Welcome Visitor! Please take a few seconds and 
rfl
Well-Known Member
I picked up a '93 Ranger XLT 4x4 long bed in March of '09 to drag dirt bikes back and forth to the desert. I paid $1,900 for a green thing complete with some nasty dents on the passenger side and one heck of an oil leak (likely several that eventually tied together). Still, the engine ran fine and the remainder of the truck was not a mechanical basket case. Tires, new brake lines, a tune-up, etc., and some 10k miles of out of cell range later, I bought a new truck and parked the Ranger until my son was old enough to drive. That was January of '13.
In January of '14, looking over the truck to see what needed to be taken care of before he got his license I got the stupid idea of replacing the clutch and fixing the leaks. Pulling the engine was a joke. Exhaust had to be cut in every point possible. Wire looms were brittle, nasty grease (that started as oil) everywhere.
Engine out, transmission/t-case out, I start getting a better look. Front drive line is on its way out, rear needs a rebuild. Lower intake is broke loose from the block/heads - bad gasket job by the prior owner - so the intake ports are sludge. Top of the push rods look like someone tried to put them in a pencil sharpener. Well, you get the picture.
Bottom end of the engine was in fairly decent shape. Rings were good, no cracks, still have cross-hatching on the cylinders. Tops of the pistons and valve faces look good. So I start pricing out lifters, cam, push rods, and the rockers, then I cried. So I looked at machine shop prices and a master rebuild kit, then i cried some more. Then I got a dealer-to-dealer (friends and family matter) on a reman from Ford for $2,465. Sold!
Start talking to my son about what the project would look like and he starts talking paint, wheels, exhaust, blah, blah, blah. I tell him he has no idea how much work that will be. He says yeah, but... I say fine, but you are scraping ice off windshields until I can get my cars back in the garage. And off we went.
The truck is old, but not salvage. Trying to keep things on the cheap body/paint wise (reserve the money for the things that matter) I decided to pull and weld the bad spots rather than buy skins. I also decided to just shoot some single stage on it (color change). Things were going okay, minimal frustration, but then I get the "I don't want to put the flares or emblems back on." Oh really? so who is going to grind down the 60+ holes that need to be welded up if we do that? Something kind of redeeming when your 16 year old says "now I know why they charge so much for doing this stuff" as they pause for the umpteenth time from grinding.
Okay, so time to paint. Doing a color change with no engine, so we are going to need to tow this thing back and forth to a rental booth 3 times. 27 miles one way. Son says "can't we just paint it here?" I say sure, but building a booth is going to suck. Even swap money wise (supplies vs. booth rental and gas), so I am thinking just more lesson learning for him, plus it all gets shot over a weekend rather than 3 weekends. Needless to say, converting part of the garage into a paint booth (safely I might add) in the winter was a bit of a challenge. But it got done.
Back to the mechanical. Engine gets ordered and arrives in just 3 business days. I take the day off to do the final assembly. Engine and transmission go in. Fire that sucker up just after midnight and "tick-tick-tick" - crap. Tell me that is an exhaust leak. Enough for today, we will look at it tomorrow. Next day, tighten all the exhaust (I know it is not an exhaust problem, but you gotta have hope), fire it up, and "tick-tick-tick." Do some research, things are not looking good. Make a post here while still poking around. Fire it up again and now I got a "tap-tap-tap." Double crap. Eventually I accepted the reality that was already known and stripped down the NEW CRATE ENGINE to retrieve the bad lifter. Call Ford, file a warranty claim (3 years, unlimited mileage), order the parts, get the parts, replace the parts, fire it up - runs amazing.
Okay, time for the maiden voyage. Son gets behind the wheel. I say "headlights? check" "taillights? check" "blinkers? check" "brights? Son-of..." Wipers come on full bore, with super turbo charge washer fluid shooting clear over the truck. Bah, pull the relay, kick the truck out of the garage, make another post.
Today (thanks to xbass94) we replaced the NEW MF switch with a different NEW MF switch, and the problem is gone. So, calling this project complete.
Engine was pulled on 01/24/2014. Officially finished 03/20/2014. Not bad at all considering what was done. The incomplete list:
The following chronicles much of the journey. Thanks again to those that help with some of the problems that we hit along the way.
End - a new begining
Sludge
More Sludge
Powerwashed engine and trans
Nasty intake ports
Bodywork
More Bodywork
Even More Bodywork
Rust Repair
Flares and Emblems Deleted
Ready for Paint
Makeshift Paint Booth
Paint
Jams (engine compartment is same color as hood stripe)
Spray-in Bed Liner
Body Assembly
Dirt Bike Support Bar
Catalytic Converters and Y Pipe
Cat-back
Rear End and Shocks
MAF Housing Swap
Chipper!
Ford Reman in Crate
Engine Prep
Engine Assembly
Engine Assembly
Engine Install
Engine Installed
Done!
In January of '14, looking over the truck to see what needed to be taken care of before he got his license I got the stupid idea of replacing the clutch and fixing the leaks. Pulling the engine was a joke. Exhaust had to be cut in every point possible. Wire looms were brittle, nasty grease (that started as oil) everywhere.
Engine out, transmission/t-case out, I start getting a better look. Front drive line is on its way out, rear needs a rebuild. Lower intake is broke loose from the block/heads - bad gasket job by the prior owner - so the intake ports are sludge. Top of the push rods look like someone tried to put them in a pencil sharpener. Well, you get the picture.
Bottom end of the engine was in fairly decent shape. Rings were good, no cracks, still have cross-hatching on the cylinders. Tops of the pistons and valve faces look good. So I start pricing out lifters, cam, push rods, and the rockers, then I cried. So I looked at machine shop prices and a master rebuild kit, then i cried some more. Then I got a dealer-to-dealer (friends and family matter) on a reman from Ford for $2,465. Sold!
Start talking to my son about what the project would look like and he starts talking paint, wheels, exhaust, blah, blah, blah. I tell him he has no idea how much work that will be. He says yeah, but... I say fine, but you are scraping ice off windshields until I can get my cars back in the garage. And off we went.
The truck is old, but not salvage. Trying to keep things on the cheap body/paint wise (reserve the money for the things that matter) I decided to pull and weld the bad spots rather than buy skins. I also decided to just shoot some single stage on it (color change). Things were going okay, minimal frustration, but then I get the "I don't want to put the flares or emblems back on." Oh really? so who is going to grind down the 60+ holes that need to be welded up if we do that? Something kind of redeeming when your 16 year old says "now I know why they charge so much for doing this stuff" as they pause for the umpteenth time from grinding.
Okay, so time to paint. Doing a color change with no engine, so we are going to need to tow this thing back and forth to a rental booth 3 times. 27 miles one way. Son says "can't we just paint it here?" I say sure, but building a booth is going to suck. Even swap money wise (supplies vs. booth rental and gas), so I am thinking just more lesson learning for him, plus it all gets shot over a weekend rather than 3 weekends. Needless to say, converting part of the garage into a paint booth (safely I might add) in the winter was a bit of a challenge. But it got done.
Back to the mechanical. Engine gets ordered and arrives in just 3 business days. I take the day off to do the final assembly. Engine and transmission go in. Fire that sucker up just after midnight and "tick-tick-tick" - crap. Tell me that is an exhaust leak. Enough for today, we will look at it tomorrow. Next day, tighten all the exhaust (I know it is not an exhaust problem, but you gotta have hope), fire it up, and "tick-tick-tick." Do some research, things are not looking good. Make a post here while still poking around. Fire it up again and now I got a "tap-tap-tap." Double crap. Eventually I accepted the reality that was already known and stripped down the NEW CRATE ENGINE to retrieve the bad lifter. Call Ford, file a warranty claim (3 years, unlimited mileage), order the parts, get the parts, replace the parts, fire it up - runs amazing.
Okay, time for the maiden voyage. Son gets behind the wheel. I say "headlights? check" "taillights? check" "blinkers? check" "brights? Son-of..." Wipers come on full bore, with super turbo charge washer fluid shooting clear over the truck. Bah, pull the relay, kick the truck out of the garage, make another post.
Today (thanks to xbass94) we replaced the NEW MF switch with a different NEW MF switch, and the problem is gone. So, calling this project complete.
Engine was pulled on 01/24/2014. Officially finished 03/20/2014. Not bad at all considering what was done. The incomplete list:
- Body and complete paint (color change), including removing all flares and emblems, rust repair on core support
- New shocks
- New center links
- New steering box, pump, hoses
- New A/C (everything)
- Reman front drive line, refurb the rear
- New clutch, slave, and shifter repair kit
- New fluids everywhere
- Larger MAF housing
- Jet chip
- Hedman headers
- Magnaflow cats
- Gibson cat-back
- New bed bolts (grind out the old)
- All new engine and fuel sensors
- New fuel pump
- Clean (to new looking) pan, valve covers, intake assemblies, etc.
- Rework all engine harnesses
- Replace heater core and all hoses
- Replace engine
- New wheels
- Bed liner
- New windshield
- Custom CB antenna mount
- Custom dirt bike stop bar
- Window tint
- Rewire headlights and MF switch assemblies
- Tailgate emblems that spell out "REDNECK XLT" (son's idea)
- Memories forever
The following chronicles much of the journey. Thanks again to those that help with some of the problems that we hit along the way.
End - a new begining
Sludge
More Sludge
Powerwashed engine and trans
Nasty intake ports
Bodywork
More Bodywork
Even More Bodywork
Rust Repair
Flares and Emblems Deleted
Ready for Paint
Makeshift Paint Booth
Paint
Jams (engine compartment is same color as hood stripe)
Spray-in Bed Liner
Body Assembly
Dirt Bike Support Bar
Catalytic Converters and Y Pipe
Cat-back
Rear End and Shocks
MAF Housing Swap
Chipper!
Ford Reman in Crate
Engine Prep
Engine Assembly
Engine Assembly
Engine Install
Engine Installed
Done!
Last edited:
