72 F-250 Ranger XLT in Portland OR area

[ssteph1984]

Bought a 72 Ford Ranger XLT 2wd F-250 a couple months ago. Paid under 1900 for her. She had very loose steering - I replaced tie rod ends and drag link. Drivers door did not open from the inside - bent mechanism. Spark plugs were very loose in rebuilt 360 (about 30K on the engine). High and low power steering pressure lines were both leaking - replaced. C6 transmission coolant lines were laying against exhaust - zip tied away from exhaust for now. One coolant line was completely backed out of where it goes into the transmission and leaking like crazy. I pulled and redid all the woodgrain on tailgate and side trim (bought replacement woodgrain vinly off Ebay). Truck has HEI distributor but had burned a hole in the top of the cap - replaced cap and rotor. Rag joint has been replaced but steering wheel is at 5 o'clock when going straight down the road. I think the previous owner did not have the steering wheel straight when he replaced it - he may not have been able to tell how far off it was because of all the play in the steering. I have a bad rear cab mount I have to tackle on the passenger side. I already bought the sheet metal piece from Dennis Carpenter - I'll definitely need some advice before I do it. Front seal leaks in the transmission but it shifts fine and does not slip when full. I picked up most all of the factory ac pieces to add later. 360 has a 2bbl manifold with a holly carb that I want to upgrade to 4bbl with edelbrock or carter afb carb. Truck is single exhaust and I want to upgrade it to dual. I picked up a factory radio for it and am going to mount a 7" flip out touch screen stereo under the dash.

[lennyp]

from Massachusetts. Nice truck.

[Manny]

from Georgia!!! Very nice truck with the toolbox and all!!!

[popeyes71]

from California! Good looking truck! With the repairs your making it should be pretty reliable truck.

[Bullitt74]

, and great truck and great start to your build story! Consider starting a build thread under ‘project updates’ or detail how you restored your XLT tailgate panel and trim under ‘paint and body’. There is an overall lack of info about the XLT trim restoration, and the more out there the better!

[Ohiotinkerer]

from Ohio

I'm jealous.....you've got my favorite color combo......

[ssteph1984]

Thanks all! Really appreciate the comments. She's a work in progress but I will probably start a restoration posting. Big challenges ahead - passenger cab mount, transmission repair, factory ac install and... Also still need to do the brakes, install the dvd 7" flip out stereo under the dash, install new window channels.