Sooner Schooner ongoing impressions

I hope to preserve the body by using it as little as possible in winter and staying on top of any damage that does occur. The tracker is disintegrating so will have to replace it at some point. I am hoping for a good deal on a first generation (1988 or older) Ford Ranger extended cab (2.3L manual) but may have to settle for a newer one given the salt around here. A local guy may be interested in the tracker for its chassis to use in a rod project. We will see. Probably worth about $200-$300 salvage value if nothing else.

mike

 

Well, I proved that she can light them up. Unlike thirty years ago I am no longer the type to just light em up just to see if I can but coming out of the gas station today I had an occasion to find out. I was making a left onto the main street. There was a portable sign partially blocking my view and when I got out there I saw a xover bearing down on me... Hammer down and she tucked her tail and bolted into a full galop complete with black patches and fishtails... Just like I was a punk kid again. Guess she has some torque. ~mike

 

Tires musta been wet.

I did something similar years ago with my F250. The stoplight changed just as I was pulling out from the station so I hammered down to get ahead of the traffic. Hit a wet spot, smoked the tires, then hit dry pavement, twisted off an axle and blew the rear end on a Dana 40. That was an expensive proposition. Should have waited and pulled out when traffic cleared.

 

Not sure about that but the shorts were a little damp.

mike

 

Your Winter stories remind me of big snow we had up here in the Seattle area back in the Winter of '04-'05...I was driving in a construction zone behind a minivan, not following closely, but running a little fast; the van swerved right, and I didn't react fast enough, so I lost my left mirror on an orange barrel frozen in place. Startled the fook outta me, and I luckily had a replacement on the shelf (parted out my bro's Country Squire), but it was embarrassing.

 

Tune up tips???

Well time for an update.

The TN trip went well. Had the A/C leaks repaired and recharged before the trip and it worked fine for the entire time (and still does). The only time it didn't keep up was when stuck in a traffic jam (accident) where I spent a lot of time at idle. I mentioned it to my mechanic when I got home and he said that often 134 conversions get done without replacing the condenser with one appropriate for the new refrigerant and poor idle performance can result.

As the bank account recovers (hopefully) I plan to turn attention to the badly leaking PS pump. The leak in the water pump gasket is very slight so that may get put off for a while.

So then... thoughts turn to tune up for improved economy and quicker starts. Mileage wasn't bad, just under 20 mpg at steady 70+ MPH, but around town is often less than 13 mpg.

The later may be partly due to leak from tank when full. I have occasionally noticed gasoline smell (but not under hood). Thinking that there might be a leak at the filler or toward the top of the tank I tried only putting in $40 worth the last fill and have not noticed the smell. Will continue that practice for a while to see what happens. May need to inspect the tank and filler.

I have no idea on the condition of plugs and wires but it would seem reasonable to replace just to be sure. I imagine that fuel and air filters can't hurt and PVC valve (or convert to direct vent down tube to irritate the EPA types ).

What other items would you suggest I check?

Also for later consideration, what kind of mild mods should I look at to improve power and economy. I have plenty of low end torque for normal driving (turning into traffic I will get wheel spin if I just nail it without modulating the throttle) but high speed passing above 60 mph could use a little more squirt.

Dual exhaust with X crossover? Any other ideas?

mike

 

What do you consider "mild"? You could upgrade your lo-po 5.0 to a 5.0 HO, but it includes heads and a cam (amongst other things). The stock E6 heads are one step below boat anchors on the performance food chain.

 

The factory dual exhaust with H cross over was advertised to give 10 more hp than the single. Go to a 2 1/4 with an X, and you will gain almost 20 compared to the single, as well as about 4 mpg on the highway. When you do the PCV valve, don't forget the filter screen under it. It can clog, blocking the pcv valve and cause too much crank case pressure, blowing out seals. I would think the power steering pump would be a cheap, easy fix, as Ford used that same pump for many, many years on many, many cars and trucks. The biggest problem with them is that people will insist on using power steering fluid in the power steering on these Ford recirculating ball systems. They don't. Ford specified Type-F transmission fluid. Obviously, Mercon is not the same, since the factory used Mercon in the transmission, but Type-F in the steering. Depending on mileage, though, you may be about due for a steering box, not a pump. The sector shaft seal has a nasty habit of letting go about 30 years or about 175,000 miles. In other words, about the time the box is wearing and showing play. Also, it is not uncommon for the lines to leak. The high pressure line is about $40. The return line is simple fuel line with hose clamps.

 

Sorry I took so long to get back. I am looking for the simple and relatively inexpensive so major internal work and machining are not in the cards. Induction and exhaust improvements such as Mike mentioned are good. New heads, cams etc are not what I am looking to do. Changing timing would be OK and maybe distributor change as that doesn't require opening things up.

Not looking for major muscle just a little tweak.

mike