87 ranger build

[danger88ranger]

Picked up an 87 ranger the other day. 2.9, fm145, manual transfer case. The motor and trans have 10,000 miles on them, and the transfer case is new. Heres what its getting: tires+wheels, 3 inch body lift, herculined interior, transfer case linkage, core support, front and rear bumpers, interior pieces will be painted black, grant steering wheel, e-fan and 4.56s. Some mods that will come at a later date include headers, ram air intake, 4.0 radiator, and a DANA 35 swap. Heres some pics of the latest progress

the 2.9

interior at the moment

 

[danger88ranger]

Well heres some of the progress from last nite. Got the carpet and seats yanked out to find where a former mice nest was(no mice tho) and found that the drivers side cab floor is going to need replacing. I got all the interior pieces painted and am going to put them back in soon enough. Next on the list:cab floor, herculiner, gauges, and radio. Oh so i went to the ford dealer too to get transfer case linkage bolts and bushings, no luck on bolts but got the bushings ordered. Anyone know what size they are?

the carpet

Dash

 

[danger88ranger]

Well i got the core support out and started to switch all the clips and BS stuff on the core support. I made some new mounts for the core support which i dont have pics of yet. I also got the transfer case linkage bushing in and got the right bolts. Painted the dash and trim pieces. Next on the agenda: rear bumper, mount the core support and put front end on, and order some part like an e-fan, 180 degree thermostat, cab floors, cab corners, and valve cover gaskets. Oh yea i was looking at my exhaust when i was workin on the transfer case and noticed the that there were two pipes off the manifolds to the converters. Is that an H-pipe or a Y pipe? Also, can i get 4.56 gears for the d28 or do i need a d35 to do so? Thanks

rusty mounts

 

[Ranger Dave]

you sure the tranny is a 146???

 

[danger88ranger]

What else could it be??

 

[RaginRanger]

if the four shifter bolts look like a trapezoidal shape (not a square) from above, then it's an fm145.

 

[kunar]

if stock from the '87 then its an fm145, just like my trucks have all been

 

[danger88ranger]

yea.. its a trapozoidal shape..my bad

 

[danger88ranger]

Well i havent updated for awhile, i ordered parts from LMC truck and it took forever for the parts to come. Anyways, i got them a few days ago and am currently working on the cab floor. I couldnt mount the core support completly because the cab support was rotted out. I built a new mount and got it on, now i need to put the floor on, and eventually the body lift. Then i can put the core support and front end together. Heres some pics of the parts, progress pics will come soon.

 

[red85]

where did you get those floor pans?

 

[danger88ranger]

LMC truck, they were $40 a piece, their site is www.lmctruck.com

 

[danger88ranger]

Well I was working on the cab floor and noticed that the rocker panel has quite a few holes in it and the passenger side mount is bent down also. So I decided to do a cab swap. I will be taking the cab from my 88 as a donor, and the front end will also go too. As for the bed, the 87 is a long bed and the 88 is a short bed, so the 87's going to stay for now, I will probably be getting rid of the rest of the 88. I'll be posting pics of this adventure.

 

[danger88ranger]

Progress made

Well i finally got the 87 cab off, i took out the complete harness from inside the truck and will be put in the 88 cab. Now i just have to take the 88 cab all apart. Will be posting pics as soon as i get my camera

 

[danger88ranger]

Well i finally got my camera back from my bro. I got the cab off and the complete 2.9 harness out of the cab to put into the donor cab. I'm waiting for my uncle to get his car out of the shop and i will get the donor rig in there and get the cab off it and get this thing done. Heres some pics

I need some help on this, when i got the truck the transfer case had just been replaced and the speedo is not hooked up. However, when i looked at where the speedo should go it looked like a speed sensor there. It was a seperate harness that ran up toward the motor. How should I go about getting this thing hooked up and what should i do with the speed sensor?
Heres some pics of it

The red gear is the speedo cable, and the other one is the speed sensor

 

[kunar]

you need a different speedometer cable. napa online l0ists it as a 'lower speedometer cable'

oh, and how many teeth on the red gear?