A little background first, when I was a little kid my grandfather had a red 84, 4wd 5speed, it was my favorite thing in the world. It eventually died and he got a new vehicle but always talked about getting another one and restoring it. He died a couple years back and never got the chance.

Fast forward to now and I found a red 84 for sale. Cleanest truck that old I've ever seen so I bought it as fast as I could, only downside is it's a 2wd auto. I'm no stranger to mechanical work but I know that some things just aren't feasible. Are there any general ranger, or year specific roadblocks to me doing a 4x4 manual conversion? I'm not looking to put a massive lift on it or huge tires or anything. Just a bit of a nostalgia project for both myself and to surprise my grandmother with.

 

Welcome to the forum

2WD and 4x4 Rangers have different frames up front, so not just a bolt on swap, 4WD wasn't an "option" added at the factory, it was a frame out build

People have done it, welding is required of course to rebuild the frame

If the 1984 body and interior are good, maybe you could find a 4x4 of similar year that's rusted out for cheap, and swap over the body/cab

And even engine if yours is running well, 2wd and 4wd transmissions are different, besides the manual automatic thing, 4wd transmissions have a shorter tail shaft so you can bolt on a transfer case

If you found a 4x4 manual trans Ranger with same engine, that's an eye-sore and doesn't run, doesn't even have to be RED, lol, I think you would be ahead of the game because you are going to get alot of bits and pieces you will need for the conversion, along with all the 4x4 parts