lil_Blue_Ford

Name: Jonathan (Jon) Gavin

Forum Name / Link:  lil_Blue_Ford

TRS Volunteer Staff Position: Forum Moderator

Location: Butler, PA

Year Born: 1983

Occupation: General Contractor

Background & Expertise

Brief biography:

(Who are you? What do you do in the real world? What’s your background professionally or technically?) Worked a lot of construction, ran equipment and the spare dump truck for my first job doing concrete construction plus did a lot of the maintenance of the equipment/trucks. Construction and trucks have been a part of life since. Got into off-roading and wanted to build a truck to do it with. Since the truck I got to do it with was a Bronco II and I have a problem with leaving things alone, fabrication skills needed developed. I also had to hone my electrical skills because the previous owner hadn’t been so good with electrical, but fortunately I had electrical knowledge. Now days I repair and heavily modify my own vehicles and equipment plus help a few others with their vehicles. Also get into doing some electrical work on the side. Finally building a long-overdue workshop.

How long have you been a member of The Ranger Station?

Originally joined somewhere around the 2002/2003 timeframe when I was in search of information on how to wire up a tachometer in my first Ranger.

How did you first get into Ford Rangers or off-roading?

Wanted a truck for my first vehicle because they are practical. Ended up with a Ranger and fell in love with the little trucks and it didn’t take long of hanging out on here before I was looking for a Bronco II to build for off-roading.

Any certifications, qualifications, or education worth noting?

Most of my certifications revolve around construction currently but I did take a bunch of electrical courses in high school. Largely self-taught for mechanics and welding so far.

What specific areas of expertise or interest do you bring to TRS?

A good bit of general knowledge plus a bunch of deep dives into most areas like I’ve built a couple sets of extended radius arms, I’ve done a bit of valve body/shift kit work in the automatic transmissions, various mechanical tweaks, etc.

What kind of Ranger(s) (or Bronco II, Explorer, etc.) do you currently own or have owned in the past?

2000 Ranger XLT SuperCab “lil Blue”: 3.0, 5-speed, 2wd. The truck that started it all. Modified rear suspension, custom stereo, rear axle swapped to a limited slip 8.8″

1988 Bronco II Eddie Bauer: 2.9, automatic, 4×4. Torn apart for a serious resto-mod build that includes a 2″ suspension lift and nearly everything modified from stock.

1989 Bronco II XL “Choptop”: 4.0 OHV swapped, 5-speed, 4×4 swapped, 5″ suspension lift, 2″ body lift, top cut off the rear body, 35″ tires. Not pretty yet, but it’s slowly coming around. Lots of other modifications in the works.

1992 Ranger STX SuperCab: 4.0 OHV, automatic, 4×4. All that really got modified before it unfortunately got hit was the transmission with a shift kit and valve body work. This truck may get built into something in the future.

2000 Ranger XLT SuperCab: 5.0 swapped, automatic (with a shift kit), AWD swapped, lowered about 4″, Explorer rear axle in SUA with all the Explorer axle goodies, custom stereo, modified interior, custom electrical, 2001 Ranger front clip swapped, custom bumpers, more to come.

1998 Explorer Eddie Bauer: 5.0, auto, AWD and so far, just sitting as a future project.

1989 Bronco II Eddie Bauer: 2.9, auto, 4×4. Bought from a junkyard, fixed up and driven during college, and sold to a professor for his son before I left college. Wish I would have kept it, but the money went towards fixing the Choptop.

1986 Bronco II XLT: 2.9, auto, 4×4. Stripped for parts for the Choptop and scrapped.

1987 Bronco II XLT: 2.9, auto, 4×4. Stripped for parts and scrapped.

1989 Ranger XLT: 2.3, 5-speed, 4×4. Partially stripped for parts.

1998 Explorer EB: 5.0, auto, AWD. Stripped for 00 Ranger build.

1999 Ranger XLT SC: 3.0, auto, 4×4. Bad frame.

2002 Ranger XLT SC: 4.0 SOHC, auto, 4×4. Bad frame.

Non-RBVs

1994 F-350 XL: 7.5, 5-speed, 2wd. Dump truck body (Cab n Chassis truck). Mods incoming.

1995 F-150 XL: 4.9, 5-speed, 4×4. Modified work rig.

1989 Bayliner I/O. 17′ with a Ford 2.3l motor.

1950 Ferguson TO-20 farm tractor

Contribution to TRS

What do you do at TRS?

Moderator duties and helping users mostly, try to get some content creation here and there.

Do you contribute or help with specific areas of the forum?

Little bit of build thread stuff and trying to work on being able to contribute more.

What do you enjoy most about being part of the TRS community?

This place has some of the best people who would gladly go out of their way to help. It’s always been friendly and family oriented with none of the drama that tears other places apart. The resources compiled here are incredible as well.

Fun & Personal

Favorite Ford vehicle ever?

Oof. Bigfoot? Elenor? @bobbywalter‘s Ranger? This is a tough call.

Favorite mod or upgrade you’ve ever done?

The shift kit and valve body work on my 92 Ranger was probably the most exciting single point modification. Both the Choptop and Green Ranger builds have been a lot of fun as an overall upgrade.

Most memorable off-road trip or experience?

Ah man, they’ve all been memorable in one way or another. The trips to Spark’s place along with the 20th and 25th anniversary trips were definitely good times.

One piece of advice you’d give to a new Ranger owner:

Enjoy it, it’s probably more capable than you think.