New Toy

[koda2000]

Ah, makes sense. Sucks that it became your problem though. Still watching this restoration.

Yeah, it's going to be pretty much on hold until I get this rear end squared away.

 

[koda2000]

Update:
I may have found a complete rear axle assembly for cheap. I'm waiting for the guy to call be back. He thinks it's a 3:73 posi. Not ideal, but it will work. I'm not sure how much it will effect the speedo. Apparently this guy does off-road stuff with Jeeps and he uses a lot of Explorer 8.8 diffs. Here's hoping. If he's got it, I'm ready to go get it today.

 

[koda2000]

Well after multiple phone calls and several conversations with the guy who listed several diffs on CL, he was supposed to verify the ratios and call me right back. This did not happen and he never answers his phone. So it looks like this lead is a bust. I'm frankly not too surprised, as he sounded like a wack-job. My next best option is the pull-a-part, but this may have to wait for cooler weather and my son-in-law to be able to take a vacation day, which he can't do until Sept. I'm not looking forward to the 100 mile + round-trip drive or laying in the dirt to pull a rear end. I also have to make sure I bring all the right tools, or I'll be screwed. In the meantime I'll keep looking. CL can be a PITA to deal with. Why do people list things for sale that they apparently don't have any interest in selling?

Update:
Located a 4:10 posi from a 2001 4-door Explorer at a salvage yard 20 mins away, for $300. So I have to decide if it's worth the extra money to be able to drive 44 miles instead of 114 and not have to pull the diff myself (plus not having to spend the day with my idiot son-in-law). Considering this is still much cheaper that what the parts sourcing company wanted to charge me, I'm thinking this is a good deal.

 

[koda2000]

Update:
Bought the used '01 Explorer rear (4:10) for $300. A nice clean southern truck, so no rusty parts. Got 2 Qts Valvoline 75W140 Synthetic gear oil (on sale at AZ) for $18. Got the rear home, stripped it down, cleaned it out, all the gears look great, even the oil look like it had been changed recently, removed the disc brakes, swapped over my drum brake parts and reinstalled it under the truck.

Tomorrow I'll install the new axle seals, get the axels back in it, put the new brake shoes on the driver's side, clean up the drums and reinstall them, fill-er-up with oil and finish putting everything else back on. I should be ready for a test drive by late afternoon. I sure hope this rear end is nice and quite. I believe it will be.

Once this is done I can get back to my list of other things needing attention.

 

[OffTrac]

Great update. Good luck!

 

[albi1cnobi1]

Nice! I'm glad this finally worked out for you. Here's to further success!

 

[koda2000]

Nice! I'm glad this finally worked out for you. Here's to further success!

Yeah, the differential issue was starting to give me a lot of anxiety. I feel relieved now that I found what appears to be a good one for not too much money.

Today's Update:
Almost everything buttoned up today. Although I figured doing the driver's side rear brake shoes would be easier, since I'd already had done the passenger side, turned out to still be a PITA, but marginally easier. According to the Permatex Ultra Black instructions, I'm supposed to wait 24 hours before adding fluid to the diff, so I guess my test drive will have to wait until tomorrow. I was going to put the brake drums back on and adjust the shoes, but I'm using the drums underneath my safety stands for extra height and it will be easier to install the gear oil with the rear end at full droop, so that will have to wait until tomorrow too. If I think of it I'll post a pic of my progress. I'm looking forward to the sounds of silence.

Turns out my Dachshund-mix dog not only hates the vacuum cleaner and my electric sander, but she also hates my pneumatic impact wrench. While using it last night she kept biting my hand. Little stinker...

Here's a picture of "Evil Emma" the day I adopted her from the county animal shelter's death row. Sure she looks cute, but she's pure evil.

 

[koda2000]

Today's Update:
Went to the auto parts store and picked up another quart of synthetic gear oil, as I found out it took about 3 qts. Cleaned up the brake drums and gave them a quick coat of VHT low-gloss black paint. The right drum went right on, although I had to screw the adjuster all the way in. The left drum would not go on even with the adjuster all the way in. I even checked the parking brake to make sure it was fully relaxed and it was. I wasn't about to remove the shoes again, so I decided to sand the brake shoes down until the drum fit. Cheap AZ shoes were just too thick. Anyway, got the wheels back on and torqued, washed all the brake dust off of me and went for a 20 min test drive. All is right with the world. No more rear end noise, Hooray!

I put my old rear end back together and loaded it on my trailer so I can return it to the salvage yard tomorrow and get my $100 core back. I'll drive the ST for that job. My new/used, recovered console lid arrived today. It looks good. Tested my new/used cruise control switches, which work perfectly. Even decided to give the ST a bath. Pics below.

Other than returning my core, I'm taking tomorrow off.

 

[swshawaii]

This is getting very exciting! Looks VERY nice in your newest pics above.

Great to hear all your perseverance and hard work paying off. Anyone wanna bet Koda keeps this ST?

 

[koda2000]

This is getting very exciting! Looks VERY nice in your newest pics above.

Great to hear all your perseverance and hard work paying off. Anyone wanna bet Koda keeps this ST?

Maybe.

 

[albi1cnobi1]

Woo hoo! Kudo's to koda, it's on the road. Congrats, glad to hear it.

 

[koda2000]

Woo hoo! Kudo's to koda, it's on the road. Congrats, glad to hear it.

Thanks for the words of support guys. And special thanks to you Al for the parts.

 

[albi1cnobi1]

Thanks for the words of support guys. And special thanks to you Al for the parts.

No problem. It's nice to see all your hard work coming to fruition, I feel kind of attached to this project. lol! Kind of like working on my own future ST vicariously through you...

 

[koda2000]

No problem. It's nice to see all your hard work coming to fruition, I feel kind of attached to this project. lol! Kind of like working on my own future ST vicariously through you...

Hey, if you're serious about wanting an ST, I know where there's a nice one that should be ready to sell in about a month. At least I'd know it's going to a good home. You'd mentioned you were coming to GA soon. You could drive it home.

 

[koda2000]

Accounting:
I just calculated my to-date expenses and, with returning that boat-anchor piece of junk rear end and instead finding a cheaper local 4-DR Explorer unit, my total costs (including vehicle purchase) are right around $2000 with an estimated $500 remaining to finish, so I'm right on track with my original projection as to what it was going to cost to restore this ST.

 

[BeefMan]

That running total is amazing, you've got a nice truck now! Awesome thread btw man, you've given me a few things that I need to go work on now haha.

 

[koda2000]

Thanks for following Beef. Here's a list of what I still need to purchase to complete this project:

- Rubber elbow for PCV oil vent tube (Dorman $13)
- Neoprene body mount bushing set (around $100)
- Paint stripper for bed liner cleanup ($7)
- Gray bumper paint for front bumper ($8)
- Lock retainer for rear bed cover lock + s/h ($12)
- Spare RF key & 2 fob shells (Amazon/eBay - $13)
- Leather driver's seat bottom (TheSeatShop.com - $199)
- Valve cover gaskets ($20)
- Trans filter and 5 qts Mercon V ($40)
- Miscellaneous fluids ($15)
- Have spare key cut and programmed at Ford dealer ($45)
- 4pc vent visor set (eBay $22)

** Estimated total for above - $495

 

[koda2000]

Small Update Today:
Decided to start painting some interior parts, starting with the worn center console. Quite a transformation, no?

After cleaning. Dull scratched and ugly.

After a couple of coats of paint.

After the final coat. It has a nice texture to it too. Tomorrow the radio bezel.

 

[skpyle]

That looks outstanding! Most excellent job on that console. :biggthump

Seth K. Pyle

 

[koda2000]

Today's Fun:
I removed the radio bezel and disassembled it. I tried the ScotchBright pad on it, but the stupid rubberized coating started peeling off. If I had any paint stripper I would have tried that, but I didn't and didn't feel like driving to town, so I sanded all the coating off (took forever) then started putting on thin coats of paint. After multiple coats I wasn't satisfied with the finish as I could see the sanding marks, so I let it dry and wet-sanded it smooth and repainted it. This time it came out good. When it's dry I'll put it back together and reinstall it. I still have the door pulls and instrument cluster to paint. I'll save that for another day. Once I finish cleaning up the interior and install the new driver's seat bottom the interior is going to look really good.

Oh that looks so much better:

My vent visors arrived today (they came really quickly) so I installed them.