Betty White....Cousin Eddie's Ford Ranger

Well I tripped over this thing today and it followed me home. It sure is a turd but it seems to get pretty damn good fuel mileage.

Much work ahead.

Reckon the junkyards will be open on Memorial Day ?

A turd?  Hard to say when I last saw a Ranger that clean looking in the Cincinnati area!

More details? Engine? Transmission? Cup holders?

einy (Forum Supporter) said:

A turd?  Hard to say when I last saw a Ranger that clean looking in the Cincinnati area!

It's pretty rough. My vibe is that this was an old contractor truck. Maybe a house painter or something. It has about a 300 dollar paint job on it to hide the sins. It's Texas rust free for sure, but I don't even want to know where and how much body filler it's carrying.

mazdeuce - Seth said:

More details? Engine? Transmission? Cup holders?

It's got the poverty package.

2.3 engine

5 speed manual

2 cup holders

I'd say cosmetically it's twice as nice as my Mazda. Mechanically it's half as good as the Mazda.

I'll get it there. Should be fun to learn new stuff. Other than a phase with 5.0L Mustangs about 25 years ago I just don't speak Ford. 

I did use a piece of masking tape and a marker to make a Honda label to hide that Ford oval emblem in the center of the steering wheel. That made the nausea subside on the drive home.

In reply to Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) :

2 more cupholders than I have!

The Mazda isn't going anywhere is it?

"Poverty package". Fantastic. Can't wait to see the Cousin Eddie engine detail update. 
 

2.3 is good! Turd, yes, but also bulletproof. Some of these had odd clutch issues... can't remember the details. I have about 350k miles and probably 3000 hours of seat time in rangers. I'd put them above any other little truck for toughness and reliability. We beat the snot out of them and never had any real issues. 6 days a week, stop and go, overloaded, summer temps regularly reach 115f. The vinyl seats get sweaty but the trucks just kept going. 
 

Just don't keep anything valuable in it. You may know the trick but these are hilariously easy to break into. On the plus side, you'll never need to call AAA if you lock your keys in. 

untchabl said:

The Mazda isn't going anywhere is it?

Beats me. I'll have to see if this Ranger is worthy of being in my life. I like to limit my vehicles to 2 and 1 motorcycle. It gets a bit crowded and tedious with too many spark plugs in my life. 

The best combo for a ranger, I love these little trucks. 

einy (Forum Supporter) said:

A turd?  Hard to say when I last saw a Ranger that clean looking in the Cincinnati area!

Have to second einy on this one.  So few cab corners left here, I didn't realize they started out with them.

First things to do was remove some previous owner additions. The fellow had installed two set of auxilliary lights on the front. Not my thing.

The wiring was run externally through the door jamb and up to a rocker switch with bare wires laying on the dash. Not my style to put it mildly. Notice the wire routing.

Yeah, that's all gone now.

Hella lights though. A dude at my station wants them for yee-yee usage on his truck so I'll let him be the curator from here forward.

It also had this little dude on the dash. It plugs into the OBD port and tells all sorts of information.

That's going to a new home somewhere too. Again, not my style.

And this damn thing. As soon as I can turn up an OEM intake setup I will rehome this. Dude was sure proud of it when he was showing me the truck. I don't think he noticed that I was mentally surveying how quickly I could get it off the truck.

Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) said:

untchabl said:

The Mazda isn't going anywhere is it?

Beats me. I'll have to see if this Ranger is worthy of being in my life. I like to limit my vehicles to 2 and 1 motorcycle. It gets a bit crowded and tedious with too many spark plugs in my life. 

Two mazda's check one goldwing check where's the Toyota LC?

759NRNG (Forum Partidario) said:

Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) said:

untchabl said:

The Mazda isn't going anywhere is it?

Beats me. I'll have to see if this Ranger is worthy of being in my life. I like to limit my vehicles to 2 and 1 motorcycle. It gets a bit crowded and tedious with too many spark plugs in my life. 

Two mazda's check one goldwing check where's the Toyota LC?

Currently driveway land locked by the wife's little Korean toaster.

The current tally is Landcruiser, Ranger and Goldwing at home. Plus cousin Valerie's Korean thing. The B2000 is at my shop in a remote location. 

when did the miata leave the compound.....I thought you were extremely enamoured with it?

Awesome!  Turbo build for sure!  Btw if you need a new home for the scan gauge I'd be interested in adding it to the s10. 
 

Turbo it!

759NRNG (Forum Partidario) said:

when did the miata leave the compound.....I thought you were extremely enamoured with it?

About a year ago a guy handed me a brick of cash wrapped in aluminum foil. It was a weird deal. I put it up for sale on a Sunday, asking tall money. The guy met me a couple of hours later to buy the car. I didn't figure anyone could put that much cash together on a weekend. He did. It felt surreal. If someone had been watching it looked like I was buying a kilo of dope or something. My wife sat in the truck and counted all the money while we went on a test drive. Done deal.

He has since spent ridiculous money on the car. He did it up in that Japanese style with Watanabes and an NA6 dash swap. I don't know what he does for a living, but he's doing it well.

I sold it because I was getting stagnant. I like to work on stuff and the Miata was taking up a shop storage bay and thwarting me doing anything interesting. I guess I'm more a builder than an owner.

Honestly, at this time the Landcruiser's future isn't looking too bright either. It's really an awesome truck. But I just don't need a Landcruiser to drive 50 miles round trip to the fire station. It's taking up a lot of space and it's freaking expensive to insure and keep the gas tank full.

Cousin Eddie, how much for the Scangauge? I have a use for it.

I'm asking 75 for the Scangauge locally. They run 140+tax new at Amazon and this one is in no excuses good condition. I watched it work for 150 miles yesterday on the drive home.

Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) said:

I'm asking 75 for the Scangauge locally. They run 140+tax new at Amazon and this one is in no excuses good condition. I watched it work for 150 miles yesterday on the drive home.

Sent you a message to keep from cluttering up your thread. Thanks.

In reply to untchabl :

Lol skipped right over me!

I'm afraid that's on me. I really should invest in a phone with a bigger screen. When I'm working I keep up with stuff on my phone then sit down at the end of the day to use the laptop where I can actually see what I'm doing. 

Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) said:

I'm afraid that's on me. I really should invest in a phone with a bigger screen. When I'm working I keep up with stuff on my phone then sit down at the end of the day to use the laptop where I can actually see what I'm doing. 

Oh that's fine. It was an impulse buy. If it doesn't sell let me know?  Thanks!