90 longbed's slow ranger build

[90longbed]

on march 1st I picked up this ranger for $1100 off craigslist......90 longbed 2wd, 2.3, 5 speed cream on red, drop in bedliner, 27/8.50/14 maxxis bravo radials







everything else I saw in this price range was junk....like this truck thats still on craigslist for $1250



the bad on what i picked up......
coast rig so it had rust



gas gauge reads empty all the time
windshield washers dont work
windshield cracked
body damage
tailgate didnt open
core support painted black over emissions stickers
rear view mirror missing

 

[90longbed]

on the way home after we bought it, we stopped and picked up a rear view mirror at the auto parts store.... when I went to put it on I discovered why the mirror was MIA when we got it..... they had glued the mirror mount on backwards,I was able to get it off without breaking the windshield and glued it back on the correct way.....

then I picked up a toolbox off of a fellow member of my local 4x4 forum.... since the tailgate portion of the bedliner was missing I took it out and found more surface rust


at this point I began doing some body work....... grinding off rust, got the tailgate to open.....that took alot of prying,lube and a bfh to get it open....



also found out the LR taillight was only held in with 1 screw, the hole didnt line up because of the body damage, so I went to work on that too..... started with pulling the bumper back out with a ratchet strap, a telephone pole and a bfh

then I got to work on the sheet metal with a few prybars, blocks of wood and a few other tools.... wasnt able to get it perfect because of the crease the bumper left in the bed.... now the tailgate opens easy like it should

and I also fixed alot of past owner stuff too..... wires that were not connected to anything, bumper stickers etc etc

here is how it looks at the moment





I like the look of a prerunner like this one


but I do not have the budget to build one of those..... not working at the moment.... however I do hope to get some kind of money coming in soon.... so I think building a class 7s looking rig is doable....

 

[BackwoodsSaint]

I like the look, I recently found myself to be the proud owner of a 91 2.3 longbox 5spd, the body is nearly flawless (pics on my page) but the engine is currently not running right, I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with it once I'm done, thinking about doin a bit of a street rod, I'll be keeping up to date on your build though

 

[90longbed]

did some more work on the ranger today....... it had a 1 7/8" trailer ball on the bumper, not gonna tow with a bumper mounted ball..... first I tried a long breaker bar and a socket.... it just spun the whole ball and there were no flats to grab with a wrench, so I ended up cutting it off with a 4 1/2" angle grinder..... I then painted that part of the bumper black


I also pulled out the front bumper with a ratchet strap and a telephone pole.... then I removed the bumper and straightened out what was left with a bfh..... then I sanded down the bumper and painted it black.... here is how it looked after I put it back on


I dont have a job at the moment and cant work, so buying new bumpers was not an option..... now I just need to make a trip to the local pick n pull for a LF light assembly soon as I can come up with some money

 

[90longbed]

repainted the wheels with some mexi chrome silver paint I had laying around

 

[90longbed]

did some more poorman bodywork today.... this time the LF fender.... was out of the color that matches the truck so white will have to do till I get a can of that paint.....

before


after

 

[Il Brutto]

Lots of work ahead of you, keep at it, plenty you can do without spending lots of money, i'll keep checking on you to make sure you're working, lol. glad you like my build.

 

[90longbed]

I started a new build in the mini trucks under construction section..... thanks

 

[90longbed]

well I got into an accident with a lowered s10.... was going ratrod on the build, the damage from the wreck changed the direction of my build....here is how it looks at the moment

 

[90longbed]

did some work on fixing the damage to the bumper from the wreck..... here is how it looked before


here is how it looks after some work with a bfh and some tweeking