89 Ranger GT Restoration

[rockin86ranger]

Or fix this truck and donate the gt kit to a close friend (that you have never met or had an actual conversation with) that has an 86 ranger

 

[1989LongbedGT]

Well. Had the morning and afternoon to myself so I figured I would pick at the 92 and get some of the Old Man upgrades off it.

Took off the license plate that still belonged to the guy the truck was purchased off of. Noticed theres not much left of the rear bumper under the plastic. Doesnt really matter anyhow since it wont be used. Got that off then decided to remove the aluminum mudflaps and running boards. I figured there would be rot on the rockers from oxidation. But surprisingly the bolts came off with a wrench and when the running boards came down the rockers are still solid! YES! less work! Then off came the Bug Deflector on the hood, Ill resell this later as it is in good shape still.

I then thought of this....

Thank GOD I dont have to fix this anymore! Everytime I looked at it I dreded how much of a PITA welding, filling, shaping, sanding, recheck for door fitment etc, etc would be. This alone saves me alot of time!

Here are some pictures of the 92 with that stuff removed.

Looks so much cleaner with that crap off it!

Heres the interior, still in great shape. Has the owners manual with records of service up till 130,000kms. I think im the 3rd owner.

So im always looking for ways to make my projects just a little bit different. Or add that extra touch. I looked at the "Ranger" emblem on the fender and started coming up with ideas on how to modify it.

Im going to remove the chrome from the letters and fill in "XLT" then come up with a design for "GT" or "5.0 GT" or "5.0" where XLT use to be. Once I throw the picture in Photoshop or Illustrator ill come up with something.

Also have been running designs through my head for the overall exterior of the truck. I love the GFX of the GT package but I find the rear bumper cover takes alot away from the appearance, almost looks out of place.. So im going to go with a Roll pan on the rear but I will blend the original ground effects into the roll pan so it looks OEM and Flows properly with the rest of the GFX.

Also may fill the lines across the top of the GFX to give it a smoother look. Undecided if I want to run the GT Front bumper or go with a front lip spoiler from LMC. I like the look of that better than the GT Bumper.

I have the exact image in my head on how this truck will look, I know all you guys see right now is what I type and the rusty POS it is today... But it will be one bad ass looking GT

 

[rockin86ranger]

Sounds like you should buy a new body kit. I'll pay for the shipping to get the old one out of your way.

 

[ZMan]

Ya it sounds like the stillen gfx kit is right up your alley. It has a rollpan that matches the gfx, and doesnt have the bodyline you want to fill.

 

[1989LongbedGT]

haha im not getting a new body kit sorry lol. The stillen kit is cool but it doesnt go up on the doors like the GT kit does. Its smoother looking but not a full kit. I just looked right quick on google but cant seem to find a picture of the stillen rear roll pan. I was thinking of making a roll pan look with the GT bumper.

 

[ZMan]

check out multirangers thread..
http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64164

I know you said you don't want to do stillen, but they don't even make a longbed kit anyway

 

[1989LongbedGT]

thanks Zman. I have been reading through his thread... but im only at like page 30 something out of 137 pages lol. That is deff one sharp truck!

I like that roll pan, but its not really the look im going for. Have to wait and see the finished piece i guess lol

 

[1989LongbedGT]

Well. I finally got down to the GT last weekend to do a little more recon work on the truck and really look everything over to decide what the best route to go is.

I took the wrong camera, had no flash and the lighting was just TERRIBLE so pretty well 90% of the pictures I took were pretty well garbage and not worth even keeping. Some I still have that were in half decent lighting.... others not so much.

I really examined the Frame of the GT... Not looking too good once I really started to poke and pick at it. Im sure if it got sandblasted there would be more found. The cab on the GT is not going to be used anymore, not only because of the excessive rust but there is alot of damage on the cab. RR Cab Corner and RF rad support and inner fender are pushed back about an inch and a half. I was wondering why the fender wasnt lining up before.

But since the weather is still garbage and i didnt have much for tools I didnt bother working on it until I get the 92 down there. But i still had to dig the old box out of the snow and ice for some pieces to fix the 92 box....

I need to get over to that box..... hmmmm

Ill be using this shovel....

Took me no time to get to the box..... hour freaking later of using WHATEVER i could find to get it out of the ice!

So now i got it in the barn out of the elements for now... Driver side box side on the top near the bed rail is in good shape, this will be used to fix a small area on the 92. as well as the rear cross brace section will be cut out and used to repair the 92.

So.... since I have alot of ideas for what I want to do with the truck, I dusted off the old drawing pad and pencils and started sketching up my Ideas.

I have 2 designs for the stock Grille to give it more so of a sporty look. First one kind of resembles a explorer grille but more open. Second one is a much more opened grill. 2008 style ranger grille was my inspiration with the flat bar type. I thought of adding in some retro fitted 03-04 style headlights in the stock buckets would look pretty cool. Heres my drawings:

Slightly modified Grille. either color matched or black.

Heavily Modified grille with emblem replacement (88 style) and maybe some retrofitted headlights with blacked out housings.

I have a pair of foglights off my 95 neon that would fit perfect in the housing to give the lights that style of look.

Ill post more pictures up when I finish sketching some pictures of the rear rollpan/GFX with some dual exhaust. Also im gonna try to attempt to Draw the whole truck in a my invisioned finished product.

Matt

 

[1989LongbedGT]

No input or opinions on the grill designs?

 

[ZMan]

I think whatever you do will look good, but I do like the 2nd one myself

 

[jhammel85]

Any updates?

 

[BuckskinRanger]

Wicked build thread, your coming well and I'm excited to see this truck finished. I personally liked the second grill design cause of lights.

 

[93bushtruck]

Awesome build. Whenever I think theres too much rust to be worth fixing, I think of this build I saw on an english car forum. This one guy pulled a car out of a swamp, and by the time he was done cutting out all the rust he had 80% of the floorpan and half a B post, and he went and replaced every single panel and now its on its way to paint

Personally I like the 2nd grill as well

 

[ZMan]

For some reason this thread got stuck in the 4x4 build threads, I moved it over to the minitruck builds, hopefully we can get some updates!

 

[multiranger]

Any updates?