'85 Ranger Restomod

[85_Ranger4x4]

I had the same problem with a 84 ranger with a 2.8 with c5, i thought it was the tq seal first after replacing it i found it still had a stream of tranny fluid leaking from bell housing, so i removed it again to find my bellhousing bolts loose, so i removed pump, replaced gasket, put thread locker on bolts and it was good to go after that

Wonder how widespread of a problem it was...

It really puts the pan fill C4 in a different light, the bellhousing uses seperate bolts than the pump. I think that would be better, it would take much/most of the stress off the pump bolts.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Ok, major breakthrough tonight... I will bring you up to date with pics.

Overnight at the shop, all I did that night was yank the carb, put the engine plate on so I could use the hoist as a backup "just in case" and dropped the driveshafts out of it. That is the kind of a leak I am dealing with, it has been getting worse.

I take it apart and instantly notice things don't look right in the pump area.

I take the bolts out slip the bellhousing off and the pump easily comes out with the bellhousing tearing the gasket. An ever so gentle love tap with a pastic deadblow and the pump came right out of the bellhousing.

I get a new gasket, get everything clean and go to put it back together tonight. As I clean the bolts and set them on end on the bench I notice one is about half an inch shorter than the others. I probe the holes and cannot find one where there is a bottom remotely close to even the long bolts. I get on the net and look in my book and can find no mention of the odd sized bolt. So I go back to the bolt bin and find a flange head bolt and notice the head is quite a bit thicker... probably not a great idea with a torque converter spinning right there. So I go back to my morphadite bolt and notice the head is thicker... I smell a rat. Somebody lost a bolt and replaced it with a generic flange head bolt and one too short to boot. It would only get about 1/4" of bite into the housing, no wonder the thing couldn't hold.

Playing with the bolt I noticed the bolt head was messed up from rubbing on something, go check the torque converter and sure enough it had been rubbing. I can't catch my finger nail on the scrape so I must have caught it just in time.

People call me a packrat, I was mighty glad to have a C4 laying around to rob a bolt out of.

This is really odd, I was cleaning the bellhousing and found something in a cavity on the engine side. I thought it was a cocoon type thing but it was metal, feels to be aluminum.

I cleaned it up before I poked it back in, it was way in the back though.

Near as I can tell it is either very odd flash from when the bell was cast or tumbling material from when it was cleaned at some point.

 

[GOODOLEBOY84]

That looks like one of the stones/metal out of a tumble cleaner? either way its not suppose to be there so take it out. , i would suspect the bolts being loose
would be caused by improper torquing of the bolt from where somebody was in
the trans at some point in time...

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

That looks like one of the stones/metal out of a tumble cleaner? either way its not suppose to be there so take it out. , i would suspect the bolts being loose
would be caused by improper torquing of the bolt from where somebody was in
the trans at some point in time...

Yeah, I knew it didn't belong although I can't really see where it would hurt anything. Kinda fun to play with though... I am pretty sure it is aluminum, it weighs practically nothing. Tumbling media is my best guess.

None of them were torqued to 20lbs per my book, I did it and broke one loose last night to sample it. I do think the major problem was one would barely start into the transmission case because it was too short.

 

[GOODOLEBOY84]

most likely, dont forget the lock tight, then you dont got to worry about it...

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Trans is bolted to the engine and sitting on the crossmember.

Really all things considered it went in better than I thought it would.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

It runs!
It wants to move!
The trans doesn't appear to be leaking at the moment!



If it wasn't for the hulking F-150 doing a dead horse impression behind it with no front diff it just might move.

I need to hook up the exhaust and I think this saga will be over, on the the next one... and yes I am sure there will be another, and another, and another.

 

[Robert_1967]

It's a never ending story.




Robert




Sent with "a admin will never ask for your password."

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Backed it out and drove it around the shop and it drove fine. Played with the L/S in a snow drift for the first time and it worked great as well.

Aside from an exhaust leak where the sawzall tickled the pipe beside it that I need to weld up I think it is about done.

 

[dangerranger83]

Updates?

Sent from my rooted SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

It is done and drivable, drives pretty good. We got some snow that took forever to get rid of and I have been working on my house... drove it out to the house twice so far without issue.

I do need to change the master cylinder though, the fore/aft bias isn't very good. I didn't think it was that bad but a little bit of packed snow made it very obvious that the rear brakes are not doing their part. Just haven't had time to do much with it lately and I haven't driven it much either.

Hopefully I can actually move this weekend and then start setting up shop in my own garage to play with it indoors.

Some recent pics:

The snow, pretty much all we have had for the year so far.

Getting down on the farm:

Check out that crazy TTB flex! (I think the stock sway bars and Explorer coils kinda conspire against flex)

Flex doesn't really bother me that much, the only place I can get it twisted up like that is the washout on the end of my terrace if I hit it just right.

I have a one car garage which I am going to keep my Ranger in. I also have a huge barn that is open in the center and used to have a sliding door on one end. It is going to be very easy reinstall a door and make it it into a huge shop. It is also has a ton of up stairs parts storage above the milking stantions and farrowing crates.

 

[dangerranger83]

How well does your truck start in the cold weather with your carb? Is it an auto or manual choke? I hope to get my tax money soon, I'm at 5mpg and back firing. Going to be going over everything soon.

Ttb doesn't give much flex stock and imo, takes to much work to get it to.

Glad to see she's running and driving good, i have yet to take mine on the highway since the engine swap.

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[85_Ranger4x4]

How well does your truck start in the cold weather with your carb? Is it an auto or manual choke? I hope to get my tax money soon, I'm at 5mpg and back firing. Going to be going over everything soon.

If I have driven it recently it starts pretty easily, a couple turns and it is running. If I let it sit for awhile like a couple days (or weeks) I the fuel pump run for a couple seconds to reprime the carb.

Electric choke, just pump the pedal once to set it and it does everything else.

It is a 1403, 500CFM and electric choke. If you order the carb go ahead and get the tuning kit as well.

 

[dangerranger83]

Since we are running similar engine setups, what size jets u got in it? I've read that changing out jets and metering rods are easy to do and you don't have to take the carb off or it apart. Also what wire do you have hooked to the choke, just incase i do go with electric choke, may opt for the manual choke. Plus what fu pressure do you have going to the carb, my current one only likes 4.5 psi, anymore and it shots fuel out the top. Just tired of whipping and dead horse.

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[Robert_1967]

Also what wire do you have hooked to the choke, just incase i do go with electric choke, may opt for the manual choke.

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according to the power block, you should hook it up to a pressure switch coming of a oil passage, that way you have only have power going to it till you get he engine running, if you hook it to a ignition wire, then it starts heating up as soon as you turn the key on and might not stay in the "choked" position long enough.



Robert



posted with a rooted cherry donuts and a 52" tv showing snow