Engine

With the transmission out I went after a leaking oil pan and rear main seal.  There's no way I could put a freshly restored oil pan into 30 years of grime and grit so that led to an entire winter full of projects...clutch, flywheel, pilot bearing, frame, engine bay that included exhaust manifold, intake manifold (both upper and lower), fuel injectors, radiator, shroud, fan, valve cover, alternator, air cleaner, throttle body, numerous sensors, and on, and on, and on...  If I had to do it over, I think I'd pull the engine. 

First task was getting after the oil pan, rear main seal, and pilot bearing.  Thirty years of the southwest environment was not kind to them.



To drop the oil pan you have to raise the engine roughly 2.5 inches to clear the front cross member...you can see the block of wood above the engine mount to the right used to support it.  I didn't really need it as I raised the engine with a hoist hung from the rafters in the garage...but there's no way I wasn't going to put it there (based on the Ford Shop Manual instructions) after all the trouble to get to the oil pan.



Oil pan removed.  What a mess!

 



The gasket was way past end of life.  It's just crumbled as I removed it.



Rear main seal was only slightly better.



And the surrounding frame was as bad.



While I was in there I replaced the oil pump and pickup tube.



New old stock of course.



Cleaned and restored the oil pan.

 

Replaced the rear main seal and pilot bearing...using genuine Ford parts.



Cleaned and restored the surrounding frame and cross member and put everything back together.



Will continue the progress with the engine in the next couple entries.

Last edited on Sat May 5th, 2018 07:49 pm by 1qaz

Eddie Money wrote:
Beautiful work. Thank you for sharing. Love your passion.
Thanks Eddie!

=======================

I have almost wrapped up the engine bay....long post and lots of pictures follow.

Just a reminder of where I started this journey...top view.



Front view...close up.



Bottom view.



Removed the wheel liners, air intake, and associated tubings and other plastic pieces.





Didn't pull the engine but probably should have.

Exhaust manifold side.



Intake manifold side.



Removed the alternator, mounting bracket, and engine lift eyes.



Radiator, fan, fan shroud, and fan clutch came out.





Clean up and restoration followed...started with the engine block and worked my way out.



Air intake and tubing.



Wheel well liners.



Preserved the factory markings.



Alternator and mounting parts.





Cleaned up the fuel rail and replaced fuel injectors and fuel pressure regulator.





Using only genuine parts.



EGR Valve refreshed.



Radiator, fan, and shroud restored.





Wires cleaned up one at a time with a toothbrush...top connector is the before, bottom the after.



9 out of 10 dentists should approve.



Put everything back together and this is where I ended up.

Front View.



Driver's side view.



Passenger side view.



Closeup from intake and throttle body perspective.





Close up from the front.



New distributor cap and wire set.



And new hood insulation to tie it all together.



Put it up on a lift to get a better look from underneath.





Definitely better than when I started.  Still so much to do.

Last edited on Mon Sep 3rd, 2018 07:52 pm by 1qaz

RangerNed wrote:

I always liked the 87 and 88 models. I do like to detail things and what you have done here is just incredible! Just awesome!!
Thank you, Ned! Sorry for the extremely delayed response. The popularity of the first gens is on the rise.  I've started seeing some Rangers  on the Motortrend car shows.

Eddie Money wrote:
Wow. This definitely needs to be shown. I wish I had all my chores done so I could do something like this. Beautifully done. Bravo!!!
Thank you, Eddie!  Also, sorry for the late response.  I have shown her multiple times.  She usually draws a second or third place in the stock truck category.

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Miscellaneous: Gas Tank

I have made lots of progress since the last update with most of the work focused on the back of the cab and back.  First up was the gas tank.

Solid but filthy.



Removed...and still filthy.



Solid on the outside.



Clean on the inside.



Absolute nightmare on the bottom...a ton of undercoating and Tuscon dirt!  Had a helluva time removing that stuff.



But completely removed in the end.  Remember, 90% of car restoration is just plain cleaning parts.



Prepped for new coat of paint specifically for gas tanks.



Fresh paint.










Preserving all factory markings.



with a NOS fuel sending unit.



Back to new.



Next up is all the work done on the rear suspension and frame.

Last edited on Mon May 4th, 2020 07:25 pm by 1qaz

Attachment: 36AEEAA8-3382-43E9-907D-EF517859C0DD.jpeg (Downloaded 18 times)

Last edited on Sat May 14th, 2022 12:26 pm by dads89