Found a unicorn

[Shran]

Never been much for Explorers because it seems they are all either really rusty, nasty color combo, trashed, or have an A4LD with electric 1354 t-case... well... I ran across this one and had to have it!

The story I got was the PO was driving back to town, it started losing power, smelled bad and was "overheating." The guy thought he burned up the transmission so they hacked the exhaust off, thinking it might be a plugged cat.

I bought it for $200 after hearing it run, figuring it would be a good parts donor if nothing else... it has ALL the good parts, M5OD, manual t-case, manual lockouts, 3.73 geared 8.8 with a limited slip, really nice blue interior, and not a ton of rust! Just the dog legs are gone, like most are, easy fix there. Even the tires are in great shape.

I put a clutch, shifter bushing kit, rail plugs, slave cylinder and rear brakes in it last weekend and have been driving it a lot. I still need to put exhaust on it as it is pretty much either cobbled up junk that I had laying around and the rest is rusted through. Runs and drives great, I am shocked! The dang thing doesn't even really have any major leaks!

The plan is to leave it stock, perhaps run a set of 31's is all. I needed something nicer to drive around town. Just had to brag a little!

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

 

[adsm08]

Nice find. I would like to snag myself a nice manual/manual PWDL 1st gen Explorer.

A little paint here, some rear discs there and that would be BA.

 

[Z3CHYD]

I had a 93 that was 2 door, 2wd 5-speed and that puppy would scoot. Was fun until the damn thing basically imploded on its self and blew the motor


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[4EyedTurd]

Dang, that's nice and it was cheap. I'd drive the shit out of it as it is.

 

[Shran]

With the 5 speed it is pretty snappy! Compared to my 4 cylinder Ranger, of course. Functional cruise control is pretty cool, haven't had that in quite a few years. I am looking forward to seeing what it will do for gas mileage, mid teens is what I am expecting, anything better would be a nice bonus.

I am definitely going to fix the rust and see about maybe painting it after that. I don't know, it would look a lot better, but then I would have to worry about scratching it and stuff. Maybe the peeling clear coat suits me better.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Mom's '94 got about 16mpg... with the 4.0 getting its butt whooped by the A4LD and 3.27 gears in hills.

 

[BLOODBANE]

Heres what they look like after I get a hold of them....

A little more than your wanting. 35's with 4:88's and Lock-Rights F/R. Still has the stock A4LD (going on 240k). They make great wheeling rigs with a little work. Its nice to have the A/C on those hot days.

 

[AllanD]

There's nothing "Unicorn" about a manual trans Explorer, there's one on Ebay right now (in NC)n for a $1000 B-I-N price...


I'm tempted to say "if I had $100 for every gen1 Explorer I've seen with a manual trans..." But I won't because that'd mean I'd have to give back an impressive pile of Benjamins...


Because over the years I made a bit more than $300 for every one
I've seen in the U-pull-it...

They are getting rare, but...

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

There's nothing "Unicorn" about a manual trans Explorer, there's one on Ebay right now (in NC)n for a $1000 B-I-N price...


I'm tempted to say "if I had $100 for every gen1 Explorer I've seen with a manual trans..." But I won't because that'd mean I'd have to give back an impressive pile of Benjamins...


Because over the years I made a bit more than $300 for every one
I've seen in the U-pull-it...

They are getting rare, but...

I think what makes it a unicorn for Shran it is a 5 speed and not rotted to heck.

 

[4EyedTurd]

I didn't know you could find a manual trans and manual transfer case in a 4door explorer, so I'm scoping craigslist to see if I can even find another one

 

[bronco2fan]

I use to have a 91 Explorer sport, 5 speed manual, manual transfer, manual hubs. If I knew then what I know now that puppy would still be in my driveway. I only traded it because my wife wanted a brand new Montero Sport 4 door for the kids lol. Oh well. live and learn.

 

[Mazda]

I seem to remember seeing quite a few of them back in 91 and 92 when the Explorer first came out. The weird and funny thing is that I was living in central Florida at the time and the largest mountain, hill or whatever is a speed bump.

 

[Shran]

I have only ever seen one other 4 door with a manual trans, my buddy had it, and it had an electronic t-case. Almost all of the 2 door's I've seen have manual transmissions.

It's a unicorn to me because it's blue, has all of the good options, and none of the bad ones.

Had to order a radiator for it today, one of the tanks is cracked. That might be why it was slightly low on coolant when I got it.

 

[Captain Ledd]

Actually I've seen a few Explorer Sports with that option. ONLY in the Sports though. It seems the 4 door would be even more rare than the Sport with those options equipped, and yeah, pretty much unicorn.

So good find!

I gotta ask though, what year Explorer and..... pics?