enough, no power at the module connector, go back to the connector on the rad support... no power there.

So I call Amanda, she gets me as I formulate a plan. Get home, I grab my test wire roll and we get back, I just jump the ignition and sneak it home in second gear so my roll of wire doesn't shift and roll down into the header or something.



Cause of loss of fire identified.



So we pull that whole harness out and check it, it all looks perfect.



Took it for a spin, miss is still there. Swap in my spare ICM. No change.

So I throw a new set of plugs in it... bingo. Runs friggen perfect again.

I didn't drop them, I can see nothing wrong with them. I have no idea what happened but apparently something happpend when I pulled the plugs out last week.

 

[Ranger850]

something happpend when I pulled the plugs out last week.

If it comes back, I'd check the plug wires. Sometimes the connector gets seperated form the lead when/if you pull the wires to check the plugs. Putting in the new plug, you could have pushed the connector pack up into the wire and its working good, for now.