Fyre82's Ranger refit

[fyre82]

Late last fall I decided I needed a project for the spring and my daughter needs a ride. So after searching around I found this gem in the northern Nevada desert.

She had a few cosmetic issues, but nothing that couldn't be dealt with.

The truck was also minus it's 4ALD as the previous owner was going to have it replaced. But after a year deployment the tranny had gone away with the folks that were going to fix it. I decided that the auto and electric transfer case needed to go completely away.
I researched here most of the winter to get the exact way I was going to go and how to accomplish the change with the least hassle.

 

[country0001]

4.0 with a M5OD is always a good way to go!

 

[fyre82]

A bit later in the fall I found these at one place.
An '87 extra cab 4x manual trans and an '86 STX long bed converted to manual.

Neither one was running but the potential for parts is huge.

 

[fyre82]

The builder sat here for months until the snow melted and finally stopped, in June . . . .

Once the weather decided to be somewhat cooperative I began in earnest tearing everything apart.

 

[4.0B2]

i want in. subscribed!

 

[fyre82]

After I removed all of the 'extra' stuff I began the process of clean up before I ever touched the drive train.

Sand blasted the rear frame. Primed and a coat of paint for protection.

 

[fyre82]

Placed the bed in a safe place and dropped in one of the 'new' Eddie Bauer buckets so I could get it into the garage for the rest of the operation.

Once in the garage the real work begins.

 

[fyre82]

The PO indicated that the engine was running well before the truck was stored. When I removed the fuel from the tank it was nice and red with Marvel Mystery oil.

I found a great trick to getting the tank dry, I pressurized the tank through the return line, had the supply line into a container and pushed it all out with about 10#s of pressure. Painless and without much of a spill. Once it got started and the container was low a siphon took over, no gas in the mouth or on me.

The only issues I found under the hood was the patched intake tube and cleaner cover.

 

[fyre82]

I got a bit ahead of myself since I'm doing most of this after the fact.
The donor for this project was a dirty '87 xcab 4x 5 speed.

It got the same treatment as the builder, torn down to basics and the bed turned into temp storage.

Ready for trans and transfer removal.

And after.

This one is becoming parts and another trailer later.

 

[fyre82]

I blasted the hitch, primed and painted for installation later.

 

[fyre82]

Ok, back to the thing . . .

Interesting things you find as you tear one of these apart, some of it is a real treat, some makes me wonder.
Like how do you put a hole in the heater core cover.

But good stuff is the 8.8 with 4:10's and limited slip.

And a 4" suspension lift.

 

[fyre82]

Cleaned up the FM 145 and transfer case for installation.
The yellow/orange flag is so that we didn't walk into the tailpipe right at thigh level, it only took once to learn that.

Clutch and pressure plate installed.

I learned the balancing act doing this solo, never dropped it but don't know how.

Trans mounted, new master cylinder installed and bled.

 

[fyre82]

Pedals all retrofit. I had to do this twice too as I put in the old style with the clutch switch on top of the pedal to find that I had the plug for the newer switch on the clutch rod. The newer style pedals were way easier to install. I still had to remove the park brake lever assembly but this works really good with the best bushings and some light lubrication.

I used the old shifter plate from the auto and cut the new hole for the trans and transfer shifters from the manual plate. With the padding and seals from both it is tight. I guess I forgot to shoot pics of that part as I was making progress quickly at this point.

 

[fyre82]

I also gutted the dash to remove all of the old electric transfer case controls and wiring, paint the dash pad and plate.

 

[fyre82]

Changed the fluids in the 8.8, rebuilt both drive shafts with new joints and installed the rear tires to see if it really worked.