'94 buildup

[Zorro]

It's not that rusty. I mean, it's a 94, and from Canada. Still I'm not about to push the pedal through the firewall ... yet.
A lot of the brown stuff is just caked dirt. But I am aware this truck will not live another 15 years. No car is free of rust around here. As I said, my dd is a 2005, and rust is everywhere. My buddy's Jeep is a 2004, I think ... and we have to fight rusted bolts when we wrench on it.

I'm not touching the brakes. They work splendidly well, and I can work on them even when I'm done with the trans. I'll tackle it when I feel like I need to wrench a little.

Here's some more "ZOMG it's got cancer!" mockery material.

My headlights have been looking like crap for years. Dull and yellow.
Got fed with it, and took a sandpaper to it ... and much to my surprise, the yellowing was just gunk on the plastic! The dull needed a good sanding and polishing ...
Behold, the result! Which one did I clean up?

Here's a closer shot. I could've gotten even better results, but I couldn't open up the headlight to clean the inside, so I left it at that, which is already 95% better than how it was. The dot kinda in the center of the light is an old burn mark ... nothing would take it out.
New

Old

The old light is even yellower than it actually appears to be on the picture. Perhaps due to the flash ...

How did I do that you ask?
400, then 600 then 1500 wetsanding (ya gotta have the water!), then a quick buffing using a wool thing on a drill and the finest polishing compound I could find. Make sure you use the buffing pad sparingly, you don't want to cause heat and melting disaster.
In hindsight, I'm pretty sure the 400 grit was unneccessarily harsh. Even the 600 may not be needed.
I'll try doing only 1500 wetsanding then buffing for the other light, see how it comes out.

I'm seriously stoked about the result. I know all sorts of photography trickery that I could've used to make it look better than it actually is ... but I avoided those tricks to make sure it was the most objective comparison possible, with no trickery whatsoever. All this for 30mins of light work.

And to top it all off, I bought my truck a present. Now I should see something at night.

 

[mjonesjr]

nice...

I would clean some of that rust off the core support...

 

[Zorro]

I would clean some of that rust off the core support...

But ... if I do what's gonna support the core?

 

[mhughes165]

oh, btw, chrome polish will clean them lenses up amazingly well also, without the need for wetsanding

 

[Zorro]

I just did the other headlight, only used 1500 wetsanding and buffing.
It was way easier and quicker, perhaps even more polished, but it did not remove any of the pitting.
I like the result enough that I won't touch it any more. It's fine.
Which side has been done?

I also got the headliner off to fix the cab light and the headliner, as well as putting a roof rack on.

I'm pretty much doing everything but doing progress on that transmission swap. I suck.

 

[mkpecor]

nice , you are going to love those lights, i have had them for awhile now, they are bright as hell, awsome at night.

 

[swynx]

i think the muscles coment is funny, but nice truck, it looks like its all coming along

 

[Zorro]

Did a bit more work.

Fixing the rust hole and seeing that area so clean made me want to do a rotisserie restoration ... but I have enough stupid work as it is right now.

That little bit looks beautiful now. I just cut and shaped a plate, put some JB Weld all over around the hole, then riveted the plate, then added JB Weld all over, then added anti-rust (wishful thinking) primer and rubberized paint. Looks nice and solid now.

Separated the coolant and washer fluid tanks. Why you ask? Because I want to put a snorkel, and separating them makes for a 4-5" of free space where I can go straight from the fender into the airbox.
I made sure the coolant tank isn't too low.

Added a roof rack, from the Explorer. I shortened the rails, the width is perfect, as 3 of the 4 bolts are facing a roof reinforcement ... it's not bolted down yet, just placed ... rather measure 50 times and sleep it over before drilling my roof ...

Oh, and since I'm doing a transmission swap, I removed the transfer case.

 

[swynx]

that looks really good with that roof rack on there, i think it has potential to hold some lights, a hi lift, all the recovery gear, all that good stuff

 

[Zorro]

Transmission's out!!!!!!
Getting the exhaust was a PITA, but it went alright overall.

So many thingies to disconnect ... 2 connectors, the oil cooling lines and the vacuum.

TC is out tomorrow, then new clutch and trans goes in ... maybe tomorrow?

 

[Zorro]

This sucks. Feels like I spend all day wrenching, and all the progress seems summed up in 3 pictures.

I figured out the red connector (on the left) on the M5OD is the reverse sensor and the green one (on the right) is neutral. Gonna be easy to get in the original automatic wiring.

So yeah, the slushbox is out. With it the shifter cable, kickdown cable, some vacuum stuff, and the oil lines. Yeah, I wasn't really patient with them.

Misc junk stuff from the Exploder. Well ... the TC isn't junk, to be honest. I just won't be using it.

I'll be changing the crank seal as well ... the damn thing rivals the Exxon Valdez!

And a shot of the resurfaced flywheel ... big change since last time.

However I ran into a serious snag.
Remember I did not change the pedal assembly ... well it might be biting my arse right now. The clutch master rod end is an inch away from the clutch pedal (to the side) at best. It has a bunch of play to it ... and yet it's not enough. So now I'm wondering what went wrong ... I used the stock hole for the clutch master ... only non-manual part I used is the pedal bracket.
I can change to the manual bracket ... but that's gonna be a day's work ... and will suck.

 

[Zorro]

Well here's a bit of news that might be of interest ... the clutch master from a 91 Explorer and 94 Ranger are different! Pedal bracket is identical, but the master on the Ranger is different.

The Exploder goes more towards the outside, and just doesn't clip on the clutch pedal, it's an inch away. I made this little bracket earlier, and it needs yet more tilt to just grab the pedal. Dammit.

In other news, the transmission is in, the transfer case has been in and out 20 times since the old gasket (apparently) was preventing it from fully going in.. the second the TC is in, I will re-attach the whole driveline and finish up on that clutch master deal.

But hey, at least I got a shifter now.

 

[metalmacguyver]

Thats the exploder master in that pic? Hot damn! That looks way easier to bleed. Any one know anything more about this?

 

[Zorro]

Yup, that's the Explorer master. Ironically, the clutch literature says it's tougher to bleed ...

 

[Zorro]

Booyah.

Did I put the skidplate on as backwards??? Didn't seem obvious from under there.

All I have to do now is connect the quick-connect clutch line that isn't so quick, plug the vacuum hose, wire neutral and reverse and re-assemble the interior.

Other mini projects must be finished ... namely roof rack, aux lights and fender snorkel.

Will be ready tomorrow. Woot.

Regarding wiring, we already know the red connector on the side of the M5OD is reverse, and the green connector on the right is neutral.

I tested the female 5 pin connector on the A4LD, and apparently, this is how it goes.

Ok, more on the master clutch ordeal. Too lazy to scan them properly, so pictures will suffice ... Left is Ranger (1994) diagram, right is Exploder (1991). It appears as though clutch pedals and pedal brackets are identical, only the master cylinder is different. It really changes almost from year to year ... this seems applicable only for 93-94 Rangers and 91-92 Exploders ...

Higher resolution, readable : http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/8726/dsc00492customsm2.jpg