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Hey everybody, i've made a couple of posts in the last week or so about this "new to me" ranger. I picked this thing up literally dirt cheap. I've spent the last week or so getting the bugs out of it, and installing a new carburetor (someone removed the choke plate from the old one!!!!)
Rangers have been a lifelong obsession for me, starting with the very 1st one that I had when i first got my drivers license, a 1997 Ford Ranger long bed 2WD, with a 2.3 4 cylinder. After that I had a 1991 Ranger extended cab 4X4 that had a 2.9 V6, then a 2007 Ford Ranger 4X4 that I still have today.
This one is a 1988. It has the carbureted 2.0 4cylinder, with the Aisan carb or the "emissions carb". The motor has 85,000 + miles on it, and runs strong with no engine noise or any smoking. I spied it on Craigslist one night, and the price seemed too good to be true. I worried about title issues or some other major hidden problem. For just a few hundred dollars it seemed hard to believe.
This is the day I drove it home after buying it and giving it a good wash. Keep in mind this was a strange 70+ degree day a week before Christmas. The 1st thing I noticed was the "F350" emblems on the fenders. Good for a laugh right now but I think i might replace them eventually with the correct kind for this year. I will also point out that the tires on this beast are grossly oversized. I believe these are P245 75 R15s. These are actually getting replaced tomorrow with P215 /75/R15's. I have a set of wheels from another ranger, the alloy style, that will be going on here to replace the ugly and poorly spray painted steel wheels.
A hog dirty interior. You will notice the many cans of starting fluid. On freezing days, the previous owner had to use this starting fluid to spray into the carb, that he actually designed an intricate hose system that came from the carburetor and through the dash vents so he could spray it in without having to leave the cab. This was done because the choke plate was missing from the carburetor. At some point the electric choke stopped working, leaving it closed all the time. Inexplicably he removed the plate all together instead of just wiring the choke open. I have since identified the cause of this failure but I still replaced it with a new carburetor. This will be explained in subsequent posts. I had the shifter off to inspect the plug on top of the transmission that is famous for leaking. I found no evidence of any leaks.
The interior after a good cleaning. I still have not put the trim back 100% around the shifter. I want to replace that shifter knob with something from B&M, as I do not like this one, it looks and feels very cheap.
The body on this truck is really clean and straight. There are only minor scratches and a few dings here and there. I have no underneath shots, but the frame is solid with no rust. There is a small rust hole on the driver's side, about the size of a quarter, that i will hopefully repair this weekend. My 1st order of business was finding out what was causing the water to come in. Due to the excellent advice on this site, I found a blocked cowl drain. I removed 5 or 6 handfulls of pine needles and mud/dirt, and flushed the cowl vigorously with the garden hose. I am also going to seal up underneath the windshield bezel with some 3M stuff just to go the extra mile, although the last rain we had, i could not find any water in the cab.!!
Thats all my pictures for tonight. I hope i get to update this often, as I have lots of days off coming up and plan on working on the ranger every weekend until it's done.
I wanted to add that since installing the new carburetor, this truck starts up like fuel injection on cold mornings and runs, idles, and drives PERFECT. i recommend going the route of a new carb to anyone if they are battling something and have tried rebuilds, carb cleaner, etc.. The company i bought it from claim that they are all bench tested, and guarantee a "bolt on and go" application. This was exactly the case as other than setting the idle once warm, i had to do nothing.
My long term goal is to have a nice truck that I can drive wherever i want, haul various items, trash / firewood, etc... I want to make it nice but not to the point where i wouldn't use it like i do my other trucks. It's going to stay bone stock for the most part, with maybe just some simple modifications here and there..
That's all for now. Updates to come
Rangers have been a lifelong obsession for me, starting with the very 1st one that I had when i first got my drivers license, a 1997 Ford Ranger long bed 2WD, with a 2.3 4 cylinder. After that I had a 1991 Ranger extended cab 4X4 that had a 2.9 V6, then a 2007 Ford Ranger 4X4 that I still have today.
This one is a 1988. It has the carbureted 2.0 4cylinder, with the Aisan carb or the "emissions carb". The motor has 85,000 + miles on it, and runs strong with no engine noise or any smoking. I spied it on Craigslist one night, and the price seemed too good to be true. I worried about title issues or some other major hidden problem. For just a few hundred dollars it seemed hard to believe.
This is the day I drove it home after buying it and giving it a good wash. Keep in mind this was a strange 70+ degree day a week before Christmas. The 1st thing I noticed was the "F350" emblems on the fenders. Good for a laugh right now but I think i might replace them eventually with the correct kind for this year. I will also point out that the tires on this beast are grossly oversized. I believe these are P245 75 R15s. These are actually getting replaced tomorrow with P215 /75/R15's. I have a set of wheels from another ranger, the alloy style, that will be going on here to replace the ugly and poorly spray painted steel wheels.
A hog dirty interior. You will notice the many cans of starting fluid. On freezing days, the previous owner had to use this starting fluid to spray into the carb, that he actually designed an intricate hose system that came from the carburetor and through the dash vents so he could spray it in without having to leave the cab. This was done because the choke plate was missing from the carburetor. At some point the electric choke stopped working, leaving it closed all the time. Inexplicably he removed the plate all together instead of just wiring the choke open. I have since identified the cause of this failure but I still replaced it with a new carburetor. This will be explained in subsequent posts. I had the shifter off to inspect the plug on top of the transmission that is famous for leaking. I found no evidence of any leaks.
The interior after a good cleaning. I still have not put the trim back 100% around the shifter. I want to replace that shifter knob with something from B&M, as I do not like this one, it looks and feels very cheap.
The body on this truck is really clean and straight. There are only minor scratches and a few dings here and there. I have no underneath shots, but the frame is solid with no rust. There is a small rust hole on the driver's side, about the size of a quarter, that i will hopefully repair this weekend. My 1st order of business was finding out what was causing the water to come in. Due to the excellent advice on this site, I found a blocked cowl drain. I removed 5 or 6 handfulls of pine needles and mud/dirt, and flushed the cowl vigorously with the garden hose. I am also going to seal up underneath the windshield bezel with some 3M stuff just to go the extra mile, although the last rain we had, i could not find any water in the cab.!!
Thats all my pictures for tonight. I hope i get to update this often, as I have lots of days off coming up and plan on working on the ranger every weekend until it's done.
I wanted to add that since installing the new carburetor, this truck starts up like fuel injection on cold mornings and runs, idles, and drives PERFECT. i recommend going the route of a new carb to anyone if they are battling something and have tried rebuilds, carb cleaner, etc.. The company i bought it from claim that they are all bench tested, and guarantee a "bolt on and go" application. This was exactly the case as other than setting the idle once warm, i had to do nothing.
My long term goal is to have a nice truck that I can drive wherever i want, haul various items, trash / firewood, etc... I want to make it nice but not to the point where i wouldn't use it like i do my other trucks. It's going to stay bone stock for the most part, with maybe just some simple modifications here and there..
That's all for now. Updates to come
