My 87 Ranger I will be restoring soon I want to keep track of my progress and add information as I find it.

[SenorNoob]

I'd be willing to bet the "cheap" spray in hard bedliner would stay on those brackets well. Some of it can be painted afterward if you want it glossy.

 

[Awesom-O]

I’d like to get some 91 style door panels with manual windows. Everything I have with pets trucks are power. Not sure if I’m into swapping over all the electrical to do the power window upgrade. Something I should have considered before painting my truck I guess?
As for the window mirror arms, a good scuff with brush on rubberized Bedliner like Herculiner might do the trick. Cleaner would be a black vinyl wrap.
If you use a spray on bedliner be sure to scuff and use adhesion promoter.

 

[RobbieD]

Cleaner would be a black vinyl wrap.

Or, black heat-shrink tubing.

 

[jballard81]

Those seats, door card and side mirror turned out great. You do excellent work.

That is the cleanest looking PCM I think I've ever seen. Though a word of caution, those caps may look good now, but they are a ticking bomb. They'll eventually go out.

Great progress! Glad to see things coming along!

 

[Terrys87]

@85_Ranger4x4 I sure hope these last a while. I have got way too much time in getting the rust off of these brush guards. I have a new media blaster that I really need to get working, never used it yet. That alone would have saved me a lot of time. I have rust killer and rust encapsulator on. I did put in some effort.

@SenorNoob I am actually buying some bed liner this coming Friday, a place has it on sale and I am really not like seeing the red bed every time I get in the truck. Truck is getting painted again this winter due to the hail damage and mirrors will be getting redone at that time. Bed liner might be the answer.

@Awesom-O I prefer manual windows myself. Since the Bronco is a fully loaded truck, I will keep electric in them but so glad I have manual in this truck. I like the 91 panels and they did swap over really easy, I am more of a purist and I really like these just for the reason it is an 88. If it was a 91, I probably would stay with them. The door pockets are much better built in 91.

@RobbieD I have to take so many parts to make one. It took two sets of brush guards, seats and mirrors to get what I have. I will be trying some different thing on the other set of mirrors just to see how it comes out.

@jballard81 Thanks, I have untold amount of work into getting them cleaned up. I get to do everything twice. I need to order some new window seals for the interior of the window side. I replaced the outside way back when. I was surprised at how clean the computer was. I am still battling an idle issue. I will post a little information on what I have found on it here in a few.

 

[Terrys87]

I got my driver mirror on. It’s a little bigger and sets further out. This truck will be getting upgraded as time goes to a 302 and axles in about a year for pulling larger loads.

This is the seat with lumbar support. I need to make a wiring harness for the pumps. Eventually all the interior is coming out to do the headliner and will paint the trim. Hoping Friday to get a seat bracket for drivers side seat. I really don’t want to have to use my seat bracket. I will drive it line this for a few days. My Dirt Devil made a big difference on cleaning. I would recommend it or a Bissel. Later on, I will clean my old seats to see what a difference it can make on them.

My welding is terrible. A friend of mine is going to weld these on a little later today. I put the effort in removing old paint and rust. Used some rust killer and the rust encapsulation. Hoping this will last a while. I had to put one in a vice and get it straightened out as it had been in a collision.

I could not handle the black and chrome on passenger side. So got it blacked out. I went with black as the mirrors had damage to them. I filled in the dents and painted them. Made the best out if a bad situation. I did try the chrome to see how it looked. Black I think looks better.

 

[Terrys87]

I have been looking everywhere on idling issues. This weekend I am going to look for a smoke machine to test for air leaks in the system. My PCV valve seems to be good but got one on order and getting a new grommet for it. I trust this truck to go coast to coast but want it working the way it should.

I seen on a Youtube video that a guy calls the 2.9 curse. Says it is the Fusible Link on the O2 sensor heater that burns up. I am looking into that next week.

I got a set of Motorcraft Platinum plugs, of course later it is suggested to just get the plain Motorcraft plugs. I will see if Motorcraft plugs will make a difference.

I tried another computer, 88 Automatic computer. I really could not tell any difference between an auto and a manaul computer. I am going to reinstall my original computer. Anybody know where you can send and have one tested?

 

[SenorNoob]

I like my chrome, but I have to admit those mirrors look nice.

 

[Terrys87]

@SenorNoob I prefer chrome all the way around. I should have been a kid in the 50s with bright paint and miles of chrome. There was no saving these mirrors without pulling the dents. This truck pretty much came from the factory with the only chrome or shiny things on front and rear. It was mostly blacked out. I not the biggest fan of blacked out but on blue it looks good.

 

[Terrys87]

I went to friends house to have him weld the hoops on. He seen the holes in the hoops and said let’s drill the holes. He had some drill bits from Orielly and they have three flukes on them. Some tough and great drill bits. I am adding them to my tools list.

 

[Terrys87]

Watching a YouTube video and a guy calls this the 2.9 curse. I looked at mine and I see I have corrosion, whether this fixes it or not, I still need to get it taken care of.

youtube my cure for the 2.9 curse - Search Videos

www.bing.com

 

[Terrys87]

I thought NGK platinum would be good. NGK is a good brand but maybe not for the 2.9. All are evenly rich. Maybe over a year old.

I installed Motorcraft platinum. Kind of wishing I would have went with just plain old Motorcraft. Mileage is 54372. I will pull a few plugs when they get 10k miles on them.

I don’t know if you can see it but it is a new seal around PCV valve. I got another new one on order along with PCV valve. Also have a smoke test machine from Amazon on orders to look for air leaks. A friend of mine and me looked and could not find any.

Ford part number for factory grommet.

 

[scotts90ranger]

If they're that rich I would be replacing the pre cat O2 sensor(s) if they haven't been in the last decade... the engine doesn't get rich from spark plugs, it's something else.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

If they're that rich I would be replacing the pre cat O2 sensor(s) if they haven't been in the last decade... the engine doesn't get rich from spark plugs, it's something else.

I agree ^^^
Its a symptom, not the cause. O2 sensors have a lifetime of approximately 100,000 miles.

 

[Terrys87]

@scotts90ranger and @alwaysFlOoReD Thanks and I agree with you, there is something else causing issue, spark plugs did tell me it is a rich problem. I replaced the O2 sensor when I got the truck. Faulty parts is not unheard of. I will get another O2 sensor.

I am battling 2 problems, 1 is an idle problem and 2 is the running rich issue.

Running Rich problem

A. One the Rich issue is not enough air (vacuum leak) and computer/ injectors adding correct amount of fuel causing rich.

B. Faulty Injector/S, both banks are running rich so I cant see just one injector on either side being bad but will check.

C. I did find a Youtube video of possibly a corroded wire to the O2 sensor pre heat. I think this is a one wire O2 sensor but will need to verify. I have not looked yet. I am seeing a corroded Fusible Link so that is a possibility.

Idle Issue

I replaced my Throttle Position Sensor. As I understand and and agree with, The MAP sensor controls the Idle Air Control Valve. I just replaced the TPS and made no adjustments to the sensor. If it TPS is sending an incorrect reading to the IAC, and the MAP is seeing something different, I could see that causing a conflict between the MAP and IAC.

Vacumm leak could be a possibility of Idle Issue as well.


Thanks for your suggestions and if you have some others I would appreciate it.