1994 Ranger - starting small

[FFGlen]

A little history on my truck -

I bought my truck in 2010, and ran it almost into the ground from February to May. I bought it knowing that the PO's hadn't taken too much care of it, that they lived up on a killer hill, and that it had lived it's whole life in SE Alaska (rainforest country). But, I was in a bind with my old truck out of service, and I needed a vehicle.

I wish I had a pic of the truck when I first picked it up. It had a really clean interior, and I haven't done much to the body, but it had a camper that was starting to fall apart, and tires so bad the composite was showing by May.

For the most part, I've just been making sure I can still drive the truck everyday - a coolant flush, full rear brake replacement, brand new tires... you get the drift.

Recently, though, I've been getting more interested in making this truck really viable to either sell, or take with me into the lower 48 when I join the Air Force. So, this summer has been declared Ranger Summer.

I scrubbed my rims the other day, and pulled off the front bumper to put some work into it.

Before

After

Here's the truck before I did all the bumper work.

About halfway through rust removal

Primed and almost ready to go

While waiting for the paint to dry, I decided to make my grill and trim match

Bumper and truck meet again!

The back bumper is my next challenge. It's rusted and twisted and just generally a mess. I'll take some pictures of it and post them later today. I'm gonna need some advice on how to deal with my undercarriage rust problem.

 

[elpoffroad]

give the rims a paint job before selling the truck will make it look much better, not that the scrub made it look 100 times better, the bumper looks good.

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

nice work man. keep posting updates

 

[rkneeshaw]

Great work so far, I think trucks these age really need some love. Check out my build thread (link in my sig) to see the long list of things I had to do to mine! Get it fixed up though and she'll treat you good. I really like the gen3's and that truck has a nice color too

 

[FFGlen]

Great work so far, I think trucks these age really need some love. Check out my build thread (link in my sig) to see the long list of things I had to do to mine! Get it fixed up though and she'll treat you good. I really like the gen3's and that truck has a nice color too

Thanks! I really love this truck. The only thing that's ever bugged me about the 94's is the front bumper, which isn't a problem anymore. I definitely plan on keeping the original color, and hopefully make this truck everything she can be as a daily driver.

Your truck is looking great man! I like what you've done with it.

give the rims a paint job before selling the truck will make it look much better, not that the scrub made it look 100 times better, the bumper looks good.

I've got a new set of rims that need to go on it, at some point. Not sure if I'll be keeping the current rims or not.



Put the truck up on a lift today and got some pictures of the undercarriage. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was, now that I was able to get under it with a light and not laying on my back.

Here's a picture of the truck's back end, with it's slight angle:

And underneath...

The oil leak.

And, last but not least, the crown jewel of my leaking problems:

I've got the new cover on order, and I'll be relieved when it's not a problem anymore.

 

[ranger_mclaren]

The diif covers going to be a easy fix, are you going with a custom cover or just a stock one.

 

[FFGlen]

I'm ordering one off of rockauto.com I'm thinking about taking a page out of ForOffRoadDriving's book and painting it, though.

 

[ranger_mclaren]

Yea that would be a good choice, seems to be a tradition around here to paint the covers.

 

[FFGlen]

Not a lot going on recently... started the new job, looking at an impending move (two, really), and just been trying to keep the truck renovation going.

Fixed my tailgate today - it previously wouldn't open 3 out of 4 times, and now it opens and shuts like a champ. No pictures of that, since I was at work and it was just a lazy Sunday.

My differential cover is currently drying, and will be installed tomorrow. Pictures of that to come.

I picked up a 2004 Ranger today for 400 bucks. It was in a wreck last year and the owner just didn't want to fix it. I'm planning on stripping it for parts and selling the rest.

http://juneau.craigslist.org/pts/2383158284.html

I see a seat swap in store for my truck, as well as larger endeavors.

So much for "starting small"

 

[AllanJYork]

We always think its a small project, then ends up out of control lol

 

[FFGlen]

Haha, I hear that.

Towing the parts truck tomorrow. Then the real fun begins.

 

[FFGlen]

Whew! It's been a busy week or so for me! Been pulling extra shifts at work, but still managing to find a little bit of time for the Ranger.

Replaced the front brake pads the other day (and now I hear a squealing when I'm turning at a crawl), got the differential cover on, and pretty much confirmed my fears that the oil leak is the rear main seal.

I also paid for and towed the parts truck. I haven't taken any pictures of that truck from the outside. I'll try to do that tomorrow.

Here's the front brakes before I changed the pads:

Today was my half day at work, so I started to gut the cab of the parts rig.

Got the seats out okay.

Random picture of half of me and the blown steering wheel in the parts rig...

Got my truck all loaded up with seats, the back bumper, and a bunch of tools. Just proving that sometimes it does some real work!

The seats and bumper:

Little better shot of the bumper

And this is where I'm at now - half the bumper still truck to the truck. Dammit.

 

[FFGlen]

New bumper in place!

Seats tomorrow.

 

[ranger_mclaren]

Those seats and rear bumper are awesome. Good finds. Your really on a roll can't wait to see the interior done. I can't help but notice all these pics look like they are taken inside of a fire department. Are you a EMS or firefighter?

 

[FFGlen]

I'm currently employed as an EMT, but I've been a volunteer firefighter EMT for about two years. Good catch! They're all taken in our project bay.