'85 Ranger Restomod

[Curious Hound]

Rough week, last night I did something fun to bring in the weekend and got the Daylighters back on.

It looks so happy.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Ever since I did the t-case swap my shifters have looked like this but I already slipped one knob off before I took the pic (ignore the future project storage on the passenger side floorboard)



It has botthered me for 5 years. Long runs on gravel and it gets pretty thick with gravel dust, I kinda think they will play a roll in mice intrusion too.

After much searching and searching I found this:

Combo Shifter Boot | AX15 Transmission + Twin Stick | Also NV3550

Check out the deal on Combo Shifter Boot | AX15 Transmission + Twin Stick | Also NV3550 at WILD HORSES 4X4

www.wildhorses4x4.com

So I snagged one.





I know I am surprised as you are, a first gen Ranger floor profile is not the same as a first gen Bronco so I flattened the bezel.



It looks awesome and is so much cleaner looking than the poser shift boots I had... but the 4wd levers are to far apart. The lever for the rear output (RH one) hits the bezel because it is too far from the front output. So I need to bend the levers a little different to fit.

On the fence if I should leave it polished aluminum or if I should rattle can it maybe even with something with texture to it to tone it down (polished will look pretty hotrodish) and to make it look more original. Right now it has a protective film so it looks weird.

 

[Jim Oaks]

Looks great! If anyone tried to get in your truck and steal it, they'd see all those shifters and run.

 

[Curious Hound]

Looks great! If anyone tried to get in your truck and steal it, they'd see all those shifters and run.

I’d steal that truck in a heartbeat.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Looks great! If anyone tried to get in your truck and steal it, they'd see all those shifters and run.

I've done that when I don't want the tiny cab to cool down at daycare pickup. Kick all three in neutral and let it idle.

I’d steal that truck in a heartbeat.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Could you just trim the bezel to the left to give it more room for the shifters?

That's got some promise for sure! Looks good

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Could you just trim the bezel to the left to give it more room for the shifters?

That's got some promise for sure! Looks good

The boot is glued to the bezel, it's probably at least a quarter inch of interference. Bending the left lever will increase legroom too. I was conservative when I built the shifters because the truck wasn't mobile yet and didn't even have an interior in it.

 

[racsan]

My hurst had a shiny chrome bezel & trim plate, looked cool but I painted them flat black because the sun woild reflect off them & distract me.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Way back when I put the in tank fuel pump in I had to drop the tank back down because the locking ring shifted and it was leaking fuel.

Well for the first time possibly since the roundup I filled the tank so I could drive it to work a couple weeks ago while my dd was in the bodyshop. I smelled gas very strong. I looked under and the front of the tank was wet. Great. So I ran the tank down as low as I dared and then a bit more and dropped it last night. Sure enough I can see sighns of moisture around the top of the pump.



So I plugged everything up and rolled the tank upside down, sure enough the top of the pump is leaking.



I fought and fought to get the last locking ring to engage, really IMO it is too small but the replacement Dorman one I snagged was identical to the one that came with the pump down to the part number stamped on it. Before opening this can of worms I had a good guess where this goose chase was going to end, I found this one on Rockauto that shows slightly bigger dimensions (for what that is worth) than the other rings. It is in fact slightly larger.



It went on much easier than the last two, hopefully it stays where I put it. Kind of getting annoying, if this keeps up I might start shopping for a fuel cell.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

The front output on the t-case has a seep to it. I have never had to add oil to it but it stays wet and slings oil on the floorpan. Not much but just enough to keep things damp. So I ordered a new seal and a speedi sleeve for my 1977 t-case.

Luckily Rockauto has the front seal listed to be the same as the rear so now I have a speedi sleeve and new seal for the rear if they ever go bad. The front is smaller similar to the listing they show for the front of a NP203. No idea if there is like a heavy duty and light duty NP205 variant or what their deal is but I wasn't very impressed. I got it apart before I noticed they sent me the wrong parts of course and it kinda looked like it was coming from the inside of the yoke. They have a goofy star rubber washer in there to seal. So I did a google and guys said to just silicone it so I did that... we will see how it works and go from there. The yoke doesn't really look all the worn and the seal only has TRS trailride miles on it so it should be pretty much new.



Also noticed tonight I have been running for who knows how long with the front hubs locked in. I guess the spindle bearing fix is a good one as I couldn't tell. I haven't drove it a ton though but I know I haven't touched them for awhile... like about a month.

I put new door seals in it a little over two years ago. Kinda almost ruined the truck, the doors have been a bear to open. Actually broke the interior drivers side door handle once. I fiddled and fiddled with the doors trying to get them to work better until maybe the seals seated in. I decided to get down to brass tacks on the stupid things.



I got scolded and told "Mom is not going to be happy" the next morning.



And that night when she got home before me I got a text wondering if I did that or if someone stole my fender and grille. No, she was not impressed with my late night antics.





And we learned why we have to keep track of screws when we are working on things...



Also after 24 years of ownership I noticed the front marker lights are marked RH and LH. I don't know that I ever have had both lights out at the same time... but they were backwards. So got them flipped back around. Now the one that got scratched when I buggered the LH fender two weeks before I graduated high school back in '03 while backing it out of a shed is on the good fender... nice.

Then to get the shifters to maybe work with the boots I had to do some tweaking.

Before:



After:



Kinda close to the trans shifter base in neutral (all three in neutral)



In high range (all the way back) or low range (all the way ahead) it has miles of room with the trans shifter no matter what gear it is in.







Waiting for paint to dry on the shifters to get them installed for real and get the boot itself dialed in.

This them in the truck before again:



I also canted them about as far as I could to the right. While cruising without using cruise the LH lever was kinda right in my calf. Now it takes effort to even touch it with my leg. Also all the bending effectively shortened them so they are lower compared to the gauge panel in low range.

And that is where we are at so far.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Three out of four of the side windows in my topper leak in rain profusely. Thanks to having the holes in the bed from my rollbar... let it flow. BUT when I swap in the drop in bedliner as part of my sleeping platform it isn't going to drain anymore. And really I ought to fix it anyway.

So tonight I popped out the two smaller rear windows out to see how wide of tape I need.



That window wasn't leaking and took a little work to get the window out. The passenger side window... not so much. I removed the bezel and did nothing to it and this is how sealed the bottom was.



Way easier to remove.



Gee... I wonder why it would ever leak?



Looks like it must have dried out and either fell off or was torn off. Huge gap at the top.



Looks like it will take 1/2" wide tape.

Moving this thing around I had it pictured being like 1/2" thick... only like 3/16"

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Radio interrupter is in and it works great.

The only snag I never really thought of, it has 12v key power to make the module work. So if the key is off the module doesn't work so even though the radio is on I have no speakerage anywhere.

I had my cb on key power on the first trailride and it was a PITA missing things.

Not really sure how to deal with that, I don't want the thing on 24/7/365 but it would be nice to have something with the key off too.

Tape is ordered, it should be here Tuesday so I can then I can get the rear windows back in and pop the front ones out.

 

[sgtsandman]

Radio interrupter is in and it works great.

The only snag I never really thought of, it has 12v key power to make the module work. So if the key is off the module doesn't work so even though the radio is on I have no speakerage anywhere.

I had my cb on key power on the first trailride and it was a PITA missing things.

Not really sure how to deal with that, I don't want the thing on 24/7/365 but it would be nice to have something with the key off too.

Tape is ordered, it should be here Tuesday so I can then I can get the rear windows back in and pop the front ones out.

Radios typically have an off feature built in from the factory. It just requires pushing a button or turning a knob.

 

[RobbieD]

The only snag I never really thought of, it has 12v key power to make the module work. So if the key is off the module doesn't work so even though the radio is on I have no speakerage anywhere.

You can use relays to build a retained accessory power circuit:
https://www.the12volt.com/relays/relaydiagram31.html

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Radios typically have an off feature built in from the factory. It just requires pushing a button or turning a knob.

The radio does, the interrupter is just a little module that lives behind the stereo.

CBM-U4 – Audio Interrupt

audiointerrupt.com