89 Ranger GT Restoration

[1989LongbedGT]

Cool man! Thanks! Im sure they would be helpful.

 

[Guilty1]

How's the resto going?

I have the exact same truck in my garage, I'm restoring it for my fiance (she did some accidental off-roading 4 years ago) The skirt is intact down the passenger side, but pretty messed up at the rocker and rollpan. Any tips on how to refurb this? I'm good at fiberglass and gelcoat but I'm afraid that if I do that, it'll just crack. Whats gears do you have in rear end? Any ideas on where to get a new armrest? Mine broke at the hinge.

~Cheers

 

[Guilty1]

I'm in Vancouver fyi. Shipping parts here isn't an issue, finding them is.

 

[ZMan]

Those parts are plastic arent they? Fiberglass will not last. Find a paint supplier and get some plastic repair adhesive, some metal screen, and fix it that way, you can use bondo to smooth it out, but use it sparingly.
Edit:forgot about posting those pics, ill get on that..

 

[1989LongbedGT]

Yeah about the armrest.... I have my console and armrest in my shed. I havent really looked at it to figure out the best way to repair that yet. Like Zman said, that could work. Some really good plastic adhesive would work well, but it would also need support. As repeated use of moving it and leaning on it will eventually stress it and cause it to crack again.

There is a Reg Cab Longbox locally for cheap apparently in half decent shape. I might take a look at it to see if I can use it for a donor parts truck.

 

[1989LongbedGT]

If the metal is too bent to straighten it out. Your much better off buying a new rocker and other sheet metal and repair it that way then try to fill and shape everything with bondo and fiberglass. Repair damaged metal with metal, then use fill for finishing work.

 

[Saint Gabriel 89]

Some new pics? i own a 89 longbed and i like your work

 

[1989LongbedGT]

No none lately sorry. Was busy over the holidays and now gettin back to work. plus the truck is a hour and half drive away so I dont get to work on it much. Im browsing around for a donor truck hopefully. But there arent too many long bed reg cab rangers around here.

Ill post pics up when I get some more work done to it.

 

[ZMan]

Finally remembered! I wish I had one more picture of the outside of the truck. The way the "floor" of the cowl is shaped, it goes overtop of the lower part of the a-pillar (where the hinges are) and has spot welds on the outside. I replaced that whole piece, which you can kind of see in the first 2 pictures. I made the patch in several pieces then fully welded them together. I then spread seam sealer over it all, and painted it. I also used a wax-type rustroofing material on the inside of the cowl, not just to keep this from happening again, but to lock down the sand (from sandblasting) that I couldn't get cleaned out of there.

 

[1989LongbedGT]

Thanks for posting the pictures man! I still havent worked on the truck since those last pictures I posted up. Winter here certainly puts a dampner on traveling.

I have been looking at 2 rangers for donors. A 89 Reg cab Long bed, needs work but is super cheap. And a 92 reg cab longbed with only 160kms on it and in extremely good shape. But so far the sellers havent contacted me back yet... If I get a donor vehicle im sure that will cut my time down considerably and save alot of money.

Matt

 

[1989LongbedGT]

Update:

So lately I have been searching around for a donor rig for the GT. Looking around for parts and whatever else I could find. Hardly any parts locally forsale for 1gen and 2gen rangers. Mostly 93 and up.... BAH! Checked Kijiji.ca weekly and kept my eyes peeled if I was out driving around to see if I can snag up a good deal.

Well finally found something! Picked this truck up litterly 5 minutes from my house. 92 Reg cab long box 3.0L Auto with only 165,000kms on it. XLT

It had no current MVI and he was asking 650.00 CAN. Looked at it twice then offered him 450 for it. Sure enough he agreed so I hurried home to grab the wife so I could take it home!

This truck drives Incredible! Solid as a rock, not even so much of a squeak out of it! Surprised the shit right out of me lol.

Original FORD Step sides...... lol . He even threw in a Tool Box for the box of the truck, spare tire, spare rad and a couple of small parts. Original working stereo and speakers and the interior is in exceptional shape!

Cant wait to get started on this truck. Yes the cab will need work in typical areas, box will need a little bit of work but I should be able to make a really solid bodied truck out of the 2. Fenders are original and in great shape, Hood, Doors, Grill, Headlights, Front Valance, Bumpers, Leaf Springs, Cab, Rad support, Firewall, floor, A Piller behind the front of the doors are mint (unlike the GT Where i had to rebuild that corner). ETC ETC ETC is in amazing, easily repairable shape. All these items and im sure 500 more things on the GT are all in need of replacement or extreme repair. I think I saved alot on just the fenders, doors, hood, and all front end parts alone.

GT deff has a brighter future right now! This 92 may be converted to GT Status...

Matt

 

[ZMan]

So are you basically going to swap the entire body onto the gt frame, or swapping the necessary bits from the gt into this one? Awesome you found a good truck though!

 

[1989LongbedGT]

yeah pretty much one or the other. The frame is good and straight on the GT. Frame is good on this one as well except for one spot near the very back, he backed it into a post or something and it put a small kink on the right rear of the frame just up from the bumper. Time will tell. I will pull the box off this and start stripping it next to the GT and figure the best plan of attack. Probably best to just restore this one with the GT stuff.

Either way. Its getting completely stripped and restored. Just seems like alot less work than the GT. Every panel on the GT needs to have atleast one patch, which is extremely time consuming and i think it would be harder to achieve a really good quality finish with alot of patches in it.

Matt

 

[rockin86ranger]

I would swap the gt stuff onto the new truck, less work, if the frame bothers you cut both frames and make a good one. just cut the frame like this ">" and weld it solid.

 

[Scamp]

Yeah, I wouldn't waste anymore time on the GT. Fix then swap the GT ground F/X on to this truck.