Newb here.
Didnt see an ''introduction'' section, and i figured this section is where ill spend most of my time anyways, so here it is.

I just got a 1987 2wd 2.3 fi reg cab 5spd ranger about 2 weeks ago. ive been lurking since then lol.

its rusty, and the previous owner didnt take very good care of it. the odo has 41k, and i dont know if its 141,241,341 ect.

the story i got was, ''it was my sons truck, he used to drive it 300 miles one way every weekend to see his girlfriend. he got tired of it and bought an s10, and i wish he wouldnt have, because the s10 has broken down twice already.''

;p

so, the guy had it on craigslist for 550, then 450, then for ''trade''. so i called him. he said since im in the army serving my country hed sell it to me for 350. i asked him about the trade, and we settled on trading for a guitar amp. value to me- was a gift. so i guess the truck was free.

it ran like sheit, and idled VERY low. the night i picked it up, i had to keep on the gas to keep it from stalling out. as i was coming onto post, i had to stop to show my military id, and i let off the gas and it died. wouldnt start back up. but it turned over.

called a buddy and towed it to the house.

replaced:
plugs-motorcraft
fuel filter
wires
ignition coil
distributer cap & rotor
added some octane booster to the gas

still was turning over like a champ, but no spark.
thats when i googled my way into learning about the lovely tfi module. took it out to check it, and it was burned up. replaced that, and she started right up.

one thing i made note of while changing the plugs.. was they were wired backwards. this usually means one thing- the distributer is 180 degrees off.

yep.

fixed that, adjusted the timing to within a degree or so by hand, and now she purrs like an old rusty kitten with a hole in the exhaust manifold.

the belt was completely split into two somehow, and the alternator was mounted a little loose. it sounded like the alt pulley was bad, but i figured it was from the belt or looseness of the mount. i took a look at it tonite when changing the belt, and it seems that im missing a bolt for the mount. yay. tightened the bolts as much as i could, i slapped the new belt in, and the noise seems to have stopped for now.. but itll probably come back once the alt rattles loose again.

she runs 10000000 times better now than when i picked her up, and i felt so good about it i even dressed up the tires lol. i started cleaning the engine compartment with some simple green and tire dressing, but this is a big mission, as theres up to a half inch of gunk in some places.

well.. theres my intro.

next post below...
pics i saved from the craigslist ad, and pics of the mazda b2200 i had last year, and pics of the intrepid i bought when i sold the mazda.

enjoy!

 

Yes there is a Intro forum but here is good since this is what you have. Hmmmmmmmmm long Intro but that's ok. Glad you got your new baby purring like a kitten. It sometimes takes TLC to get em running. Nothing but satisfaction once you do. Welcome to the site. Good people here and good info to.

 

speepdaedeesi,

What a great first post! Thanks for sharing your story in our forum. I love it when someone works hard to give a truck a second life....to me it shows the character of a person.

Thanks for serving our country. We go right by Ft. Drum taking our son to Clarkson U. You will be in our thoughts and prayers. I would like to send you a phone card if you PM your mailto info.

Keep us updated how things go with you and your new truck.

Pat

 

Welcome to FTE.

 

thanks for the warm welcome.. sorry i didnt post pics last night. i was really tired. i dont always post this much. just have stuff to say i guess.

im also an avid member of dodgeintrepid.net

just a little update.. i installed a pioneer head unit into her today. nice hu, but pretty ghetto install. the wiring was pretty bad, and i had to do some rigging. i also just have it sitting in the factory hole. front two speakers work, and there are some really old nasty 8s behind the seats, but they arent getting sound. i gotta go to work so i cant mess with it yet.
i also found alot of misc paperwork from the prev owner under the bench seat. its always cool looking at old reciepts and job applications. apparently his mom recently sold a pizzaria she owned in town, and his dad left an application for a local drug store in there too. too bad theres no maintenance records.

speaking of.. does anyone have a carfax account? is there a section to request that? over at dodgeintrepid.net nobody currently has one. im curious to see why the paint on the bed side is faded where there was lettering that used to read ''CALL FOR INSPECTION''...
i appreciate your warm welcome, and yeah a phone card would be cool. i hear the cell service where were going isnt very established yet, but its getting better.

well, now for the pics...

 

91 mazda b2200.
lowered torsion bars in front, removed leafs and added 3 inch blocks in the back. i never measured the drop, but its as low as it would go. i would break a torsion bar off every month or so...lol. 17 inch caddy escalade wheels, 2 tone primer, shaved pass door, custom center console made from an old entertainment center, and upholstered from an old couch, pioneer cd player that i just put in the ranger this morning.




sold it for 1500 and bought this intrepid for 1900..
the day i got it

the day i got the 20s

removed pinstripes and debadged, with limo tint



and here she is in all her glory- from the craigslist ad



ill take some more pics later.

oh forgot.. she came with a toolbox, a 1000 dollar weird chinese bill, two old nasty 8s, fog light wiring but no fogs, a bunch of lighters, and a new exhaust manifold ready to be installed when i figure out how to get the old one off.


and heres a pic of me hiding...

 

Funny! At first I thought it was a pair of boots left on the couch.

 

Great post and welcome to FTE and the NY Chapter!!