New guy almost burned my Ranger up.

[RustyRacoon85]

Hello, Ranger Station.

New here—name’s William, I’m down in Texarkana. Just picked up an ’85 Ranger 4x4 with the 2.8 and figured this was the place to learn something.

Truck’s pretty rough but it’s got great patina and I want to keep it that way. Goal isn’t a fast build—just want a simple, reliable truck I can drive and enjoy.

I actually got it to fire up, but ran into some issues. It would only stay running in the START position, then I had a backfire through the carb that ended up catching the wiring on fire. Burned up part of the harness, distributor cap, and plug wires. Engine itself still seems solid though.

Plan right now is to clean everything up, simplify the wiring, and go with a Duraspark distributor and HEI module setup to get rid of the factory ignition mess.

Just wanted to introduce myself and say I appreciate any advice. I’ll probably be asking some questions as I go.

– RustyRacoon85

 

[RobbieD]

Welcome!

Yep; you're at the right place.

That's a nice old survivor you've got there, and I like your plans for it.