Welcome Visitor! Please take a few seconds and NTkiller7000
New Member
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2013
- Messages
- 19
- Reaction score
- 3
- Points
- 3
- Location
- under my truck
- Vehicle Year
- 1988
- Make / Model
- Ford
- Engine Size
- 2.3 L4
- Transmission
- Manual
I figured I'd start a new thread instead of necrobumping my own... See here for details https://www.therangerstation.com/forums/index.php?threads/88-ranger-rebuild.145045/
Well, it's 9 years later, but I've finally started back resurrecting the '88 ranger I posted about back in 2013. Many factors contributed to the backburnering of this project, but at least I've gotten to the point I can get some work done to it again. This year, I got a few things done, spread out over several months, but the engine got rebuilt, flywheel got turned, and ended up in the truck. A couple weeks ago my family got covid, and while we recovered quickly from the virus, we had complications getting clean tests so we could go back to work. My brother and I got bored, and decided to use the time out of work to get as much done to the truck as we could. The results are a truck that can at least move itself, but still far from roadworthy. We had another ranger in the yard, a '88 single cab long bed truck that my dad used to drive to work many years ago, but it got parked when he retired. Fast foward 12 years, we went to check on it, and unfortunately it suffered the silent death: both the firewall and the right hand radiator support were rusting out. While my brother could fix it, we deemed the truck too far gone to repair. Sad day for rangers everywhere, but there was one ray of hope: that we could use the parts from the rusted out truck to repair mine. My stupid self left most of the engine acessories in the bed of the truck, where they were left in the elements for way too long. Heck, at one point there was a tree growing through the empty engine bay! Well now I've finally gotten around to changing the little truck's plight, and hope to have it roadworthy soon. Now for the status update!
Currently the truck runs and sorta drives, but there is still much to do before I bother with a tag and insurance. We have the rebuilt 2.3 in it, with the original M5OD trans. My brother was in a bit of a hurry to get it running, so we ended up transplanting the fuel injection components and accessories from the donor truck to mine, doing nothing to them besides unbolting them off one truck, and bolting them to the other. I did have to get creative with the exhaust manifold, the donor truck had a good manifold, but a collector bolt snapped flush when I tried to get it off. I ended up using my truck's manifold, but I had to swap the EGR tube, which was a pain considering they've never been off. I ended up using my air / acetylene torch on it, heating the nut to a soft red, then quenching it with PB blaster. After that, I was able to remove it and transplant the tube to the other manifold. One of these days when I get bored I'll drill out the broken bolt, then i'll have 2 good manifolds. I ended up resusing the alternator, power steering pump, steering gear, ( the top cover was split, we think water got inside, froze, and split it?) steering collumn, (broken when removing the truck from the property it was abandoned on) upper and lower intake manifolds, radiator, and all accociated hoses and brackets. We also swapped over the aluminum wheels from the donor truck, they held air long enough for us to drive it around the yard a few laps. We've also added quite a few new parts, including a fuel tank, fuel pumps, fuel filter, clutch, pressure plate, throwout bearing, pilot bearing, clutch master cylinder, heater core, thermostat, and thermostat housing. We also decided to do some custom exhaust from some scrap parts we had laying around. We used the original cat and downpipe, added a dynomax muffler from the metal pile, and turned and dumped in front of the rear wheel. Its a little louder than stock, but not raspy and annoying. All in all, not too bad for 2 days work.
There is obviously a lot left to do still, parts are on the way, but I'll list some of the major stuff that needs to be done. Brakes, well there is none at the moment, but hopefully there shouldn't be too much wrong there. For the front, Ive ordered pads and body to caliper hoses, I hope I can turn the rotors to make them usable again. Hopefully the wheel bearings will be okay as well, I'll clean and repack those while I'm in the area. For the rears, I got shoes, axle to body hose, and a hardware kit, as well as lug studs, since most of the rears stripped out while removing the old rims. Hopefully I can reuse the drums and wheel cylinders. On to steering, the truck has a transplanted steering column and steering gear, but every joint is worn. To remedy that, I've ordered outer tie rod ends, drag link, left inner tie rod, and the adjusters. As for suspension bits, I got shocks for all four corners, I think everything else is good for now. In the engine compartment, I've ordered an O2 and MAP sensor, and need to deal with some wiring gremlins. The first is the battery ground cable was shot, I got a generic one from the parts house, but I need to replace the body, frame, and sensor grounds. Also of concern is the ecu and fuel pump relay connectors, they were badly rotten from exposure to the elements. I've got new relays and pigtails, just need to put them on. In the drivetrain department, the transmission was refilled with Mercon V fluid (Is that correct? I could have sworn gear oil came out of it...) and a shifter bushing kit is on the way for it. One problem I dont have an easy answer for is the driveshaft, the yoke rusted badly from all those years of georgia humidity, we sanded it as smooth as possible with 1000 grit sandpaper, but it's still quite pitted, and I doubt it will last long. I would change the yoke, but unforunately I have the 2 piece driveshaft, which has a lovejoy at the transmission instead of a u-joint, I cant find the proper yoke anywhere. I guess my options are trying to find a good yoke at the junkyard, or try the 1 piece driveshaft conversion. Either way, not too confident in the current setup. As for air conditioning, I'll wait on that, not necessary (or wanted) right now. For the body, all of the front clip parts can be pulled off the donor truck. I do need a set of window sweeps, mine are quite rotted. For the interior, it needs a deep cleaning, but its mostly complete, it's missing the fuse cover, rocker covers, and a shifter boot. I might go ahead and find one of those mini consoles that go around the shifter, Im a spoiled brat, need my cupholders. Besides that, give it a paint job, and drive the wheels of of it. I'll try to keep this updated, hopefully I'll get better at remembering to take pictures maybe some video, until next time folks.
Well, it's 9 years later, but I've finally started back resurrecting the '88 ranger I posted about back in 2013. Many factors contributed to the backburnering of this project, but at least I've gotten to the point I can get some work done to it again. This year, I got a few things done, spread out over several months, but the engine got rebuilt, flywheel got turned, and ended up in the truck. A couple weeks ago my family got covid, and while we recovered quickly from the virus, we had complications getting clean tests so we could go back to work. My brother and I got bored, and decided to use the time out of work to get as much done to the truck as we could. The results are a truck that can at least move itself, but still far from roadworthy. We had another ranger in the yard, a '88 single cab long bed truck that my dad used to drive to work many years ago, but it got parked when he retired. Fast foward 12 years, we went to check on it, and unfortunately it suffered the silent death: both the firewall and the right hand radiator support were rusting out. While my brother could fix it, we deemed the truck too far gone to repair. Sad day for rangers everywhere, but there was one ray of hope: that we could use the parts from the rusted out truck to repair mine. My stupid self left most of the engine acessories in the bed of the truck, where they were left in the elements for way too long. Heck, at one point there was a tree growing through the empty engine bay! Well now I've finally gotten around to changing the little truck's plight, and hope to have it roadworthy soon. Now for the status update!
Currently the truck runs and sorta drives, but there is still much to do before I bother with a tag and insurance. We have the rebuilt 2.3 in it, with the original M5OD trans. My brother was in a bit of a hurry to get it running, so we ended up transplanting the fuel injection components and accessories from the donor truck to mine, doing nothing to them besides unbolting them off one truck, and bolting them to the other. I did have to get creative with the exhaust manifold, the donor truck had a good manifold, but a collector bolt snapped flush when I tried to get it off. I ended up using my truck's manifold, but I had to swap the EGR tube, which was a pain considering they've never been off. I ended up using my air / acetylene torch on it, heating the nut to a soft red, then quenching it with PB blaster. After that, I was able to remove it and transplant the tube to the other manifold. One of these days when I get bored I'll drill out the broken bolt, then i'll have 2 good manifolds. I ended up resusing the alternator, power steering pump, steering gear, ( the top cover was split, we think water got inside, froze, and split it?) steering collumn, (broken when removing the truck from the property it was abandoned on) upper and lower intake manifolds, radiator, and all accociated hoses and brackets. We also swapped over the aluminum wheels from the donor truck, they held air long enough for us to drive it around the yard a few laps. We've also added quite a few new parts, including a fuel tank, fuel pumps, fuel filter, clutch, pressure plate, throwout bearing, pilot bearing, clutch master cylinder, heater core, thermostat, and thermostat housing. We also decided to do some custom exhaust from some scrap parts we had laying around. We used the original cat and downpipe, added a dynomax muffler from the metal pile, and turned and dumped in front of the rear wheel. Its a little louder than stock, but not raspy and annoying. All in all, not too bad for 2 days work.
There is obviously a lot left to do still, parts are on the way, but I'll list some of the major stuff that needs to be done. Brakes, well there is none at the moment, but hopefully there shouldn't be too much wrong there. For the front, Ive ordered pads and body to caliper hoses, I hope I can turn the rotors to make them usable again. Hopefully the wheel bearings will be okay as well, I'll clean and repack those while I'm in the area. For the rears, I got shoes, axle to body hose, and a hardware kit, as well as lug studs, since most of the rears stripped out while removing the old rims. Hopefully I can reuse the drums and wheel cylinders. On to steering, the truck has a transplanted steering column and steering gear, but every joint is worn. To remedy that, I've ordered outer tie rod ends, drag link, left inner tie rod, and the adjusters. As for suspension bits, I got shocks for all four corners, I think everything else is good for now. In the engine compartment, I've ordered an O2 and MAP sensor, and need to deal with some wiring gremlins. The first is the battery ground cable was shot, I got a generic one from the parts house, but I need to replace the body, frame, and sensor grounds. Also of concern is the ecu and fuel pump relay connectors, they were badly rotten from exposure to the elements. I've got new relays and pigtails, just need to put them on. In the drivetrain department, the transmission was refilled with Mercon V fluid (Is that correct? I could have sworn gear oil came out of it...) and a shifter bushing kit is on the way for it. One problem I dont have an easy answer for is the driveshaft, the yoke rusted badly from all those years of georgia humidity, we sanded it as smooth as possible with 1000 grit sandpaper, but it's still quite pitted, and I doubt it will last long. I would change the yoke, but unforunately I have the 2 piece driveshaft, which has a lovejoy at the transmission instead of a u-joint, I cant find the proper yoke anywhere. I guess my options are trying to find a good yoke at the junkyard, or try the 1 piece driveshaft conversion. Either way, not too confident in the current setup. As for air conditioning, I'll wait on that, not necessary (or wanted) right now. For the body, all of the front clip parts can be pulled off the donor truck. I do need a set of window sweeps, mine are quite rotted. For the interior, it needs a deep cleaning, but its mostly complete, it's missing the fuse cover, rocker covers, and a shifter boot. I might go ahead and find one of those mini consoles that go around the shifter, Im a spoiled brat, need my cupholders. Besides that, give it a paint job, and drive the wheels of of it. I'll try to keep this updated, hopefully I'll get better at remembering to take pictures maybe some video, until next time folks.
