'85 Ranger Restomod

[85_Ranger4x4]

And nobody would know it wasn’t a carb, it would still look stock.

Maybe someday, they are kind of proud of them.

 

[Bird76Mojo]

The only downside I see to a Fitech or any of the other brands of bolt-on EFI units is getting parts for them. You're not going to be able to stop at the local parts store for that..

It's really what I should have set up my 87 to run instead of the Mustang/Thunderbird stuff..

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I couldn’t find anyone who knew what a air cleaner gasket was for a carburetor "because nobody has them anymore" at O'Reilly's.

I am more concerned about parts 5-10 years down the road but they have been out for awhile.

Anyway, a week late but my cupholder is cut out:

 

[Curious Hound]

Very nice! You did all that by hand with a drill, hacksaw and file, didn’t you?

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Very nice! You did all that by hand with a drill, hacksaw and file, didn’t you?

Yup.

Well I did bend it by hand anyway...

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Got home Monday night and pulled the necessities out of the truck. Mainly our two suitcases, the cooler and the bag of snacks. I went to get the tent out day before yesterday and the tailgate would not open. I did a little investigating and found the plastic clip broke on one of the rods.



Three bolts and the handle drops out, easy fix.



Checked the axles, front axle oil looks new. Rear axle is dark and thin, still smells like oil/good but not 85/140 consistency. Both levels were spot on. I need to finish my GT-500 diff cover and just change the rear axle oil.



Water lines are consistently about that high as shown on the fuel tank, about half and inch of the forward frame too.





Cleaned the engine bay:



And test fit the cupholder:



Boots need replaced, they were just a temporary thing anyway.

I think most have found it, if not here is my little write up for the trip to Ohio:

The Little Green Truck's Big Adventure

Just got back from the TRS 20th Anniversary Roundup in Ohio, here are some pics of the trip itself. I think it was something like 800 miles or 13-14 hours each way and pretty much across four states. All packed and ready to go Wednesday night after work: First night was in Albia Iowa...

www.therangerstation.com

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I finally got the trip stuff put away a couple days ago



Around Albia on the way home I noticed it was running a hair warm. Not really hot but instead of running its usual 195* it was a tad over 200*. It was mid 80's so it was one of the warmer days of the trip. I stopped and checked the coolant level at supper that night at Albia. Level was fine and it wasn't that far out of the norm so we continued on, hit a cold front and some light rain and it cooled down to normal.

While checking oil levels I noticed this, that won't help cooling any.



I have always hated the flex hose. I had a shorter one on it for years until I did the body mounts, I noticed it had almost rubbed thru on the steering box. So I got a longer one that swooped down more and missed that corner of the steering box. I suppose the hose got nice and supple on the drive and the wire shifted, it actually feels like it is broke where the crease is. I tried to squish it open with a ziptie to aid in troubleshooting which did nothing.

4.0 radiator has that stupid angled outlet so fearing the worst I bought both a '94 Explorer lower hose and a '01 oil cooler delete 5.0 Explorer radiator hose and a hunk of 1.5" pipe figuring I could splice something together.

5.0 Hose on its own ain't gonna work.



I get to poking around with the part I trimmed off...hey we might be on to something.







So moral of the story... I shouldn't have settled for good enough years ago.

 

[Curious Hound]

Elegant fix. Congratulations.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I found this amusing...



I finally got the rib ground down that is supposed to interfere with the tone ring on my diff. After various die grinder bits a flap disk on an angle grinder was the way to go.



Also got it clear coated. Now I just gotta remember what I did with my ARP bolts...



I have been rolling thru things I want to do to improve if I can take it on another big road trip.

1. Headlights - The ones I have SUCK. Low beams are miserable, high beams are respectable even by modern standards. Initial thought was I wasn't going to drive much at night. Return trip was faster than planned and I found myself in the dark 2 hours from home in a rainstorm and not inclined to stop for the night. It was kind of tense almost driving by feel. That is a gotta do thing.

2. Fix the tach - My tach signal adapter is on the fritz, it was annoying driving with the tach at 4k.

3. Parking Brake - I intended to get them hooked up post 5-speed swap but I didn't get it done. It was very annoying on the trail ride.

4. Exhaust - DS downpipe needs rerouted so it doesn't interfere with the front driveshaft as much.

5. Spare Tire - It would be nice to make a bumper with a spare tire carrier so i can get the tire out of the back of the truck.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

1. Headlights - The ones I have SUCK. Low beams are miserable, high beams are respectable even by modern standards. Initial thought was I wasn't going to drive much at night. Return trip was faster than planned and I found myself in the dark 2 hours from home in a rainstorm and not inclined to stop for the night. It was kind of tense almost driving by feel. That is a gotta do thing.

5. Spare Tire - It would be nice to make a bumper with a spare tire carrier so i can get the tire out of the back of the truck.

I absolutely love my cheap assed led headlights.

I have a B2 tire carrier here. Wanted to adapt it to my bumper, but decided against it. Also have a spare under bed carrier here. Pm me if you want either of them

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I have been thinking about these:

https://www.amazon.com/GS-Headlight-Conversion-Replacement-included/dp/B07F2XH8NR/?tag=959media-20

Here is what I have for a tire carrier:

Build-a-bumper

I have been thinking about building a bumper for years, 6 to be exact when I found a huge chunk of channel iron in a fencerow on my place. Kinda waffling on if I want to go with that or go with a plate design... plate looks neater IMO and it would be easier to design it to fill in my bodylift...

www.therangerstation.com

I think my spare carrier is in one of my dad's sheds yet, I don't think it would work with my exhaust at any rate.

The hitch to what I want is I don't mind the look of it with the topper, I think a pickup with just a box looks kind of goofy with a rear spare so i want it to be removable.

 

[Curious Hound]

, I think a pickup with just a box looks kind of goofy with a rear spare so i want it to be removable.

I agree. That's why mine turned out the way it is. I just didn't like the look of a vertical rear spare, at least not a 35" diameter spare.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I agree. That's why mine turned out the way it is. I just didn't like the look of a vertical rear spare, at least not a 35" diameter spare.

Your receiver mount is what inspired me but for what I am doing I gotta keep the tailgate and I gotta be able to open the tailgate and back window preferably without wrestling around pulling the spare tire carrier out of the receiver.

I had thought about something like this:

Wilco Offroad Hitchgate Tire Carriers | JEGS

Wilco Offroad Hitchgate Tire Carriers

www.jegs.com

But pricing is stupid and they look kind of goofy... and I still don't really like how my stock bumper fits my truck either.

 

[Bird76Mojo]

I've seen receiver mounted spares that hinge to fold down..

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I've seen receiver mounted spares that hinge to fold down..

I'd like to do that with integrated stair treads.