Been shopping for a new ride. Trucks are damn expensive. New sedans of interest late models all have CVT in them which is a deal breaker for me. I have a 93 Ranger that just turned over 150,000 miles. Dash is shot along with the seat. Paint is peeling off, and some dents and dings. What would be involved if I decided to fix it up and keep it? What would I get if a dumped 3 to 4 grand into it? I would need AC if I went this route.

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What would I get if a dumped 3 to 4 grand into it?

Paint peeling and dents and dings means a lot of prep work, not even counting the paint. I think that alone will eat up the entirety of your budget.

I don't think I've seen a decent 3 grand body work and paint job since about 1983.

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What would I get if a dumped 3 to 4 grand into it?

Not much unless you do much of the work youself.

Any high school auto shops in your area? It might be a project for kids learning the trade. You pay for parts, they do the labor. Can't hurt to inquire.

Otherwise, the amount you're indicating probably won't go far. It might be a better idea to make it mechanically reliable and forgo most of the cosmetics. DIY upholstery kits are available.

When did Rangers stop being produced? How interchangeable are parts across the years? Are you seeking parts from 1990-1995 or is there a wider swing?

Are there good salvage yards near you?

Finding a dash cluster will likely be a salvage yard item. Your odometer will then be wrong.

Seat could be taken out and droped off for reupholsterling or a seat cover purchased or a seat found in a salvage yard.

Might be able to find straight body parts on salvage yard?

How much of any of this can you do vs. having someone else do?

Is it worth dumping $3-4Gs plus your time and efforts onto it? How much longer do you need it to last?

Just offering up some things to consider.

If you can do the work and use salvage parts, you could probably get the dash and interior squared away for less than a grand. Figure another grand for the AC just in case.... Pick and pull stright body parts for another grand. Now you're left with a grand for the Maco paint job. Possible, but very tight budget if your skills are up to it.

One thing to look at before you get in too deep....I see you are in CO and I would assume this means salt on roads in winter, if so check your frame and undercarriage for signs of rot.

Thinking you should be able to fix it up cheaper than that if you are mechanically inclined.

Swapping a dash is a good weekend. A local yard sells me complete dashboards for $150. Complete as in instrument cluster, radio, climate control, glovebox, wiring harness, and airbag (if so equipped). Seats are $50 or so. Charging the AC if it leaked out over the years would sit at $60-$85 if you are lucky. Replaced a compressor and core last year for about $250 including R134a and oil.

I haven't had do do body work in a while other than panel replacement. You may be able to find panels that are the same paint code for cheap. I found a hood for my truck for $35 and all I had to do was wash it off and bolt it on.

It will take time. Not happening overnight. Buy the parts whenever they present themselves.

There is nothing on your Ranger that $35,000 won't fix. Put the rest in a Roth or toward the principal of your mortgage if you have one.

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Originally posted by az4783054:
Any high school auto shops in your area? It might be a project for kids learning the trade. You pay for parts, they do the labor. Can't hurt to inquire.

Otherwise, the amount you're indicating probably won't go far. It might be a better idea to make it mechanically reliable and forgo most of the cosmetics. DIY upholstery kits are available.

Great advice here, I’d rather have it mechanically sound before caring what it looked like.

Bucket of barn paint and a broom. Fix er right up.

Dash covers are $50-$75. Seat covers are even cheaper. Fix the A/C and any safety issues and drive it

Bruce

Your truck is worth $1500 give or take.
Put $3-4K into it and it might be worth $2500.
That said if your really like it and plan on keeping it forever and depending on your mileage per year it might be worth it but most of the money should be towards performance, reliability and less to a degree for cosmetics.

I wish you would have asked this last summer. My son and I were looking at a 1990 era Ranger, original owner who had passed away. I have a friend who was the service manager for the dealer, and my friend did the majority of the maintenance on it. Original owner, 52,OOO miles on it. $3700, I think.

I didn't buy it because the state I live in (PA) has meticulous inspections. It was located in OH. I didn't want to get "nickled and dimed" if it didn't pass my states inspection. My friend did say it would probably fail on the date code of tires, but he lives in OH, and their inspections are minimal.

I have seen plenty of Rangers where I live, and I will say for their age, they hold up better than any truck that is ~25yrs old. Yes the frames do rust, but I rarely see rusted body work, and generally the paint is in very good condition, and these are daily driver trucks that sit out in the driveway.

The good news is they made a metric shit-ton of Rangers. So parts should not be an issue.

It all depends how much you love your truck. I get attached to vehicles, and typically drive them until it's not worth it to fix them. That will be your decision.

Best to get used to and embrace the hoopty. Take your $4000 and go shopping for pretty paint and interior. Keep your current truck as a parts source.

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Originally posted by egregore:

quote:

What would I get if a dumped 3 to 4 grand into it?

Paint peeling and dents and dings means a lot of prep work, not even counting the paint. I think that alone will eat up the entirety of your budget.

egregore is right on.
I have done a number of restorations across different levels and found in many cases (unless it's a ultra-rare Ferrari or exotic) that it was often much cheaper to buy a complete used or even new fender/hood/door than to pay for body repairs on a damaged one. Many times a non-rusted/non-dented fender/hood/door can be had for around $150.00, depending on where you live. (Doesn't apply if you live in a big city as you are prey).
But you can't even touch a body panel repair for that price- Sometimes you can even luck out and find a same-color piece which often means you don't have to paint it at all...
And above all... NEVER pay retail when you can help it.

Instead of the cosmetic issues, I'd be looking more at mechanical and safety issues. I'd start by looking carefully at the underside, even if you have to pay a garage to put it on a lift, especially at the frame. If the frame is severely rusted - look especially at the rear of it, which is unboxed, at the spring shackle attachment points - or there is bad body rot, it isn't worth fooling with, period. Spend the $4K on another used car. If you can do most or all of your own work, so much the better.

If it has the 4.0 liter 6 cylinder engine, those were pretty durable from what I recall, however, if it has the A4LD transmission, those tended to have a few issues.

I vote with smschulz on this one - if you don’t do it all yourself, you can dump 3 - 4K into it and have a truck worth 2k.

If it is mechanically solid, buy another with a dead engine/transmission and build one good one from the two.

I was an auto body instructor for a few years at at a vocational tech school. The students working on you car are learning on your car. The instructor gives them guidance and grades them on the results. If major issues pop up a good instructor will correct it/them. However .... the class works at its own pace. You may be out of the vehicle for weeks or months as each student assigned to a task only has an hour or 2 on the days he or she is there. Consider that in your decision.

4k is a nice start. Sorry to be the downer here but with the 2018 average body shop per hour labor charge being $57 per hour that equals out to a little less than 80 hours of work. With nothing else. Factor in the body repair materials plus repair or replacement panels and the parts necessary to repair the A/C and the dash/instrument cluster and reupholster the seat, I'll hazard a guess that that those items will be knocking on 2k's door. Now that leaves you with a bit under 40 hours to do all the body and mechanical work and I doubt you will get it finished for that.

And another fly in the ointment, if you use aftermarket body panels be prepared for a lot of frustration as there are good ones and bad ones and quality varies even when sold under the same name. I think back on one aftermarket body panel I was involved in, a rear quarter panel for a third generation Pontiac Firebird from a GM authorized reproduction partner. To use this panel would have taken a skim coat of filler front to back and top to bottom. One whole panel of ripples, waves and dents not to mention poor stamping in the rear over the tail lamps. When I called the company for a RMA they actually told me that that panel was intended for use in patch panels, not as the whole panel in one piece.

Last bump and paint work on a project car for me cost $3700 out the door, that was 22 years ago at a friend's shop. It was fill in work, left the car for a month or two when they slowed down. He and I were friends for many years, probably 25 years at that time. I've got another one in the pipeline, don't even want to think what that will run if and when it is painted, he sold his shop two years ago so now I have no "ins" in that business.

Other posters have brought up the fact if you put 4k (or more) into a truck it's still worth 2k. One other thing to consider is how much of a loss are you willing to take if it is stolen or wrecked? If you have a regular insurer they are going to give you either a payout or repairs based on current market value. The adjuster does not care that you just put 4 or 5k into it and you think it is worth 7500, if book value is 2250 you will get 2250. Oh you might be able to get them to bump it up a couple of hundred but it will be a fight for that. Classic car insurers might cover it dependent on age of the vehicle but the policy will have use restrictions such as requiring historic license plates, having a non historic vehicle registered in your name, garaged at night, restrictions on mileage, types of use (not to be used to commute to work, in use as a regular vehicle (grocery shopping, taking the kids to school five days a week and age restrictions on who can drive it.) Those policies you can state a value and insure it for that if the value is agreeable to their underwriters.

I have a 96. I’ve been slowly tuning up the maintenance items (shocks, etc). Frame and body are fine, paint shows age. Gonna have headliner replaced (125 at local shop), fix the AC (oh, hello Rockauto.com) and then the oldest can drive it.

Value is relative. I’m not concerned about the resale, since I’ll probably drive it until it is scrap.