I am trying to decide what truck to keep

[96Indyram]

I am trying to decide what truck to keep.
I am going to give one to my father-in-law, and keep one.

The 84 is 2.8 v6..carburated,4x4, 5 speed,manual t-case duel tanks.. has a topper, bench seat, sliding rear window( point less due to topper).
The 87 is a 2.9 v6..fuel injected, 4x4, 5 speed,manual t-tcase duel tanks, headache rack, tool box, sliding rear window....and has bucket seats ( captain chairs with fold down armrests I guess from a BroncoII)
I am going to duraspark covert the 84, and repaint it regardless if I keep it or not.

What truck would you guys keep? Does it matter?
I might do a SAS in the future....on the one i keep to make a fun daily driver/toy.
pictures of the trucks are here
http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140232
click on them for a larger image.

 

[97RangerXLT]

87 hands down. fuel injection > carb. very easy to do a 4.0 swap in it, and if you want the seats, swap them out with the 84...

AJ

 

[dangerranger83]

84 personally. I'm just a sucker for the old 2.8. Plus durasparking it makes things much simpler to work on and less things to go wrong.

The 87 fi is nice but they computer is getting age on it and finding replacements is not getting easy.

But as said they are good candidates for 4.0 swaps since they have the fuel pumps already in them and alot of the wiring, but even the 84 can be can have a TBI setup from the Chevy 2.8 put on them or even a 4.0 swap done to them.

Sent from my rooted SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[BlackBII]

The '87 looks to be in better shape, and is a better candidate for a 4.0 swap like previously mentioned.

 

[96Indyram]

84 personally. I'm just a sucker for the old 2.8. Plus durasparking it makes things much simpler to work on and less things to go wrong.

The 87 fi is nice but they computer is getting age on it and finding replacements is not getting easy.

But as said they are good candidates for 4.0 swaps since they have the fuel pumps already in them and alot of the wiring, but even the 84 can be can have a TBI setup from the Chevy 2.8 put on them or even a 4.0 swap done to them.

Sent from my rooted SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

+1 on keeping things simple!!!
thats why I am a fan of old school carbs. If its not running right..its fuel or spark.....not one of many sensors/wires to trouble shoot.
I haven't thought of engine swap yet....the only engine I have laying around is my old 429 cobraJet from a 71 Mach1.....and well...that is way to much for a ranger.

 

[RonD]

On the practical side......lol, how far away does your father-in-law live from you?
And will you still be fixing the truck he gets

 

[96Indyram]

On the practical side......lol, how far away does your father-in-law live from you?
And will you still be fixing the truck he gets

Yea he lives about 2 miles from me. And I will still be working on it if it is a major problem.
I am thinking of giving him the 84 due to it being simple to trouble shoot.
He is not all that good at trouble shooting fuel injection/ computer issues.

 

[trail B2]

I like the way Ron.D thinks about this gonna work on both of them anyway.I'm old enough to go from the carb era to fuel injection I would immediately take fuel injection.Some things not mentioned are to try and make smog a lot of 80s carbs got complicated and worked poorly and difficult to work with.One of the reasons engines last a lot longer than they used to is better fuel control of FI will keep from washing the oil off the cylinder walls for better wear.

 

[RonD]

Yea he lives about 2 miles from me. And I will still be working on it if it is a major problem.
I am thinking of giving him the 84 due to it being simple to trouble shoot.
He is not all that good at trouble shooting fuel injection/ computer issues.

2 miles is easy, either way should be fine

 

[PanamaExpat]

From the description the 84 sounds like it looks like a father in law truck. Keep the 87.

 

[96Indyram]

Here is a pic of the seats in the 87...and they are not bolted in all the way. felt like only 3 bolts are holding them in when i shook them....pretty loose.
I have not had any time at all to look this truck over good...maybe I can this weekend.
click on picture for a larger image:

 

[PanamaExpat]

Hate to say this they look like a couple of expensive projects. Hope you have a lot of dedication and patience.

 

[96Indyram]

The 84 interior is perfect...pulled the seatcover off and the bench seat looks perfect.
and the body is real solid...just the paint faded off.
The 87 interior has the modified seats...missing the radio...has a 10 disk CD changer bolted
Behind the seats. The rest of the interior is in great shape.
The body has a few hail dings...some spots of rust forming.

Yea I have all summer to get them road worthy by winter.

 

[PanamaExpat]

How are they mechanically?

 

[96Indyram]

They both run and drive
the 84 needs a waterpump replaced. The 87 needs the throwout bearing replaced.
One truck has 114,000 miles. The other has 144,000.
But I have only drove the trucks on and off the trailer when I bought them.
Between the wife, kids, work and other projects I haven't had any time yet to start tinkering
On them.