My 83 Ranger is my current project vehicle, and most of my family consider it my albatross...something that takes up a lot of time and money and will never be worth anything. They
may very well be right, but don't tell them that. ;) It keeps me occupied and out of trouble, for the
most part, and I enjoy tinkering with it.
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I had this project planned for a while before I got everything, and I actually picked up the engine before the truck. This is the engine for the truck, before it was installed. It's a 2.3 liter turbocharged 4 cylinder from a 1988 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe, and had 116,000 miles on it when the owner wrecked the Thunderbird. I got the whole kit and caboodle for $500, and that included a lot more than I actually needed. Things like the air conditioning system, the automatic transmission,
the radiator, etc. |
| My roommate at the time had a 1983 Ranger sitting at home that his dad was contemplating selling, and a 1989 Ranger in need of a transmission...and since the A4LD from the Turbo Coupe was a direct replacement for the 89 Ranger, I traded him that and $150 for the 83. I didn't need the A4LD because the 83 had a
manual transmission and I wanted it to stay that way. This engine got disassembled and rebuilt soon after these pictures were taken, although in hindsight it didn't really need it - the original hone marks were still visible, and these engines have been known to push the 300,000 mile mark when taken care of. |
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And here's the truck it was going into. Taken the day I picked it up and we towed it back home from
Ohio, this shot actually makes the truck look pretty good. Not that it actually looked bad, but it's
pretty photogenic. This truck was built in May of 82, making it an early 83...something that's made
the project more interesting, as the early trucks don't seem to conform to the accepted knowledge about
the first generation Rangers (83-88). This one had a carbureted 2.0 liter 4 cylinder, a 4 speed manual,
and a 6-7/8" rear end with 3.08 gears. |
| And a shot of it next to my 98 Ranger after we got it home. I've got big plans for the truck, but at this point it looks like your basic old man farm truck. And at this point, that's basically what it
was - the 2.0 was loosing compression and not overwhlemingly powerful, but it started and ran fairly smoothly, especially considering the 138,000 miles it had - and having known the previous owner, those weren't cream-puff miles either. |
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