96 Ranger overhaul - phase 1 victory
I joined FRF last week. I am a beginner, first truck, first project vehicle. We bought somebody's old purple fishing truck 4 years ago when we moved to the country, and needed an upgrade but didn't want to let our little Ranger go. So we got the engine rebuilt and I'm in charge of the rest of the overhaul.
Dash issues first: I replaced the worm gear in the odometer, replaced the dash lights, cleaned out about 4 pounds of desert dust, got moving parts moving and stationary parts stable. I messed up the speedometer calibration in the process but managed to fix it by driving around with a smartphone navigator and tweaking the indicator till it matched my speed. I also broke the little post that stops the speedo indicator from going below 10 mph, but I glued a black piece of wire insulation on and you can't tell the difference. Put in a flashy new JVC radio - the "EZ Install" from Crutchfield required me to solder 14 wires but now i have a new skill.
Phase 2 will be lots more cleaning, replacing the headliner and flooring, and nice new seatcovers, after adding $50 worth of sound barrier for a quiet ride.
Many thanks to forum threads and utube videos for getting me through the tricky stuff! Any other improvements I should consider along the way?
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1996 Ranger XLT 4x4, 4.0l 6 cylinder, 4wd, 209k original miles before odometer quit under previous owner. My husband had a rebuilt engine put in, now I am in charge of everything else. Instrument cluster repairs and interior renovations in progress.
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