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1984 Ranger, 351w, gasser style


fomocoguy

Active Member
Joined
Aug 3, 2014
Messages
43
Vehicle Year
1984
Transmission
Automatic
Hello all! New to the site here, but thought I'd jump right in and post up my build thread so far. A few months back I started looking for a clean Ranger to build, and was really surprised at the difficulty in finding a bargain truck that wasn't beat to hell/ rusted to hell/ run into the ground here in St. Louis. After some patience I finally found my truck. She's an 84 model that was originally a diesel and was pulled behind a camper. A poor 302 conversion was done using an early 80's smog motor and some interesting "engineering". After some haggling and $1000 laid on the table, I drug home this:


She's 99.9% rust free. The bed floor still has shiny paint on it, and most of the miles were being dragged down the highway behind the RV. I already had in my mind a gasser style build, so she's getting an older low mileage SVO 351w that I've been itching to shove in something. It's rated from Ford at 345hp, so it should move along nicely. It'll have fenderwell headers and I'm planning on using a 4" lift kit on the front to get the nose high stance (and room for the headers to drop out behind the front tires). Here's a few pics of what I've got so far.



I'll keep ya'll posted as things progress.
 
So I made it out to my favorite salvage yard today and low and behold they had JUST brought in a 1984 Ranger, literally 20 minutes before I got there. I went there looking for a tan vinyl bench seat and couldn't believe when I found the interior of the yards truck was the same color as mine. It's not perfect, but it'll do. I picked up the seat, some plastic for the gauges, and a grill insert I found in the bed for $60. Here's the truck:

I actually felt kinda bad pickin parts off her because it was a pretty clean, totally optioned out truck, but if it weren't me it would be somebody else.

Here's my seat:

And the grill insert:



As you can see I cleaned up the top two bars just for comparison purposes. A little Mothers and she shines up nice! I think it'll match the look I'm going for nicely.
 
Love it when hit or miss junkyard visits wind up being big hits! Nice find!

Not sure if it'd interest you, but lmctruck sells replacement upholstery kits for '83s and up ($199 for vinyl)...only thing is they wouldn't match the vinyl/cloth combo you scored at the yard.
 
Shit, I would have tried to fire that things up and drive it home. I go nuts if I found one that clean in a local yard, and it probably would follow me home. Except for the 4wd that is the truck I was looking for when I picked up the 86. Couldn't find a long bed local for the right price, so I settled for the short bed.
 
Love it when hit or miss junkyard visits wind up being big hits! Nice find!

Not sure if it'd interest you, but lmctruck sells replacement upholstery kits for '83s and up ($199 for vinyl)...only thing is they wouldn't match the vinyl/cloth combo you scored at the yard.

Actually it's all vinyl, it just looks like cloth. I had no idea LMC was making stuff for these trucks. I'll check it out for sure.

Yeah, I almost went a couple days ago but ran out of time. Good thing cuz I would have missed it altogether.
 
Shit, I would have tried to fire that things up and drive it home. I go nuts if I found one that clean in a local yard, and it probably would follow me home. Except for the 4wd that is the truck I was looking for when I picked up the 86. Couldn't find a long bed local for the right price, so I settled for the short bed.

It supposedly ran and drove. The odo showed 80k miles and I wouldn't be surprised if it was original. They marked the windshield DO NOT TOUCH MOTOR.
The problem with this yard is they damn near refuse to sell a vehicle outright. I guess they would have, but it would have cost $2500 or something.

It's a shame though. It was loaded. 4x4, auto, V6, cruise, dual tanks, a/c; it even had the overhead console with outside temp and clock. Plus the bed is filled to the top with parts.
 
Just ordered up the 4" lift for the front; should be here end of next week. Can't wait to get the stance I want on this thing.
I'm shootin for something like this:
 
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Looks like one heck of a start to a nice project. I was going to do the fuel injected 351w swap in my 90, but decided that it was too much work and time for what I really wanted to deal with right now, so I'm just doing the 302 swap when money comes up. I can't wait to see how this truck turns out.
 
Thanks! I can't wait till work slows down a bit and I can really dig into it. I'm still collecting parts right now, but I did get the lift kit for the front end the other day. Next time I've got a whole day to myself I'll be getting that installed.

Still need a stall, 157 tooth bell housing, flywheel, and block plate. I'd probably have all that already if I could stop buying things for my super duty...
 
Uupppdatttee!!!!

So I've been collecting parts since august and waiting for deals here and there, but I've got enough now to get going on her. Over the last few days I've been installing the lift for the front. I'm still waiting on my extended brake lines and I don't have the pitman arm on yet, but here's some pics of how the stance will be.



It's hard to get a good angle on a pic with it in the garage, but you get the idea. Now just picture her with some headers running down behind the front tires in the fender wells and a nice air cleaner poking through the hood and that's how she'll be.

I've finally got all the stuff to marry the engine and trans (157t flexplate, matching c4 bell, block plate, and 3000 stall converter) so that'll keep me busy for awhile. As soon as I have the pitman on and brakes hooked back up I'm going to pull the front clip and get started on the swap. I like to finish one thing before starting on the next.:headbang:
 
It looks like your making good progress. :D
 
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