charlie brown 1988 ranger

[charlie brown]

some pictures

 

[charlie brown]

had time to work on the "unplanned" power steering system. i sized up and test fit the new pump in its spot.
it fits and the bolt pattern is the same. but the shape of the case is a bit different. the bolt tabs are set back farther on the case so i had to space it back some. this put the -10 suction hose to close to the bracket system that holds the pump and the AC. i will just clearance it with a roto file. that should work.

making all new hoses. back in the 80s, LEE steering made the reservoir for -6. so for 30 years my system was -6 except the return from the reservoir to the pump. Howe (jeff) to me to up grade the reservoir to a pressure type with a filter and run -8 from the box to the reservoir. then -10 to the pump. well it worked fine for 30 years with the rou dy round type reservoir and system but tires and all are changing so will this.

 

[charlie brown]

getting some time in the garage today while all my buddys are at koh.

ground doen the bracket. test fitting the suction hose. figuring out what fitting will work while its mounted in the truck.

 

[charlie brown]

looking for a belt/sheave alignment tool to barrow/rent

like this.

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/dayco-belt-diagnostic-kit-93874/10030803-P

or this... https://www.ebay.com/itm/1552463141...YANxhkOi3Rf80fWYkbdbP59GcJBp_E24aArYLEALw_wcB

i dont ind buying tools but this is a bit pricey to only use it once every 5 years or so.

 

[theycallmeWALLY]

Stoked you are getting close.

So I've never seen those alignment tools but I always thought a long straight edge should work well enough? Am I wrong?

 

[Cleandezert]

Stoked you are getting close.

So I've never seen those alignment tools but I always thought a long straight edge should work well enough? Am I wrong?

the couple times i had issues and was diagnosing them, i clamped a straight edge off crank pully and measured off that to others.

 

[charlie brown]

so i cut some sections of 1"x 2' aluminum and straight edge it. its hard to get in there with everything installed ready to run. but i got it very close.

it was hard with only 2 hands to get up in there and every sheave has a different thickness.

got it from a squealing pig to a small bird chirp. but i may have bottom out the sheave on the shaft. so i might have to take it all apart and shim the pump closer to the engine a bit more.

when i am done, i will document the size of shims, pump i used, hoses and size, fittings, and how much roto file clearance i had to do. should be a simple conversion with those tips.

dam internet and trucks with shopping 24/7. i wanted this done so the other night i did some late night purchased. bought the gates belt kit from rock auto. has a new belt, tensioner, and idler. then i bought the pully removal tool (which i need in my box anyways) and the gates laser alignment tool. oh well.

 

[charlie brown]

so i finished up this power steering conversion finaly. i will break it down in one post for anyone that may want to do it.

1st off i cant remember what a stock set up is like
this truck has had a upgraded system 3 months in its life back in july 1988. something when i did this motor swap.

parts:
pss pump # 2005 1600 psi charlie recommended. $450.
a kartek reservoir with filter. $200.
cooler. i used triton cooler from armada engineering . its similar to a cbr. i forget how much because i have had it for a few years. a cbr is about $430 but you can get some for under $100.
a howe sheave 5 3/8 #how 315 $100.
i bought a gates laser alingment tool. a straight edge will work but with so many things in the way (water lines, fan shroud, trans lins, AC lines) i had a hard tim worki g by myself. about $100 depending on where you get it..
new gates drive belt kit. idler pulley, tensioner, belt. $75 from rock auto.
assorted fittings, adaptors, sizes, and hose. $200.
swepco fluid. $70
some pre made reservoir brackets $30
the spacer. 3/16. you can make one but i had a kit for a conversion for a oh motor. it came with a spacer. the kit cost $80 from ebay proquipped.

basic instructions
remove belt.
remove the AC compressor and strap it up or set it aside not to damage or disconnect the lines.
drain power steering pump.
remove fan shroud for more working clearance .
remove power steering hoses.
remove pump and bracket assembly.
test fit new pump in the bracket assembly.
mark out how much the clearance the bracket assembly. its a good amont.
also had to clearance a little on the head. it was like a nub sticking out and it inter feared with the suction hose.
then start re assembly.
my discharge high pressure hose is a -6 as recommended by howe. it has 2 90* and only about 8"
as recommended by howe i used a -8 out of the box to the cooler, -8 from cooler to reservoir.
for the i fluent (suction) of the pump i used a -10 (as recommended). i used a straight fitting into the pump.

other then the high pressure hose, i used all push lock hose and fittings. they were easier to work with and going into the pump is tight. i tried the cloth high pressure hose but they are bigger.
so far it is working great.

 

[charlie brown]

some of the pictures may show a 90* for the suction but that was only a test fit to see what would work best. if i used a 90* it would then need another 90* next to it. it was better to clearance it a bit more and just use a straight fitting. i used a roto file to clearance the bracket.

 

[charlie brown]

photo bomb from another place and time.

 

[theycallmeWALLY]

It's so rad reliving all of the truck transformations!

Thanks for sharing dude. I'm sure it's fun on your end as well.

 

[charlie brown]

i wish i could make it more quite inside. i found 2 cracks in the fire wall after pulling the motor that i am welding up. i wonder if that was making us a little fatigue and or headaches with fumes. there not very big.

these are from another place and time. from when i was doing my motor swap from the 2.9 to the 4.0 sohc.

 

[charlie brown]

still looking for help with the steering pump.

taking apart the old dash today. that was my daughters project. she did a good job, i only had to help with some of the plugs.


wow. what a time capsule picture and event. my daughter is teaching high school chem now. haha glad i had this time with her.

 

[charlie brown]

Ok the truck come home from the auto shop were I was doing most of the fitment and some of the plumbing. Now it is in my shop (backyard).

Make note here for points not to do while doing this type of motor swap, when getting power steering pump work done, have them set it up with stock lines. I had a very hard time getting the AN fittings in there. Ended up cutting the bracket for clearance.

Next is a good wash job, look over the plumbing that is already done, make a list and organize it, call on friends.

Drive shaft is complete, trans lines and cooler is complete, most of the fuel lines are complete.

Things left:
Hook up the defroster and cut holes for vents in dash
Re-run heater lines
Make a new top plate with the filler hose and all the crap on the fuel tank
Exhaust from headers back
Re-mount/make fan shroud
Strip interior and repaint cage to change color from black to grey (por 15 paint)
And oh yea that little small part called REWIRE


a 2010 post.......

 

[charlie brown]

ok, a little update, question, what is this little "bowl" type thing that is mounted on my frame rail fuel line? it was stock on my ranger. i took it apart once and it is just like a little "reservoir". do i still need it? i am re-pluming my fuel cell and line up to the motor.




anyways,power steering is finaly done, fuel lines done, will have pictures of the new top plate of my cell with all the stock "quick turn" smog stuff welded on it.
who says you cant put a gate shifter on a 5r55e trans? check that off.


rear drive shaft had to be shorten a bit (the 1st part) so i had to pull shocks and check plung. man, i did not realize that the plank/newline/SI rear 3 link had so much plung.

 

[charlie brown]

• Oct 22, 2010

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• #46

ok, not much going on. been working subing at a high school so taking the money while i can. been working on a few little things.
the motor i got (from a 01 sport trac) not only has one charcoal can but 2 with a "test" port. made this plate to mount it up against my fuel cell. when my pannels are on, you wont even see them.
i am ditching the stock "X" member for the center bearing for a nice Giant motor sports one. i am remaking the drive shaft. note to one, when changing the poinon angle, it makes the drive shaft much longer or shorter.

clearance the egine cross over tubes for the intake.

shocks rebuilt and some changes to the valving thanks to trent at RSP shocks.

new 2-way radio since i keep smoking the v8000. 3 of them in 2 years so this time i went with the yeasu 2900. this thig is 2x the weight as my v8000. i am going to have to make some extra support for it. it comes in at about 5LBs just for the radio.

talked to juan and he can only extend the 62 pin cables not the 92 which is most all the newer ones. he can make a custom harness. he was very informed about these motors and when i told him that i want mine to be "BAR" tagged through the ref. he wished me luck and said that he only knows of 3 that have this. i hope mine will be number 4.

here are some shots of the little box i made for the computer that will be somewhat water tight. i made it out of .032 4130 and the stock rubber seal fits super tight around the box. i still need to cut out a face plate that will be welded on to the box and the stock rubber front piece will bolt up tight to it. now i can mount it most any where. i am thinking of putting a small hose vent with a filter just to help with some air around it.

 

[charlie brown]

no real big update other then got all the stock 2.9 wiring out of the truck and laid out. got all the stock 4.0 wiring laid out and jack (from JAX motorsports) is making the new harness.

i was waiting until he got into the wiring to make a final decision on what to do with the “PATS” system. well jack says it is very intense and has not just the little ring around the steering column to a box but rather it has signal to and from about 3 different boxes and some other sensors.

so i am going to ditch the "pats". i ordered a new stock computer because the one that came with the motor was damaged while taking it out.
ordered it through JAUNCO. he does a lot of race stuff and mostly with the 4.0 sohc but also with many others. he is getting me a new stock computer with a "special" chip that by passes the pats. then a performance chip that has 3 settings. 0= stock (for smog and all stock settings), 1= a 87 octane tune, 2= a 91 octane tune. this will be all set up on a switch on the dash.
Should have it back up from JAX the end of jan.



may need help with the speed sensor. not sure if i need it. motor and trans is from a 01 sport trac. there is a bracket off the tail shaft that has a sensor on it but not sure what it is sensing. it is just pointed at the output shaft.





talked to jack and he said that my tranny may have one built inside. never heard of this but i am just going with it.

i got my new juanco computer. it has a cable comeing off if it with several different settings all with out the "PATS".

 

[charlie brown]

• Feb 8, 2011

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• #61

I had a tone ring that I welded to the intermediate drive shaft to get the speedo working. The only reason I did that was for smog, the check engine light was on and it was throwing some VSS code. So I rigged that up and the light turned off, my speedo worked and it passed smog. I drove the truck without the VSS/ring setup for a while (4-5months) and it shifted 100% normal. The 5r55e's do not have a speed sensor internally, the case has the casting marks for one to be machined in exactly where the 4r44e has a speed sensor though. If you have any other questions about the VSS setup pm me, I may still have the drawing for that ring if you want the .dxf file. It's pretty easy to setup.[/QUOTE]

thanks, i may call you when i get to that point.
truck has been at Jax's motorsports getting wired since before Christmas. man, it is going slow but he is taking his time and i went to see it this last weekend to go over some wiring options.
here are some shots.

Fuel cell and the charcoal can set up I think came out nice. The smog shop should be happy.

 

[charlie brown]

• May 10, 2011

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• #68

got it back from wiring. i will take some shots soon and post them. looks very clean and he stub out some wires for future (truck is never done). got it started but had to shut it down because the right side was getting supper hot in just minuets. getting the cats real hot. took the injectors out and had them sonic clean/flow tested. seemed fine. i don’t have time to mess with it this week so i took it to a shop that i have worked with.
will see.
still have to transfer the AC Freon stuff over, finish the exhaust, adjust the gate shifter, a little trans work, and a few other small things. hopefully ready for baja 500.

• Jun 13, 2011

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• #77

• Mar 27, 2012

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• #87

minor up date but a long some what hard one to get completed for me at least is the speedo. on these newer motors are a big pain in the ass. the speedo controls or helps control the ABS (if you have it (mine does not)), air/fuel, shifting on auto trans, all 3 oxi sensors, odometer and most likely a few others depending on year/make of motor/computer you are working with.

i was some what luck in that all the time i did not have it working that my trans still worked and that i did not wast my oxi. sensors or damaged the motor any.

any ways, here is how i finally got it to work.

everyone said i needed a new VSS tone ring and attach it to the out put of drive shaft. so that was the direction i was going in. i had lots of help on here from drawing/redrawing a tone ring. i even had some one send me a extra one (thanks RCMracer74). all seemed to not work for some minor reason or another. when i did get one on, the drive shaft was way out of balance.

sooo, on my input slip yoke to the trans i have a "damper" thing like a engine damper. the outer ring on it is about 1/2" metal and the rest is rubber. so i took off the input shaft, took it to a machine shop and had them cut groves in it. i ended up with 24 groves. rebalanced the shaft. and thanks to the privies owner (meximike) he already had the bracket for the sensor. had to space it just right, had my wire guy jack at jacks motorsports wire it up. he picked up a Dakota speedo interface module that has almost infinite adjustment and wired it up.
now i have a speedo with adjustments for any gear/tire combo. i got it within .5mph at 65mph compared to my gps.

Speedometer & Tachometer Interfaces i think it was about $90-$100

one more step closer to getting through the state ref.

 

[charlie brown]

• Nov 12, 2012

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• #100

i am bad with photos. anyways, here is what i decided to do on my hood. about done with the fiberglassing. cut the wire mesh, sanding/painting is left.

oh, and after a very good divorce with my old POS 110 welder, i picked up this off of CL brand new still wrapped up in the box with the cart still in box for $525.

• Dec 17, 2014

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• #111

spotted this on the road the other day

• Feb 1, 2015

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• #114

so i have been laying low for a year or so with a few small up dates. I have been re-colleting tools that got stolen and lost like new welder, plasma, tube bender, and adding new like a press brake with swagg bender, bead roller and others.

2015 my plans are to finally finish the dash and gauge's, fix/repair some interior pieces i don't like, added a bunch of LED blue lights around the inside to give it a "glowing blue" look, new bed rack that's lighter and as big as the roof rack and it will be hinged to get under it (this way i wont need the roof rack) and may get one of those roof top tents. new hubs all the way around with bigger brakes and 17" rims. also I am going to add a few more tubes to the front shock mounts, build a frame "strut" tieing in the frame together better.

lets see how much i get done.

here is a shot of my camp spot at petes camp in san felipe for the 250.