My 85

[ranger07]

Hello, this is my first real post and first project, so any pointers or advice or anything would be great.

I bought a 1985 ranger a couple weeks ago.

On the drive home, it started over-heating. got it home alright, stated tearing into it that night, deleted one of the thermostats. problem solved.

a few days ago i ripped out both sway bars, as it is going to be a trail rig only.

then i flexed it out in my driveway.

Then I thought why not flex my other ranger too. haha

Today I started my duraspark conversion. Ripping out all the old shtuff.

Then it started pissing rain. so i cleaned up and went to go order parts for the conversion. Hopefully i get them tomorrow and i can fire it back up.
I stopped in at princess auto while running for parts and they have 2, 100watt lights for $12. i bought 4.

 

[jhammel85]

Looks good! I love the old school 4x4 decal!

I would put another thermostat in and loom up that crazy wiring though.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

You pulled the lower thermostat correct I see you have the upper t-stat housing it works best. I started from the computer and stripped the wiring loop back to the 8 wire connector buy the coil. jusk keep the wires in tact you need oil press, water temp, alternator, I believe you only need to cut the power wire to the computer and the rest goes away. Along with all the vacuum lines and the crap on the passenger side bulkhead. Cut any wires long for future use just in case it looks like you have A/C and if you have the o/d tranny you will need to wire in a switch.

 

[ranger07]

Ya I pulled the lower stat. And no a/c. Kept water temp sender and oil sender. Alt wiring too. Everything else is gone. Hopefully get parts today. And fingers crossed for no rain. Or else I'm going to look for a tent thing at wallmart or somewhere. Had to move my truck to get into the back yard with my other truck. Forgot about keeping it at tdc and jumped the starter to move it. Doh. Didn't pull the dizzy yet tho. So not too bad.

Hope to get some work done on it and get some pics up soon.

 

[ranger07]

so i got my distributor in, coil and module re mounted. also cleaned and gapped spark plugs. they ordered the wrong cap adapter. im going to pick up the right one in a few mins. and a case of beer. then i should be able to get it started.

im also going to my dad's this weekend to pick up my welder, timing light and a bunch of other stuff.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

If it smokes at startup I bought one of these and changed the valve guide seals you can do it without pulling the heads I also pulled the intake manifold and resealed it good in the valleys between the heads and block she actually holds oil now. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Neiko-Tools..._Automotive_Tools&vxp=mtr&hash=item35b72fbe95

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

so i got my distributor in, coil and module re mounted. also cleaned and gapped spark plugs. they ordered the wrong cap adapter. im going to pick up the right one in a few mins. and a case of beer. then i should be able to get it started.

im also going to my dad's this weekend to pick up my welder, timing light and a bunch of other stuff.

Ha, they ordered the wrong adaptor when I converted mine too.

If it smokes at startup I bought one of these and changed the valve guide seals you can do it without pulling the heads I also pulled the intake manifold and resealed it good in the valleys between the heads and block she actually holds oil now. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Neiko-Tools..._Automotive_Tools&vxp=mtr&hash=item35b72fbe95

That tool works great, but you will either need to remove the A/C heaterbox and/or have a bodylift to use it (or any other contraption that I have found) for #3 if your truck has the A/C heaterbox. I have never done it on a V6 with a non-A/C box so it may still apply. Not a big deal, the boxes are pretty easy to remove.

 

[ranger07]

It did smoke a little when it was running before the swap. I was thinking about doing the seals either way. but probably next year.


So i had a couple little problems. when i hooked everything up, i had spark, but the timing was way off. so i pulled the dizzy and fixed that. then my coil blew up, so i bought a new msd coil. and then i had no spark. thought it was wiring issues, so i rewired it all brand new for push-button start, still nothing. double and triple checked all the wiring, tested the reluctor and it checked out...

so i pulled the module out, and went all over town trying to find someone who could test it, but only heard of one guy who could, but he wasn't around anymore. so, last resort, bought a new module, brought it home, and had spark!! so relieved.

now i can get anything finalized and tune the carb.

 

[ranger07]

swap time!

after alot of thinking and searching, ive decided to swap in an injected 302.

i just pulled out the old transmission and transfer case.

im going to use the fullsize trans and transfer case.

Also eventually going to swap in a 8.8 and d44 TTB from the same donor.

 

[kroussinoffroad]

stick with it and sounds like you'll have a pretty sweet truck. lookin forward to the efi swap. I was goin to go this route but decided against it for the time being. down the road i may swap one in but we'll see.

 

[ranger07]

Ya I am excited about it. I wasn't sure if j wanted to do it, but I found a deal for $300 for motor, trans, case, d44 front, 8.8 rear, wheels, radiator, and drive shafts. Now all I need to do is figure out what I'm going to use for mounts and exhaust. And whether I want to extend the beams or shorten the shafts in the front.

Suggestions?

 

[ranger07]

so i got my 5.0 home and pulled the old motor, trans and case.

oil pan is rusty and leaked oil everywhere, so i had to clean that up.

pulled the old manifolds and mounts off.

i wanted to have the motor in tomorrow, but now i have to get a new oil pan.

home made hoist works great. haha, moves around in the wind a little. but its safe.

 

[cody93]

glad to see mother nature being useful for once

 

[ranger07]

updates

its been a long time since ive posted, but i have the motor and trans in, axles, i swapped in 64 inch rear springs, after alot of reading and looking at all the wiring, i got it all connected temporarily, and it started up nicely.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j9x...DvjVQa1PpcFPBepNYSpuUKeQxlEMGIhSurAnv1_ojsRg=

today i ripped into the body wiring, as its going to be mostly custom, just switches on the dash.

more to come