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1990 XLT Project Almost done!


Aoresteen

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2014
Messages
67
City
Newnan, GA
Vehicle Year
1990
Transmission
Automatic
I've been working on my 1990 XL Ranger Super cab for two years now. My wife finally took her first ride in it today :) !

I found the truck on Craig's List Atlanta back in June 2015 for $2300. It will be my HAM radio truck as I am an ARES member. My call is W1AJO - it's my license plate as well.

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At first I wanted to stretch the frame and have a longer bed. Advice here was it's a big hill to climb. I decided to leave it as is. Not a hill I could take.

I did a lot of mechanical work to the truck. Installed a rebuilt 8.8" rear end with 3.73 gears. New Areostar rear brake drums, front brakes serviced. New Poly body bushings. Swapped out the bed. Found a white camper top for it. Bought new 15" rims and 235/75R15 Goodyear Wranglers Silent Armor tires. New bumpers, grill parts, tracked down used bumper brackets, and a rear hitch. Found a pair of '89 Bronco II bucket seats for it in Knoxville.

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Got it out of the paint shop in May - it had a lot of body work to be done! Had a new JVC stereo head & speakers installed - finally. Had a 4" suspension lift put in. It just came back from the upholstery shop - new carpet, dash cap, seats re-covered and a new headliner. Yesterday had the AC re-charged - hope it lasts :) ! With new paint, upholstery, and AC my wife finally rode in it.

The color is the original factory color Graphite Metallic. Cab, bed, camper cover & bumpers were painted Graphite Metalic. The chrome was removed & mirrors , window trim etc were painted black blackout. The bed was sprayed with a black liner. B&B Body Shop in Sharpsburg GA did the paint work. They did a fantastic job making this old girl shine again.

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The tailgate trim plate is still being painted black - tracking down the right Ford oval is taking longer than expected. Next up is figuring out a spare tire carrier on the bumper, installing ham radios, a new alternator etc. It will have a bunch of antennas on it as well.

At some point the 2.9L will be pulled and a 5.0L & an auto tranny will be dropped in. All in due time.

I got a lot of help from members on this forum so thank you all!
 
Last edited:
Beautiful job. Patience is a virtue on a project like that.
 
Truck looks great. Its not cheap to do all that work by any means, but it sure looks great when its done.

I'd love to have my 88 Bronco 2 repainted but in the future maybe. My Bronco 2 is my Ham Radio rig as well. KI7MLL...actually just became an amateur radio operator in April of this year so I'm extremely new to ham radio stuff.

The 2.9L V6 isn't a bad engine, fuel economy in my bronco 2 isn't that bad, usually get around 17-19mpg in town, low to mid 20's on the highway. My B2 has 3.73 gears in it so it isn't too bad.
 

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