New guy

[Kevingenekruse]

Greetings from San Diego! Just picked up an 87 ranger 4x4 and fell in love with it. Ive heard bad things about these fords and to stay away but ive always loved the body style so i just went for it. I wanted something i could work on. Its a little rough but drivable, i plan to do a full restoration with some mods eventually. Starter was grinding when i got it so had to bump start it for a bit, but was able to fix it by enlarging the top starter mount hole and grinding away the inner lip on the starter to get it to pivot in towards the flywheel more, engages good and i only hear a slight grind right after the engine fires. The motor has a rough idle and ticks alot, and feels a little low on power but starts good everytime. I plan on running it till it goes then find a 4.0 for it. It also clunks every once in a while in 4x4 while driving, not as noticeable in 4low. Dont know if its the front diff or the transfer case. I want to do a dana 35 swap, 8.8 rear and get a skyjacker lift. I have no experience with cars or trucks, i mostly like to tinker with motorcycles so ive got some mechanical intuition. I hope to learn some things here, mostly about suspension and steering components, if anyone has any good references thatd be great!

 

[Uncle Gump]

Most of these trucks in my neck of the woods have rotted away. Finding a decent one is tough. I remember a post where the starter grinding issue had a creative repair. The repair was swapping an Escort starter drive onto a Ranger starter. I've never done it but we're told it works. The description of it is in post 15 in this thread..

Catching up: My Bronco II build thread

Spring 2017 I traded a .38 Spl for this 87 Bronco II. It had a small lift, 31” tires, and a bad engine. 90% rust free with previous mild rollover damage. Had sat for four years. I rebuilt another 2.9, replaced both fuel pumps, and put tires on it.

www.therangerstation.com

Welcome to TRS...

 

[Curious Hound]

Congratulations! Welcome to TRS.

 

[Dirtman]

 

[1987ranger12394]

 

[sgtsandman]

https://imgur.com/9K0pvoP

 

[Kevingenekruse]

Most of these trucks in my neck of the woods have rotted away. Finding a decent one is tough. I remember a post where the starter grinding issue had a creative repair. The repair was swapping an Escort starter drive onto a Ranger starter. I've never done it but we're told it works. The description of it is in post 15 in this thread..

Catching up: My Bronco II build thread

Spring 2017 I traded a .38 Spl for this 87 Bronco II. It had a small lift, 31” tires, and a bad engine. 90% rust free with previous mild rollover damage. Had sat for four years. I rebuilt another 2.9, replaced both fuel pumps, and put tires on it.

www.therangerstation.com

Welcome to TRS...

Nice thread, ill try that if mine starts crapping out. And i think i scored on mine, i dont see any rust anywhere. But would like to strip it down some day and get everything nice and coated, would love to make this thing last. I think by next year ill have a budget of 4-5k to put into to it, im hoping i can do the suspension mods, engine swap and restore with that.

 

[Oxxon]

Hello and welcome to TRS!!