Pictures of my 97 XLT splash

[XLTsplash]

Thanks and no I don't build it up any , I was thinking about making it a 2.5L. I ended up just keeping it stock. To save time and money. I didn't even have the cylinders bored for over size pistons. I just honed the cylinders and installed new stock size pistons, rings and bearings. This wasn't a project I was planning on doing to my Ranger with only 132K on it. I just want to fix that chattering noise the engine was making at idle. I does seem to run a little better now that every thing is fresh.

 

[XLTsplash]

I just installed a rear anti-sway bar on my Ranger and a under hood light that has the factory wire connector.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Looking good! Did you ever figure out what was causing the chattering noise?

 

[XLTsplash]

I ended up pulling the engine thinking maybe it was piston pin noise. The pistons felt tight on the pins. I went ahead and installed new pistons, rings, bearings and freeze plugs. To go along with the new head and oil pump I had just installed trying to get rid of the noise. The noise seems to be gone now. The only thing the looked bad was number 3 rod bearing had a groove in it and some copper showing. So the noise was from the lower end. If it was the rod bearing I would think I would have been able to hear it under load. Not just at idle. I had read the piston pin noise can sound a lot like lifter noise and is heard at idle. If it was a piston maybe it felt tight on the pin when I checked it cold out of the engine and would get loose when hot ? So I'm still not 100% sure the cause of the noise. I'm just glad after rebuilding my engine that the noise is gone.

 

[XLTsplash]

I have never liked the look of the over the rail tool box in my Ranger. I was just too useful to remove. I found a new box that I like much better. It's made by DeeZee in the USA. It's a nice size for my Ranger flairside and I didn't have to drill any holes in my truck to install it. I just removed the handles that came on the side of the box and installed a couple of small metal L brackets. The I used a couple of turnbuckles to hold the box to the factory tie downs. I covered the turnbuckles with black split loom to make them look better. I also replaced my bed rail caps because they had holes drilled in them to mount the old tool box. I posted new pictures of my Ranger with it's new look at the top of page one of this tread.
Here's a picture of the new box installed

 

[XLTsplash]

Thank you. I'm off highway 50 between Sacramento and Tahoe.

 

[XLTsplash]

I've done a few more things to my Ranger.
I repainted the back ground of the grille Ford emblem red, yellow and blue to match the splash stripe colors. I've added rear window louvers. Under the hood I installed a heat shield over the K&N air filter and removed all of the non-English parts of the under hood warning labels.

 

[1qaz]

Love the truck! The subtlety really sets it off. I like all the little things and the engine bay looks great. Nice work.

 

[XLTsplash]

I haven't been on this site in awhile. I'm spending most of my time working on a new project 1974 Mustang Mach 1. My Ranger is about the same. I did have a very good paint less dent removal guy come out and remove one small door dings and two small dents form the roof of my Ranger. He did a great job, I can't even see where the dents were.

 

[XLTsplash]

I've added a shaker hood scoop to my Ranger

 

[XLTsplash]

Another view with the shaker scoop.

 

[XLTsplash]

I just added a 03 Mach 1 type hood decal and hood pins to go with the shaker hood scoop.

 

[XLTsplash]

Looking good! Did you ever figure out what was causing the chattering noise?

The pistons. I found a TSB for newer F150 5.0L engines with the same noise. The TSB say's the noise starts after a oil change. They describe the noise as a type writer type noise at hot idle that can be heard best standing along side the truck. The TSB say's not to attempt any repair. The noise won't cause any problem or shorten the life of the engine. I'm am glad I got mine fixed. I just didn't like my engine making more noise than it shouldn't .

 

[Jim Oaks]

Looks good. I've thought about doing a black section in the middle of the hood of my '96 that follow the lines in towards the grill.

 

[XLTsplash]

A few updates to my Ranger. I changed the XLT decals on the rear 1/4's to Ford ovals in colors to match the splash decals. A new 3rd brake light. Inside GPS hard wired to a power switch that replaces to fold out power point. I also installed a leather shift knob that I bought on ebay.