My 1989 Ranger XLT

[177CIOfPureLove]

Hey guys, Its been 4 years since I actually bought my truck, i spent a little while working on it before I got my lisence like 3 years ago, and I have been driving it everyday for all of those 3 years. I have always wanted to show off some of the stuff I did to it to make it what it is now. I know its nothing really special but I am very happy with it. Nothing but reliable service, I will always love this truck.

I bought it, for $800, it had been sitting for a year at least. Off of the origional owner too.

She was a mess. Gutted the interior. Carpet was powerwashed, whole interior taken to the bathtub while mom was not home (lol) and blackmagiced front to back and reinstalled. She obviously needed paint as well.

Half way through prepping the frame,axle, springs....ect

Behold new paint! It was nice to finally have nice paint for senior year of HS.

 

[177CIOfPureLove]

I was very lucky to have gotten a 2.9 with an "anomaly" head problem. This thing didnt leak coolant into the block, or anything, but perhaps the exhaust. Either way i never added antifreeze, she never got hot, and the antifreeze would always disappear whenever i felt like adding it. But being a stickler for perfection and wanting reliable transportation despite not having any problems, and of course, having a really really good 2.9 in my bronco II with a bad tranny, it was a simple decision.

Me standing with the old and the new

Had the swap done before the weekend was over, new clutch and slave cyl while i was down there as well. Have not had a single problem and she still runs like a champ. Love the simpilicity of these trucks!

 

[177CIOfPureLove]

Oh yea, and my interior after all of that. The seats are from a 98' i desired the console and the headrests. I welded them to the old bench rails.....what a pain that was in getting them offof the old seats. Well worth it however.
Also added all of the crome trim and the tailgate piece, as well as new crome ranger decals for the fenders.

I am very proud to say that all of the work there is all 100% my own, minus the actual paint, as i lacked the ability to paint it myself at the time. That was done by maaco (who really pissed me off, i floated out all the bondo very well, but they sanded the whole truck again after i asked them not to because i had taken care of it....they took it all down to the point where its obvious.....its still only an 89' ranger i guess) I hope you guys like it!

 

[Twitch57]

nice truck

but dammit - tempts me to redo the interior on mine ( a 89 as well)

 

[177CIOfPureLove]

Ha yea man thanks a lot. I would recommend putting these seats in inplace of your old 60/bench. The opening console and headrests are too nice not to have.

 

[compleckz]

great looking truck, awesome job!

 

[Shoeboy]

oh man, that makes me cry. Reminds me of my former baby before the wreck (also and 89 standard cab long box with canopy when I got it). Except I still had my original 2.9L in perfect running condition. My seats were out of a Windstar, console from a Taurus, carpet from a 1992 Ranger, paint was colour matched from the new Mustang, Windveil Blue (imagine that, mine was also painted blue, with black pearl trim). I had the explorer 5 spoke rims. Seeing that truck makes me sad, my old ranger is sitting in truck heaven after a brutal murder. Beautiful looking truck, man. Well done.

 

[Daves89]

Nice job on restoring your truck. I wish I could do the same thing you did with the cup holders around the gear shifter but I have the manual transfer case.

 

[177CIOfPureLove]

Oh I know what you mean Shoeboy. I was so impressed by your old truck. That was like the epitome of what could be done to an old truck like this. I was jelous as hell. And like you said, once i saw the pics you put up after the incident...I felt the urge to cry too. What a waste and for nothing man, I am still so sorry about that. What an ass that guy was.

Yea, Daves89, the cupholder makes the thing driveable...lol. If i had 4x4 I would have opted to go with the exploder console and buckets, the console has its own holders, as I am sure you know.
Thanks a lot guys!

 

[92dangerranger]

Looks really good. You did a very nice job.