Explorer Sport "little blue" buildup

[fordxranger]

Explorer Sport buildup

Formerly known as the Mommy Missile it was bought and purchased by me. I figure i'd make my own thread now since its finally in my name. I drove it up from battle ground and she rode like a champ, just a little shimmying at about 75 mph cause the front swaybar is disconnected and I replaced the taillights in chehalis cause I started seeing a bunch of highway patrol. here's a few pics from the day after I got home:

next to my truck

dents :thumbdwnI put the navajo tails on it at a wal mart about half way home, one of the og's was broken):

plans include:
switch to woodgrain dash & ash tray (in honor so to speak of my old bII rip)
freeze plug fix & hurst shifter upgrade as the bushings are worn in the trans
put the DD wheels from my truck on it & put the 31"s back on my truck
swap out the pass. door, fender and possibly the hood & give it a paintjob
put on the ranger grille I got from hahnsb2's dad
paint match the grille & light trim to the body when I paint it
debadge, remove flares and add a sunk in tag box in the hatch
sand and polish all the lights & lenses
add a sub probably a 10" memphis
4 door ex springs front & rear with duff ploy bushings
add new shocks, do the brakes, flush the coolant, ect.
maybe add a manual shift 1354

 

[fordxranger]

FYI: all the info and pics from the last post are from about a week and a half ago. so I broke them up into two separate posts. this post is stuff I did mostly 3 days ago.

I finally cleared out all the unneeded and horribly done wiring for the lights and cb. I also replaced both battery terminals with a set of boss audio terminals and bought a "poor man's odyssey", a sears die hard platinum battery.

I also swapped out the original grille for a ranger grille, added a single drink cup holder, and put on the woodgrain dash bezel and ash tray from my ranger.

This thing desperately needs the hurst shifter kit put in it, it takes forever to find first gear and it feels like i'm driving a semi truck shifting gears. the worn bushings and me being a portly fellow prompted me to trade in the dual drink holder out for the single. I bet i'll fall more in love with the 4.0L than I already am with a lot firmer shifts.

 

[fordxranger]

yesterday I finally addressed the sway bar problem and put the poly bushings I ordered for my ranger onto the sway bar setup I pulled from the eddie bauer 4 door i'm parting. I haven't been on the freeway to see if it still "shimmys" at higher speeds yet. while I was under there I decided to throw on the navajo bumper I got not to long ago as well. the og bumper was tweaked and the paint was flaking so since I am no longer keeping the navajo front end for the pickup I figured why not use the bumper. I still have to trim the plastic piece that goes in between the bumper/under the grille area and put the plate on the bumper.

drilling out the old bushings on the end links was a pain in the ass. you can see all the rubber chunks on the tailgate if you look closely.

finished product.

look ma no bumper!

still gotta clean everything up, I might remove the lower valance and possibly the fender flares after I put the tires from off my truck on this. half of the time I think it looks "too street truck" for a 4x4 and the other half I think it looks fine. we'll see soon, up next is the brakes and a 3 vehicle wheel swapping.

 

[Hahnsb2]

Lookin' good dude. I'm glad someone else has more time to spend on it than I did!

 

[fordxranger]

Lookin' good dude. I'm glad someone else has more time to spend on it than I did!

thanks, man I love this thing! all the cargo space and the 4.0L is a kickass 6 cyl, i'm definitely putting one in my ranger instead of the 5.0 I had planned. nice to see the dakota coming along too, looks good with the buckets and the new valve covers.

 

[dontendupzero]

lookin good dude

 

[Mechanickid]

This is what I always wanted to do to my explorer sport. But the clutch took a dump and sold it for more than I paid for it

 

[kemicalburns]

a shimmy at hwy speeds would be either bad ball joints or tie rods. the sway bar wouldnt have that affect.

 

[BlackBII]

looking good! Should be nice once it's all painted. I've always wanted an Explorer Sport....the back of the BII is a little too short for missionary....

Is there a lift kit involved anywhere in your plans??

What color are you painting it?

 

[fordxranger]

looking good! Should be nice once it's all painted. I've always wanted an Explorer Sport....the back of the BII is a little too short for missionary....

Is there a lift kit involved anywhere in your plans??

What color are you painting it?

thanks, I only plan on bringing it up about 2" like my pickup and to throw a set of 30"s on it when the toyos wear down. as for the paint i'm going to stick with blue, i'm leaning towards Ford Vista Blue Metallic that is used on newer rangers.

 

[fordxranger]

did a few upgrades recently I thought i'd post about it. I picked up a set of IAS shocks from pat aka totalled and finally put on the wheels and tires I had on my truck. I installed a set of these shocks on my buick regal a few years ago and I don't remember them being as big of a pain in the ass as these were to install. I like the ride for what I paid for them, if I would have bought these new I would have been disappointed. they soak up bumps a lot better than the old shocks did but they didn't help it corner much its still a bit spongy there. maybe ill be happier when I put on the 4 door leaves in the rear with some duff polys in the future.

hopefully soon people will buy some more of my parts and I can afford to get the hurst kit, or at least get some new bushings for the shifter.

EDIT: I need a set of centercaps for these wheels, check out my WTB thread
http://therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?p=478104#post478104
if anyone has these send me a pm.

 

[Hahnsb2]

Lookin good! Any updates?

 

[fordxranger]

not much, did the brakes a week ago and soon I may put some 3.73 gears in this from my parts car, if no-one buys the dana 35 anytime soon:

I've been spending most of my time chopping that thing up for scrap and looking for a job. I am going to put the rear springs from it into the sport, it has 4 leaves instead of 3 so I can get rid of the slight rear sag. I have enough steel to make some stronger rear shackles, I don't think I can make them too long though cause they might hit the hitch when it cycles. for now all I can do is things that are a necessity(ie regular maintenance) or things I can do for nothing or next to nothing. I still have a d35 and an 8.8 to put in my truck when I can afford an alignment and brake parts, I want to try and get that done before winter hits.

 

[jaymegriffiths]

not much, did the brakes a week ago and soon I may put some 3.73 gears in this from my parts car, if no-one buys the dana 35 anytime soon:

I've been spending most of my time chopping that thing up for scrap and looking for a job. I am going to put the rear springs from it into the sport, it has 4 leaves instead of 3 so I can get rid of the slight rear sag. I have enough steel to make some stronger rear shackles, I don't think I can make them too long though cause they might hit the hitch when it cycles. for now all I can do is things that are a necessity(ie regular maintenance) or things I can do for nothing or next to nothing. I still have a d35 and an 8.8 to put in my truck when I can afford an alignment and brake parts, I want to try and get that done before winter hits.

your scrappin that? are the tires/wheels up for grabs?

 

[fordxranger]

your scrappin that? are the tires/wheels up for grabs?

i'm parting it out & scrapping, and the tires are off of my truck. I'm not driving on them to spare the tread during the summer & get the lost mileage back. whenever I get rid of the rest of the vehicle the tires will go back on my truck.