Restoration or refubishing.

[Original_Ranger84]

Hey guys its been a while since i've been on but I'm back home for the summer and I have decided its time to take the old 84 out of hibernation. Its been sitting for the last few years with little use since I have my 99' and most recently my mom's gotten herself a 03'.

Anyways I know I want to take off the body and get the frame and axles cleaned up and rust proofed and get the 4.10 gears I have sitting around finally put in it. Then fix the body and give it some fresh paint. The problem is the 2.8L engine in it is kind of a crap engine, not that the 2.8 is bad but its a rebuild we put in a few years ago from ford and it makes coolant disappear and leaks oil worse then a cullender ever since. So Im trying to decide what to put in it. Whether or not to find a 4.0L and bolt it up or should i look for something more fun to put in it?

Also there is rust around the lip of the bed so I will probably end up cutting them and finding some of the rubber fenders to put on and make the wheel wells better. What companies are good for those?

Thanks

 

[jhammel85]

There's a lot of good options to go with engine wise. It all depends on what you want, your decision!

I say it's between another 2.8, 4.0 or V8. A V8 would be nice but it entails alot of work, just like the 4.0. I don't know exactly how much beefing up it would take to put the V8 in but check the builds on here. Here is a members great thread on swapping in a v8

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61372

As far as the fenders go, the flexy fenders are nice. Personally, I like 4x4_junky's fenders alot. Just measure out how wide you'd like them to stick out and buy the flexy's that mount flush to your sheet metal, not the fender lip.

Then again, if you can weld, you can patch it up with a patch panel. That's what I plan to do.