I love these trucks. I have been wanting one for a while and accidently found this one. I would prefer a five speed with bucket seats. But this one will do nicely. It appears to have low mileage on it judging by the interior and general condition of everything else. It runs rough but I am tracking those issues now. I pulled the air plenum off to clean it. While I am it I will tune it up and adjust the valves. The previous owner threw a bunch of money at it. Yet he did not address the way it ran. He thought it was suppose to run like that. My plan right now is to fix what it needs so I can have a dependable truck while my other build is going on. Then, when I complete that I will address this Ranger. Other than faded paint and new tires I do not see many issues at that point.

 

That looks really good for the age! Great find!

 

Thanks, I am excited to work on it.

 

not bad at all...well optioned truck too

 

I love these things.

 

Chasing oil leaks. The previous owner paid a shop to replace the valve cover gaskets; they did a real crappy job. Bolts were missing and the ones they did reinstall were loose. The port the EGR bolts to was so clogged I had to use a ½ drill bit to get it all out. Most people get angry when they find more problems. I am happy. The more issues I find like the less likely I have internal engine problems. I was afraid the rough idle meant something was wrong inside.

 

The ranger sat untouched because I went out of town for a week. Today I spent most of my time addressing details. A lot of the wire loom was brittle and all of the electrical tape on the harness was degraded. As I reinstalled the harnesses I wrapped new loom and retaped them. I also stuck a bunch of zip ties in there to keep it all neat. I addressed any missing bolts. It looks like someone has done work in there before and just did not feel like bolting everything back down. Of course all the vacuum lines are from 1987 so I replaced most of them. Right now I am dealing with the EGR valve and everything that bolts to it.

 

Just took it for a test drive and it runs waaaaaaaaaaaaay better. It needs timing and I think I hear a vacuum leak and I have what sounds like a top end tic.