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Raising a Ranger from the dead


Calex1976

New Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2014
Messages
4
City
Mobile, Alabama
Vehicle Year
1990
Transmission
Manual
I have a 1990 ext cab 2 WD XLT Ranger with the 2.9. I bought it used and drove it for a few years. It began having issues and I did not trust it to make the drive back and forth from Alabama to Louisiana for work. I bought a new car and the truck got forgotten about. My son is 13 now and will be needing a vehicle in a couple years, so I decided to restore it. If it wasn't for great memories I might just scrap it, but we both love the truck. Also I think it will be a great learning experience for him to help with the rebuild of a truck he will someday own.
Anyway, I have pulled the old gas out of the tank. Wiped the tank clean to remove any old residue in it. Pulled the sending unit, got a new one on order now. Was thinking since the bed is removed might as well change the unit and pump. The frame has surface rust, so I am thinking about spraying it down with Phosphoric Acid then painting it with rust converter. That's the way we do it off shore when we cant sand blast. Any other ideas for a truck that has been setting for a few years?
BTW after cleaning the tank and putting new gas and trading out the battery with one I had here, it fired up on the second try.
 
oil and fluid change, check the brake lines and fluid
 
I had changed the oil just before moth balling it, and have not seen any signs of water. But I will be dumping the oil soon. Checked the brakes yesterday and after pumping them twice they pressured up. Thanks for the ideas.
 
id run some seafoam through it for good measure, complete tune up. get a grease gun and grease all the grease-able bushings. do some rust prevention, throw some tint on it, and get some nice seat covers/ some bucket seats from the junkyard for a nice ride.

what issues was the truck having that made you stop driving it?

you could also swap a 4.0 in, and make it more enjoyable to drive. thus way he learns how to rebuild a 4.0 and swap an engine, by the time your done, he would know the truck very well.
 
Forget the 4.0, let him learn on a workhorse...change ALL the fluids...oil, coolant, PS, PB, tranny, diff...pull the plugs and put a little oil in each hole before you fire it off...check the fuses...make sure the tires are still round and hold air...seafoam the first tank of high-test and run the snot out of it to get the cobwebs out.
 

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