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marvilusone
Active Member
I picked up an 85 2wd Ranger a few days ago for next to nothing. It would turn over and try to catch fire but wouldn't. Turns out the switch in the bottom of the column was loose. Now it runs great. It has a 2.3L FI, 5 sp and had 3.08 R&P. It has 215/75/15 BFG AT's and those combined with the 3.08's I couldn't even hold 5th gear at 75mph. Went to Pull A Part and go a complete 3.45 rear axle in great condition for $60. What a world of difference. Now I run around 2500 in 5th at 75mph and I can still easily pick up speed without downshifting. Also ALOT better mileage. Once that was taken care of I did a simple tune up and added an Acell coil, homebrew K&N ram air setup, changed all the fluids, and added 2.25 exhaust with a Cherry Bomb turbo muffler and no cat. It was running great but still felt like it lacked a little power. I got a few tuning tips from some friends who race 2.3L mini stocks and even though the sticker under the hood calls for timing at 10 BTDC they all told me to set it around 25 BTDC. Now it runs excellent. Very noticable increase in power and torque throught the entire range, no detonation, and it hasn't affected gas mileage one bit. I have a few mor little tricks to try and I'll keep everyone updated on them. As of now I'm putting down around 23 mpg. I also took rubbing compound and a good wax job to the entire truck as well as polishing all the chrome and it's looking really good for a $400 truck. I'll try to get some pictures up this weekend.
