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Fix up/build thread for my '85 Ranger XLS


Shran

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Starting fresh with a new build thread on this one. I picked this truck up in December 2020 and haven't had time to do much with it. My 16 year old wants to drive it so I said I'd help him fix it up. Plan is a manual transmission swap, Duraspark swap and not much else, just fix all the major problems. It is kind of a basket case. Beyond the rust mentioned below, it was full of mice and everything was just very dirty.

It's got a 2.8, A4LD, and the newer column but it has a single column of warning lights. I picked this up from a friend of a friend, sight unseen, for next to nothing... I was told ahead of time that it was "very, very rusty" and it was parked a long time ago because the front seal in the trans failed. The owner let it sit with the intention of fixing it but by the time he got around to it, the driver's side floor had a basketball size hole in it. The rest of the body is actually in really good shape, a little rust over the rear wheel wells is all. I cut floor pans out of another cab so I should be able to fix it pretty easily. May see if I can get the A4LD functional or manual swap it, not sure yet.

Anyway as I said this has all of the XLS trim that the previous truck did, plus a leather wrapped steering wheel and a weird upholstered upper dash and dash compartment. I have not seen the upper dash upholstered ever, kinda weird to have carpet up there. The seats are in super nice shape and it has the roll-up center console, although the roll-up part is broken like the other one I have. Odometer shows x05000 miles... judging by the lack of wear all around, wouldn't shock me if that was actual mileage.

Pics from when I got it:





 
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Shran

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Finally getting around to doing something with this truck and it is a MESS to say the least. After getting the carpet out we discovered that it pretty much has the entire driver's side floor pan deleted by rust. Transmission was toast (knew that) but it's also got a broken axle shaft in the front and some of the diff bolts are loose. Weird. Front brakes locked up, rear wheel cylinders leaking. Wires going everywhere for what I'm assuming were lights that are clipped off. :bad:

As I said my kid wants this truck so I've been making him buy parts. So far we have a manual trans swapped in and are working on cleaning up the brakes and some other things so that it will start, run and move. Once I can move it around the yard a little easier, we will tackle the floor pan and Duraspark swap. It is such a pain to push with the brakes locked up!

I’ll get some updated pics posted once we are in the reassembly phase. I think it’ll be a good beater truck for a teenager. Nothing special and just the right amount of power - the old 2.8 should keep up on the highway but won’t get him in trouble.
 
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Shran

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Brakes are working - one new caliper, rebuilt the other one, rebuilt both wheel cylinders and installed a lightly used shoe/drum/hardware set that I had on hand. Two new brake lines in front, had to re flare the lines on the back and one on the front. Lines themselves were not rusty at all but the fittings were impossibly stuck. That was weird, usually I can get them freed up.

Dug through my box of clutch stuff and found a hose and master cylinder that matches the truck. Cleaned it up, bled & installed that last night. Pedal throw seems a little short, could be my imagination? Feels pretty good though.

My wife is working this evening so I should be able to hook up my temporary gas tank and bypass the neutral switch tonight and see if it will move under its own power. If so I can rotate it 180 degrees in the shop and start working on patching the floor.
 

StephenF

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I feel you on the floor pan. Was planning on swapping the cab of another one on my project, but the donor isn't much better. I did buy floor pans and guess I will just keep the current cab and restore it.

Good luck getting it going.
 

Shran

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Glad I looked at the neutral switch wiring, it is in terrible shape. Will be replacing about 4' of that harness........... anyway, twisted the two red/light blue wires together and verified that I could crank the engine over. Filled the transmission, hooked up my temporary gas tank and fired it up in the shop on jack stands - transmission functions in all gears! So I dropped it down on the floor, fired it up and drove it outside!!!!! First time it's been driven in I'm guessing 20 years. Aside from the carb leaking a lot it actually ran pretty good.




Next project will be fixing the floor so that I don't have a pile of interior parts to trip over. Then probably Duraspark swap, fix some leaks, oil change, then either clean the gas tank out or get a new one... put some better tires & wheels on it and test drive it. I stole the hood off of it for my stepside truck, I have a decent one that I'm gonna have the boy paint satin black, hopefully sort of match the rest of the body. Good progress so far. This truck honestly seemed like almost a lost cause but moving under its own power and having the brake issues fixed was a HUGE hurdle that we are now past.

 

StephenF

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And I though my floor was bad. Looks like your seat was just floating on the driver's side. Nice temporary tank their, strap and all. Kind of a bad location though with the carb leaking.
 

Shran

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Hah, yeah the fuel tank made me a little nervous. My hose wasn't long enough to locate it anywhere else. If I have to use that setup again I'll buy a long piece of hose and put it in the bed.

The floor is horrible. The seat was only held in by two bolts and it would lean sideways against the door if you sat it in. The seat tracks are actually rusted through as well, big chunks of them stuck to the carpet. Seatbelt was rusted off... lot of years of mouse pee and rain took a toll. But it is fixable.
 

StephenF

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Yeah, will take a bit of work. One of the prior owners did some redneck body work fixing the floor pan. With the carpet on you don't realize it until you press on the clutch/brake and the whole seat leans back with a popping noise. Once you lift the carpet you see the white, flat sheet metal with self tapping screws holding it in place. At least they went down with them. LOL
 
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Shran

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Small update, we got the rotten floor mostly cut out for a pattern last night and started removing a section from my donor floor. I didn’t know it is all spot welded together- that will make this somewhat easier.

IMG_0167.jpeg

IMG_0168.jpeg


Also mounted up some better tires on nice wheels. Looks way better.

IMG_0169.jpeg
 

Shran

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Floor patch piece removed… lots of spot welds to drill out. I also removed the A pillar torque box piece that always rusts out on these - I’m going to draw it in CAD so I can cut them on my plasma table, I doubt anyone is selling a patch panel for that area.

IMG_0175.jpeg

IMG_0172.jpeg
IMG_0170.jpeg
IMG_0171.jpeg


Patch needs to be trimmed but its a great start.
IMG_0177.jpeg


Lots of spot welds to remove if you do it this way.

IMG_0176.jpeg
 

Shran

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Still need to seal up the bottom side of this but my floor pan is more or less fixed. I riveted the patch piece onto the rocker and cab mount/floor support and then welded around the edge except in the front under the pedals... the rust is actually up past the pinch weld there and what's left is really thin and impossible to weld to. So I put a couple rivets on the strongest looking sections and then brushed a bunch of "Through the Roof" sealant into the edge to hopefully keep it somewhat water tight. I brushed some of that around on top of the rivets and on other seams too... it is pretty good stuff. Painted over the welded sections last night. I need to make one more little patch piece for the A pillar, find a grommet that fits the hole in the floor and then shoot the A pillar and B pillar full of expanding foam... that should be good enough for this truck.

My kid has failed his driver's test three times now so "his" truck is now "my" truck until he decides to study.

IMG_0300.JPG

IMG_0301.JPG
 

Shran

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Never have I been so happy to see a hole in a gas tank... I've been dreading 15 gallons of 20 year old fuel in this sucker. Went to drop it last night and it felt awfully light............... like it was empty... sure enough. Right under the front strap. Tank is obviously garbage, sending unit is fine thank god, those have been NLA for years.

IMG_0305.JPG


So I go dig out my good spare long box tank and it doesn't frickin fit. Way too long and filler neck in the wrong spot. WTF... an hour of looking at pictures on RockAuto and I'm just totally stumped.

What I have, don't mind the shop crocs:
IMG_0304.JPG


My spare tank that's supposed to fit:
F21C_TOP_P04.jpg


A short box tank that looks oddly similar:
F20C_TOP_P04.jpg


So to summarize, I measured the box on this truck and it is a short box truck. Not a long box like I have been thinking for the past three years. It's been parked next to another short box truck for three years and I swear to god it looks longer. What's wrong with me?!?!??!!? ;brownbag;
 

bobbywalter

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My credo
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if you replace more then 15 percent of the floorboards.....


the mandatory minimum is a 2jz swap......



you have 30 days.
 

bobbywalter

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it is easier to fix and understand than "her"
:LOL:






damn that is alot of work brother......awesome to do with your children though....lucky kid...
 

RobbieD

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So to summarize, I measured the box on this truck and it is a short box truck. Not a long box like I have been thinking for the past three years. It's been parked next to another short box truck for three years and I swear to god it looks longer. What's wrong with me?!?!??!!?
Stripes and plaids will always make you look fatter; by chance is one of the trucks plaid and the other in a polka dot or floral pattern?
 

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