88 Turbo Ranger resto

[deathbypsi]

Lots of progress today! Love having Mondays off.....

I got the rear wheelwells all cleaned up and detailed {the white overspray was really buggin me} and battery is mounted in the bed and truck now has power. So far havent found anything that doesnt work correctly.
I got the T5 installed today and only had to make a small mod to the crossmember to get everything to bolt up.

Will have to make new hole in floor for the shifter.

I was really hating the red MSD wires and coil so I replaced them with some black Ford Motorsport wires and blacked out the MSD coil. I pulled the heaterbox back off to make more clearance for my downpipe and laid some reflective heat tape on firewall near the exhaust.

Got all the power brake crap off and almost finished the manual swap tonite. I found out the TurboCoupe clutch master wont bolt to the Ranger firewall so I need to go buy a Ranger master tomorrow then I can finish plumbing the clutch.
Got the intake back on and have one more weld to finish and the front mount to throttlebody plumbing will be finished as well.
My new Stinger Performance PIMP ecm should be here shortly then I can start wiring the motor.

And it looks like Im in need of a new driveshaft since the original is about 10" to short now. I have 60" between the axle flange and the tailshaft.

 

[5speedin2.3]

You're more than welcome to the 2wd regular cab, long bed driveshaft I have.
It's ~60".

Edit: 66" from end to end. That's counting the part that goes in to the trans.
I'm not sure if the m5od end will work with your trans, the spline count might be different, but it's worth a shot.

It does need to be balanced, one of the weights got knocked off the last time I put ujoints in it.
It's free and I live close to your work.

 

[deathbypsi]

I will take it! I can cut it down and change the input and rear flange to match. I will just fluid balance it anyway. FB me where your at Son! lol

 

[5speedin2.3]

I will take it! I can cut it down and change the input and rear flange to match. I will just fluid balance it anyway. FB me where your at Son! lol

Done.

It might work without modifications. That would be awesome.

 

[deathbypsi]

Got the manual pedals all swapped in yesterday and finished the manual brakes as well. Still need to go have a new hydro line made for clutch.

I finished the intercooler pipes and BOV. Turned out pretty good I think. BOV outa sight and out of the way. I really like how it almost looks like it could of came from Ford looking like this.

And my Stinger Performance PIMP showed up!!

I found some good used MT drag radials in a smaller 235/60-15 for cheap so I decided to try these because the BFG 275/50's I had on there were just to wide. The MT's fit much better!

And this is how the battery box turned out.

So now Im waiting for exhaust stuff,shorten my new driveshaft,clutch line and start working on the engine harness this week.

 

[5speedin2.3]

I have a feeling this is going to make me want to drop a 2.3T in my truck.

 

[deathbypsi]

As much as I love a good 2.3t I just dont see one working out very well in a truck like yours.Make for fun driving it on the street but I think it would be a PITA off road unless you were just running wide open throttle mud bogs.

Everybody knows Im a freak for a good running 2.3t and for my Bronco2 I went rite to a 5.0 swap. I wish you could of drove my B2 before I tore it apart because you would be planning that swap rite now! lol Mostly stock efi 5.0 and built c4 with 3.73's on 35''s was more power than I ever needed and still got 15mph around town and 18+ on the e-way.

 

[5speedin2.3]

True, but that would require a new trans, transfer case, and driveshafts.

Sucks the driveshaft has to be shortened. I was hoping it would be close enough to work.
You have something to work with now and part of my 2wd setup lives on.

 

[deathbypsi]

Not a bad day today i guess except for one set back.

Got the clutch line on and all bled.Pedal feels goood. Seat brackets dropped off after being sandblasted and got them all cleaned and painted up. Down pipe is on with new bung and half the exhaust is hung. Waistgate all hooked up.Scored a dash pad at the junkyard yesterday that is mint to replace my cracked original.

My one snag today is looks like my new manual master cylinder needs to be replaced...It uses a different thread fitting in both lines than the lines on the truck from the power brakes. I bought $30.00 worth of fitting,adapters and lines today at the store and still couldnt find the correct combination to hook everything up. I swear one of the threads in the master had to be messed up out of the box because I could find NO standard or metric fitting that would thread in right. So instead of pulling it off and taking it back I tried to hand start the one fitting that fit the best then put a couple turns on it with a wrench and all it did was pull the helicoil right out of the master. Something so simple is making me pull my hair out!

 

[deathbypsi]

Feeling pretty good about todays work.

Got the new seats put together and bolted in so I can start cutting floor and figure out the shifter.

Im on the look out for a tilt column now cuz its a tighter fit than I remember in these trucks and its easier than goin on a diet.

Shortened a driveshaft to fit today but pulled a rookie move and welded it up before I made sure the ears were all lined up..u-joints are out of phase now so this will just be a temp. shaft and I will have a much better one made before it see's daily driving.


Here is my junkyard fresh mint dashpad.

I also got the pinion angle set and welded up the spring perches. Then I made the mounts for the Mountianeer traction bars and welded them to the spring plates. I had to cut and sleeve them to get them at the correct length.

Next Im going to start on the interior and wiring.This will take some time to get right but Im still hoping to fire it up in the next two weeks.

 

[deathbypsi]

Wow I think I just won Truck of the Month! And it dont even run yet! lol

 

[5speedin2.3]

Wow I think I just won Truck of the Month! And it dont even run yet! lol

You're welcome.

 

[deathbypsi]

Thanx bro!

 

[deathbypsi]

All my stuff showed up Saturday to finish the exhaust so I spent half of Sunday doing that. Turned out great.
All 3" from the turbo to the tail pipe. I reused my old downpipe off my Merkur since it already had a V-band clamp on it and it fit the Ranger perfectly...just not the prettiest welds since I made it about 4 years ago. I added a flex coupler and a band clamp so the whole system comes off easy in 3 parts. I used a Dynomax Stainless Ultraflow.

From the front bumper looking rear.

All straight pipe running slightly up hill to the muffler.Clears the axle perfectly.

Done!


Now todays project.....wiring!

 

[5speedin2.3]

Looking good, at this rate it will be running by the end of the month.

I have access to a hydraulic exhaust pipe bender if you ever need to use one.