Fixin' up the "Farm Truck"

[RangerFabWorks]

it's the sender itself that leaks. I like to run a aftermarket gauge personally. since the stock gauge is nothing more than a glorified idiot light

motor looks good. I suggest doing the valve stem seals while you have it apart.

 

[4EyedTurd]

Oven cleaner works real good to degrease stuff. It's all we use at work, and I've found a cheap oven cleaner at big lots if you have one near you cans are only 1$ or 1.50$ each.

 

[RayInStl]

I thought that the early trucks with the "dome" sender were true senders then they switched to the "dummy switch" style later on?

I've heard oven cleaner makes a good degreaser, but never tried it. I'll have to give it a shot cause gunk ain't cheap! It does work well tho.

Thanks for the info guys. I went and picked up a 1 piece rear main seal. But it doesn't look like it's gonna fit. The gap between the block and the crankshaft doesn't look big enough. I thought I read that you could upgrade to the one piece if you had the two, but I guess not. This is the first time I've done a split one like this, so wish me luck.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

No. I meant to before I started, but forgot to in my excitement to get started. I have the compression tester and everything. It runs pretty good, though. It never gave me a reason to think it was wore out. Why, do you see something suspect?

Just a lot of buildup in the PVC, it could be because of a lot of blowby in crankcase or it could be 30+ years of minimal buildup that is nothing to worry about.

I thought that the early trucks with the "dome" sender were true senders then they switched to the "dummy switch" style later on?

They are a sender that will vary with different pressure but are not as accurate as an aftermarket gauge. My 302 is at the top of the "normal" pressure range while my 2.8 eeked out its existence towards the bottom.

They had the pressure switch for different clusters, like my '86-88 cluster with a tach just has an idiot light for oil pressure... which is fine with me because I have a Autometer under the dash. I think the gauges were an option vs lower tier trucks too.

 

[RayInStl]

Thursday Progress

I filled the oil separator with gunk degreaser and left it over night. That seemed to work well and got a bunch of stuff out of it. Got it painted up and ready to go back on.

I picked up a wash basin for the basement that has been one of the best purchases I've ever made. Cleaning parts is a lot more convenient now.

After much degreasing, the motor is finally ready for paint!

 

[RayInStl]

Lots to update. This will be a long post.

Thursday saw the first coats of primer and paint going on the engine. I used Duplicolor from the auto parts store. I'm not super happy with that decision as it's easy to wipe off even a week later with just a little brake parts cleaner and a rag. I was hoping paint designed for engines would be a little more chemical resistant. Maybe it doesn't cure until it gets hot, but nothing on the can indicated such.

Friday saw more priming/painting. I wasn't going to paint the head originally, but decided it would bug me if I didn't. Unfortunately that meant masking everything I did on Thursday. I also painted the top of the fuel pump with high temp flat black (BBQ pit paint).

Saturday saw the final paint go on to the head and valve cover plus degreasing the intake.

Much of Sunday was eaten up by my brother's Jeep. He had 3 of the 4 transmission to bell housing bolts come out and it did a number on his front main bearing and counter shaft. I did have time to put the valve cover on and paint the front of the motor after removing the timing components. I painted the back of the timeing cover with that same BBQ pit paint. Hopefully it sticks well to plastic. The new water pump also went on.

BAD:

GOOD:

Monday, and my last vacation day, saw the oil pan painted, the timing belt replaced, and the beginning of reassembly. I finally replaced the 2 piece rear main seal. If there was a way to change to a 1 piece seal, it alluded me. Reading online, it looks like I would need at least a newer crank. I don't know if the block is different, too.

And after a week of work, I had to leave it there. I'd be back the next weekend to try to push to completion.

 

[RayInStl]

Friday comes and it's time to get back to the ranger. I ride down with my sister-in-law and bring along two 15" teardrop wheels with nearly new tires to see if they'll fit my brother's 91 2WD ranger. We mount them on the truck then go for a test drive. Everything's good puttering around town, so we hit the highway to check for shudders.

We hit 60 MPH and suddenly, without warning, the truck slams to the ground and we lose speed fast. Luckily Rog isn't the panic type and he eases us over to the shoulder. I assume we had a blow out, but he says we lost a wheel! Sure enough...

We call my sister-in-law to have her bring my Ram and tow strap over. While waiting, we hear someone yelling from the road under the overpass we're stuck on. "Hey, you guys missing a wheel?" I couldn't believe it. I thought it was long gone. We shimmy down the side of the concrete hill, say many thank you's, and retrieve our escapee.

By the time Cathy shows up with my truck (and my 7 year old niece who's running a low-grade fever) a cop has stopped to keep us safe from traffic. We hook up the Ram and drag the ranger a few hundred feet to get it off the overpass so we have room to work. We throw the stock wheels back on, jump the dead battery, thank the cop for keeping us safe, and drive the wounded ranger back home. Slowly.

Lucky for my brother, I had recently given him front rotors that I bought but didn't fit my 4x4 ranger. He swapped them the next day and you'd never know anything happened. Otherthan the rotor, the only damage was a bent caliper slide pin and bruised egos.

The moral of the story is: if it comes with fancy lug nuts, USE THE FANCY LUG NUTS!

 

[FillMarr]

Haha jeez glad to hear this didn't end worse...

Awesome work painting the engine btw, can't wait to see the under the hood pic after its nstalled


2003 XLT. V6 3.0 Vulcan. Automatic.152,000 miles, running strong. 31x10.5x15. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[4EyedTurd]

That motor looks great but I would be looking for the parts to put efi on it. My 83 started like that and ended up a 2.3t

 

[RayInStl]

Thanks. I wanted to paint it, but the original gray was too utilitarian for my tastes. So I went with Duplicolor "Ford Blue". I would have liked it to be a little lighter of a blue, but I think it turned out good.

I've thought about buying a newer truck and dropping this body on it. I really like the look of this truck, but it needs lots of work.

I did the engine because I need it to be a daily driver. Since I was pulling it to do the gaskets, the perfectionist in me decided to paint it too. Might as well, right?

There's more updates coming. Just gotta find the time to do them. I'm going straight from work to my brother's place to continue working on it. With luck, we'll be finishing today.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I've thought about buying a newer truck and dropping this body on it. I really like the look of this truck, but it needs lots of work.

2.3 4wd's are kind of uncommon, keep that in mind too.

 

[RayInStl]

Oh, I know that! Apparently my motor mounts are 2.3L 4x4 exclusive, so autozone wants $70 each! My truck has a lot of rare stuff. It has a black interior and is a dual tank truck and still has it's bed-mounted spare tire.

I'm just not sure I can save it in the long run. While we were dropping the motor in last night, we noticed the frame at the spring perch is really bad. Like you can see through it bad. The perch itself is pretty crusty, too. I found a company that sells them, so I plan to patch the frame and replace the perch, it just makes me wonder what else I'm going to find.

Welcome to the rust belt!

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Where did you find spring perches?

Black interior is rare, I don't think I have ever seen one. Longbox 4wd dual tanker 4cyl to boot... yeah not run of the mill at all.

 

[RayInStl]

Where did you find spring perches?

Black interior is rare, I don't think I have ever seen one. Longbox 4wd dual tanker 4cyl to boot... yeah not run of the mill at all.

With air conditioning, power steering, power brakes, but a rubber floor. lol. It's a neat little truck.

I found the perches at a place called Auto and Truck Springs (ATS) out of PA. I've never heard of them but found several forum posts on various truck sites that said they're great to work with and have quality products.

Here's the 83 Ranger perches. Should fit other years, too.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

With air conditioning, power steering, power brakes, but a rubber floor. lol. It's a neat little truck.

I found the perches at a place called Auto and Truck Springs (ATS) out of PA. I've never heard of them but found several forum posts on various truck sites that said they're great to work with and have quality products.

Here's the 83 Ranger perches. Should fit other years, too.

It says 88-97 so it brings up the ever popular question, do they not know what they are doing or is something different?

I know a guy here in town got them from there (I remember the name now) for his '89, they fit good for him.

I know I need at least one (it made its own drain hole)