92 Ranger 6 Cyl 4.0 4x4 Manual Build

[Lynix]

Greetings!

Hopefully this is the right place to post this, if not Mods please let me know where it should go

Welcome to my journey in bringing this truck back to life


I keep forgetting to take exterior pictures. I picked up this lil ole gem a few months ago, and I've been very slowly working on bringing it back to life. It went down after a rear main seal leak. So the clean up process was... fun! lol. I'll be updating this post as the build progresses

I would like to preface this by saying that whoever painted this vehicle it's current color, different from the beautiful aquamarine/teal that it came in factory, committed a war crime.

Here is a before of the engine bay

Here is an after

It's not perfect, and she does have a little rust but over all the body/frame is in pretty good shape. No undercarriage rust

Stripped the engine down and resealed everything, new gaskets, new clutch kit, and gave it a fresh coat of paint

The fight this thing gave us going back in and lining up... All whilst 99 degree direct sun was cooking us righteously.

We got it in and connected to the bell housing before calling it a day.

Hopeful plans for this upcoming weekend are -

Wiring up the inside for a sound system (The interior is completely stripped at the moment down to bare metal)
Connecting electrical, water pump, radiator, fan, belt and anything else needed to get her to turn over and run

After all that, will come the sprucing up and beautifying it.


Future Goals. Will be updated/removed as they occur, and replaced with images
End goals are to have the inside looking like new (It's in rough shape atm) Thinking a dark blue, or black to match the blue carpet
The headliner I have is a pink/biege color? Idk, came with the truck. Anyone have any thoughts on how to dye it a different color?
It needs new seats (Looking for 60/40s as I believe they are called)
The carpet/headliner are new and need to be installed after dynamatting the entire cab and running power/speaker wires
While the dash itself is in good shape (has 1 or 2 micro cracks) I am considering getting a new one and painting it (any suggestions on what type of paint/process to use for that?)
The gas gauge does not work, so I will likely be looking to replace the gauge cluster/upgrade the lighting for it and other interior lighting.
New stereo/Speakers as it currently does not have working sound.
Upgrading the headlights/taillights to LED housings (Found some online that look real nice and a reasonable price)
I would like to swap out the door panels eventually, but that is a very minor concern as the current ones are in pretty good condition (Just not a huge fan of the color)
Will need to find some sideview mirrors as the passenger side one has some moderate rust to it


I myself have never done anything close to this level of car modification/repair, I am being guided by 2 experienced mechanics who are lending their time, blood, sweat, and expertise. That is to say, I am always open to constructive critique and input from those with more knowledge than me on the subject.

 

[Terrys87]

Welcome to Ranger Station. It is good to keep track of where you started from and where you end up at. I have used interior paint many times. Get some Adhesion Promotor and the color of paint. I am getting ready to do mine as I really want mine a little brighter. Some paint and body stores can mix up interior paint. You can go to lmr.com Late Model Mustang but I have Regatta blue and theirs is not as bright as I want. Ford used all the same colors for the same years. Clean your parts real well with soap and water.

I got my head liner material from a interior shop, most will sell the material you need. I have the glue and material, just not excited about pulling all the trim to get head liner out. This heat is slowing me down as well.

A step at a time and you will get it. It can be fun experience along the way. Lots of information here and youtube can show you things like headliner and interior paint as well. Mine is an 88 but I used 91 door panels in mine. Sometimes just got to get creative.

 

[Lynix]

Thank you for the reply and your information.

The buddy I bought the truck from had planned to restore it, and had already purchased like... 90% of what was needed. While the cabin is currently stripped, there is a brand new formed carpet as well as headliner for it. The carpet is a nice dark blue, but for some reason the headliner is like a peach/pink color. I'm wondering if I can soak/dye it while I have it out, or if it would be easier/better to just get a new piece of cloth to put over it. I'm waiting for my dynamat to come in so I can insulate the whole cabin before I start putting things back into place.

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I was looking at picking this up, and then removing all of the other dash/plastic components and painting them to match. The current dash is in pretty good condition, but it does have like 1 or 2 small cracks and I figure if I'm doing an overhaul, I might as well do this while I'm at it. I'm sure it will also make running new speaker wires a bit easier too (Hopefully lol)

I'm hoping to make a trip to a local junkyard or 2 in the coming weeks and stripping some parts/upgrades.

 

[MT_PLS]

If it was me, I would just get some black headliner material and cover over the funky peach material.
Or take it to an upholsterer and have them do if you're not confident in doing it yourself.