heres the situation, my mom just gave me her old 88 ranger thats been in the family since she got it new, for the past few years, it hasn't been driven much since it was involved in a hit an run acident back on chrismas eve of 04(danm iligal imigrants cant drive and dont have insurence) and was fixed up from other ranger parts we got from a friend, spent most its time in the driveway, just wasting insurence money. now, i got it, altho i dont got a drivers license yet(CA licenses are a pain in the arse to get, gona get an arkansas one instead) i wana fix it up. my dad and i are moving to arkansas soon and i want to take this truck, as i hate all new cars, and have lots of sentimental value on this truck. over the years, ive kept together, sanding priming rust spots, changing fluids, maintaining the battery, moving it around so it wont rot or get stuck in place, bought the parts thate were missing from pick n pull and kept it complete, etc. being in cali, server rust aint a problem, the frame,body aint badly rusted, just minor surfuce rust on the roof/tailgate.
its got a 2.9 wich are know for cracking cylinder heads, and im worried if its got cracked heads, as it makes steam in the exhaust until it warms up and blue smoke(oil burn) when it acelerates. a few years ago, it had a smog issue, as driving with cracked heads makes exhaust thats not catlyc coverter friendly. ontop of that, some nub who did work on it advanced the timing on it so it burned hotter and made hydrocarbons, wich usually mean hotter temps, and the 2.9s got aluminum heads. and aluminum has a lower temperture were it starts to warp, so that may have messed it up, some how, we got the truck to pass smog and drove it a bit for hauling loads when my dads construction company was doing good(resecsion messed it up cause no one has money for remoding homes), since november, its been un registered and hasn't been ran much. now that ive given u back ground info, heres is my questions
1- is this truck worth taking to arkansas( large acerage farm)
2- how would i take it? i (drive it? tralier it?)
3- what are the chances of cracked heads?
4- should i replace the cylinder heads and gaskets?
5- will the cylinder heads of an 89-91 2.9 be better than pre 89 heads? or is there a better option thats not to expensive and will 89-91 heads even fit for that matter?
its got a 2.9 wich are know for cracking cylinder heads, and im worried if its got cracked heads, as it makes steam in the exhaust until it warms up and blue smoke(oil burn) when it acelerates. a few years ago, it had a smog issue, as driving with cracked heads makes exhaust thats not catlyc coverter friendly. ontop of that, some nub who did work on it advanced the timing on it so it burned hotter and made hydrocarbons, wich usually mean hotter temps, and the 2.9s got aluminum heads. and aluminum has a lower temperture were it starts to warp, so that may have messed it up, some how, we got the truck to pass smog and drove it a bit for hauling loads when my dads construction company was doing good(resecsion messed it up cause no one has money for remoding homes), since november, its been un registered and hasn't been ran much. now that ive given u back ground info, heres is my questions
1- is this truck worth taking to arkansas( large acerage farm)
2- how would i take it? i (drive it? tralier it?)
3- what are the chances of cracked heads?
4- should i replace the cylinder heads and gaskets?
5- will the cylinder heads of an 89-91 2.9 be better than pre 89 heads? or is there a better option thats not to expensive and will 89-91 heads even fit for that matter?