Foxracin's 1991 Exploder | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

Foxracin's 1991 Exploder

Real Name: Trevor
Year : 1991
Model: Explorer
State: North Carolina
City: Mount Holly



Just picked up this Exploder last week. Its not in the best of shape but overall its decent. The motor runs great and the body has very few dents and dings.

When I got it the trans was out like every other a4ld. I am a 5 speed guy myself and was planning to convert to 5 speed anyway.

First thing and did is check the fluid in the trans. Nice and red, full, and doesnt smell burnt. Pulled one of the lines at the radiator and fired it up and no fliud. Nothing at all. Pulled the pressure plug in the side of the trans and fired it up to make sure the lines were not stopped up somewhere and still nothing so I knew something wasnt right with the pump.

Got it home and put it on some jack stands and started tearing out the trans.
explorer2.jpg

explorer.jpg


Got the trans out and pulled the torque converter out and found some scaring on the snout. Thats not supposed to be like that. lol
broketrans3.jpg


Pulled the bellhousing off then the pump from the bellhousing and theres the problem. One of the pump gears cracked and spread the teeth apart and locked up and spun on the torque converter.
broketrans.jpg

broketrans2.jpg


Oh well time to throw it in the scrap pile. Dont want to spend the money on it again not even know if the rest of the trans is good and for it to just break again. I figured I could swap in a 5 speed for not much more then fixing the a4ld.

Figured I would mess with the inside a little while I try to find a trans.

Put in a Sony headunit. Ran new speaker wires and used the internal amp after 2 stock amps were not right. Soldered all the connections and ran new speaker wire and its good as new.
explorer7.jpg


Put it in a Midland CB I had laying around.
explorer6.jpg


Overall shot of the interior.
explorer4.jpg


Then I figured I would ride over the the Pull-A-Part to see if I could run across anything. Sure enough ran across a 1992 5 speed Exploder. But somebody already robbed the trans and starter. Figured I would go ahead and get what I could off it. Got the computer, Manual trans wiring harness, pedals, and Master cylinder(when they got the trans they cut the line so it wasnt useable). Still had the flywheel, clutch/pressure plate still on it too but I didnt have the money for it right then.

So I came home and started swapping out some stuff.

Manual trans wiring harness.
explorer9.jpg


Swapped computers and moved it to behind the glove compartment to get it a little higher.
explorer5.jpg


Swapped the pedals. I left the pedal assembly in and just changed out the brake pedal and put the clutch pedal on. It was aggravating but definitely beats pulling the dash out to change the entire assembly.
explorer8.jpg


Went back the next day to Pull-A-Part to get the clutch and flywheel and all that good stuff crawled under it and somebody done took the clutch and pressure plate. So I missed out on that. Went ahead and pulled the flywheel off though. It looked fairly new.
explorer10.jpg


Pile of junk parts I have pulled off so far. lol It keeps getting bigger.
explorer3.jpg


Thats where I am at so far. Need to scrounge up some money to get me a trans and a few other pieces and I should be set.

For now I will probably just do a body lift and coil spacers and shackles for now with some 33's or 34's after I get it on the road.

Then save up for the d44 SAS down the road.

Ill keep this thread updated as I get some more work done.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





Looks like you're off to a great start! Been wanting to do a M5OD swap into mine... :popcorn:
 












Hardest part for me is getting the money to get the parts... replacing the alternator this week and working on Cut & Turned beams... Being unemployed, I only have the money I get from doing odd jobs...
 






looks good keep up good work
 






Got lucky at Pull-A-Part today. Found a 95 Explorer Sport with a 5 speed they put out 2 days ago. Still had the trans in it too. Got the trans, clutch, and pressure plate for $81 bucks. Cant beat that. Im going to have less then $100 in the M5OD swap.

I should have it running sometime next week. Only thing I lack is a starter, clutch line and I will probably go ahead and change the slave cylinder. Ill probably get a clutch line and starter tomorrow.

Ill have some pics up tomorrow of the tranny. It looks pretty good. Cant beat it for $81.
 






awesome
 












I got all my 5 speed stuff swapped in today and it works great. It was all pretty simple. I got it all done in a day.

For anybody having trouble with bleeding the system. Bench bleed, bench bleed, bench bleed. Read it and remember it. I bench bleed the master and got it where I could push the rod in with my hand. Stuck it all on there and hooked the line to the trans and automatically had a pedal. Didnt even have to touch the bleeder screw.

Ill have a few pics tomorrow.

Now its time to change out the diffs.
 






Well the 5 speed stuff is working good so far. Cleaned up the inside a little bit.

DSCI0001.jpg

DSCI0003.jpg

DSCI0004.jpg


Old shifter boot I made on my Ranger and a old shift knob I had laying around since I didnt have one on it.
DSCI0005.jpg
 






Well figured I would mess with the power windows today since NONE of them work right/good. The front driver would go down about a inch and stop. The passenger front works but the motor is on its way down as it is realllly slow and barely make it. I knew what was wrong with the back after reading about the bushings. The motor just spins and you can push the window up a down by hand.

So I started tearing the front drive door apart and the regulator has been changed or somebody tried to do something because all the rivets were already drilled out. But in the rivets place were very small nuts in bolts thats about half the size they need to be and one hole didnt even have any bolt in it. So you could move all the regulator parts around about a inch or so.

Got all the right hardware in place took the motor out to give it a look over and inspect the bushings and the back case of where the gears are where the pin/shaft goes in the dang case cracked all the way around.

So I took the back apart and sure enough its the bushings. There toast.

I would rather have front windows then rear right now so I took all the gears/shaft out of the rear and put in original rear motor to put in the front.

Got all that back in place and the front drive window works perfect now. Put the other one back together and used the 7/16 nuts for the bushings to put back in for now. It halfass works. It will get me by until I get another motor for it.

Started on the passenger side windows and it started raining so I didnt get far at all on them.
 












Got the radius arm brackets/bushings changed out the other day.

Got the valve cover gaskets changed today and degreased/pressure washed under the hood today. Now see if that stops the oil leaks. I know that was the main/biggest leak.
 






Looks sweet man! Lose the auto hubs next lol
 












Got the front sway bar disconnects on today and cleaned/repacked the wheel bearings.

Also cleaned out the auto hubs real good and soaked them in some trans fluid like I read on here but there still not right. They click and slip and pop and everything. lol I dont even think the passenger side ever engages it just clicks you move and the faster you go the faster it clicks. The drive side engages but it will pop and quit turning when you get it bound up any at all.

Guess now is a fine time to get some manual hubs.

Also rigged up a hand throttle. Works great and a pretty neat device. Seem like it would work great on on the trail/rocks.

Batteries went dead in the camera so I dont have any pictures.
 






Got a storage box/false floor deal built for the cargo area today.

Still havent got in batteries for the camera yet but Ill try to get some pics of all the new stuff tomorrow. The storage box deal turned out pretty good.
 






Get some pics! I want to check out that storage area.
 






Finally went and got some batteries for the camera earlier today. Here area few pics.

Sway bar disconnects
storagebox3.jpg


Hand Throttle
storagebox2.jpg


Storage box deal.
storagebox4.jpg


Has compartments on the sides to put stuff in
storagebox.jpg

storagebox5.jpg


Clearance between the hatch when shut
storagebox9.jpg


Inside compartments
storagebox7.jpg

storagebox8.jpg
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





Man! That is one awesome project! Making satin out of a sows ear so to speak. Great looking rig!
 






Back
Top