1990 XLT Project Almost done!

[Aoresteen]

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.

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.

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.

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!

 

[IIBRONCOS]

Beautiful job. Patience is a virtue on a project like that.

 

[wildbill23c]

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.