Snowball 94 Limited

Hey I'm a long time reader and Just bought my first X Wednesday I love it.

She's a 1994 Limited.Named her Snowball (Sry If someone already had this name) I paid $1500 for her. She got a new Thermostat 2hrs after I bought her cause it locked up on me and over heated in the middle of the road. Her primary duty is going to be as a daily driver/Photography vehicle. I am an avid amateur photographer.

The day after I got her I took her out on her first photo Journey.
Here's some pics.

​

She is replacing the 1989 Ranger my parents let me drive till I found my own and just like the Ranger I couldn't keep her on the pavement for long.

I also found a mound of gravel and flexed the suspension a bit.

​

Her primary purpose will be to get me to college and back and do a little off-roading. She does have some problem but what 16yr old vehicle doesn't. I will eventually get some kind of lift but first is New/Used tires and a MAF.

Leave your opinions did I make a good purchase? What Kind of lift should I get it need to be cheap cause most of my money will be going to School.​

 

[Varsity]

I like! I also like the idea of repainting a little past the hood since it may help it blend better too. I wouldn't get too worried about paint difference since I didn't even notice it til you pointed it out, but that may be because I'm on my iPod. Painting our trucks suck because it has 10-15+ years on the paint whereas a can doesn't. But I like everything and those mudflaps aren't bad either.

 

[willindsay]

I like! I also like the idea of repainting a little past the hood since it may help it blend better too. I wouldn't get too worried about paint difference since I didn't even notice it til you pointed it out, but that may be because I'm on my iPod. Painting our trucks suck because it has 10-15+ years on the paint whereas a can doesn't. But I like everything and those mudflaps aren't bad either.

Ya I'm deffinately gonna paint past that line a little more eventually but for mow it's fine. You can't tell from 10feet back so it's fine.

Ya matching ti factory paint is pretty much impossible with rattle cans but it's good enough.

 

[willindsay]

Went to the local Pull-A-Part Friday and picked up a few things.

First and biggest is a tan 2nd Gen console.

In the box is all the top parts.
I grabbed 2 cup holder sections one side by side and one with the cup holders in-line.

In the above pics it has been cleaned up a little. I tried out a new cleaner I heard about from a few people on here. It's called Awesome and is found at the dollar store. I mixed it at about 5:1 with water and it does lives up to it's name. It seems to be a little better than the Purple Power I'd been using.

After I got home I realized I was missing a part and some parts I had weren't as good as I thought but all in all for 16$ for the console and 2 cup-holders I'm fairly happy.
I need to find the coil holder part and recover the lid and it'll be ready to install.

To go along with the console I've got to make a few decisions upon installing it but for now I just need to find a wiring diagram for the Rear A/C controls. If any one could E-mail a copy of the factory diagrams I'd be much appreciated.

Other than the console I didn't get much else besides a couple speakers and a few little odds and ends.


Also I've come to realize I ramble alot in here. Sry about that I just want to be through.

 

[CDW6212R]

Good grab William, those are big, and heavy.

BTW, you really need to also buy the rear floor mount bracket for that console. It is riveted to the floor, and as heavy as that console is, that mount is critical. There are complaints about vibrations of the consoles in those trucks, and adding an extra screw or two around the middle are helps as I recall. That is with the rear floor mount, if you only used the kind of screws in the floor like the 91-94 trucks, the console will move even more.

Below is what the mount bracket looks like, and I'd probably use bolts to hold it very near the outer ends, add stability as much as possible.

 

[willindsay]

Good grab William, those are big, and heavy.

BTW, you really need to also buy the rear floor mount bracket for that console. It is riveted to the floor, and as heavy as that console is, that mount is critical. There are complaints about vibrations of the consoles in those trucks, and adding an extra screw or two around the middle are helps as I recall. That is with the rear floor mount, if you only used the kind of screws in the floor like the 91-94 trucks, the console will move even more.

Below is what the mount bracket looks like, and I'd probably use bolts to hold it very near the outer ends, add stability as much as possible.

I didn't have a drill with me to remove the bracket otherwise I would have got it.

I think I'm going to try and avoid getting that bracket if I can because it was a major pain to get the console to let go of the bracket.

Not sure I want to use bolts in the instillation of it either. I don't particularly like the idea of needing a second person to install or remove the console.

It's probably gonna be a while before I get this installed because I've got a few modifications I want to do to the console first. Also while I have the console out I want to pull the seats and place more insulation under the carpet; which I still need to research what to use.

 

[CDW6212R]

That rear bracket is made for that console, the console pulls out from the back of the bracket. You only have to attach the bracket to the floor permanently, thus the bolts. I have a picture somewhere of that bracket still on the floor of my 99 truck before I removed it. The location is critical.

 

[Przybysz]

Maybe you should put a sweet black bug-guard on it Looks good! nice tape job. Haha

 

[willindsay]

Been doing a little work on the weekend to the Ex but I've been too busy during the week to post up the pics and what I've done. Since classes ended yesterday and today is dead day before exams start I've got some time so here's what has been happening on the ex the past couple weeks.

First thing to report is a did a little work on the front end.
I started by cleaning the hubs as they were extremely greasy and from what I've read on here they work best when they are just lightly oiled.
I forgot to take a before pic but this was after I soaked them with some Awesome cleaner then washed them out with the hose. I then filled them with some cheap tranny fluid I had layin around. I also scrubbed the inside with a tooth brush.

Here's them pretty much finished.

I also noticed that the two hubs have different part part numbers.
I thought that these were same side to side?
But they also had different stickers on them. I just placed them on the side that they fit the best.

Here's what the spindle and brake stuff looked like.

I also figured while I had the chance I'd pain the dust shields. I went with some Ford Blue engine enamel I had layin around.

The pads need to be replaced but it looks like they'll be fine until after winter and the ball joints seemed alright too.

Last weekend I decided I was tired of using a screw driver to open the hood so I bent up a piece of 1/4" scrap I had layin around and used the angle grinder to round of the nose of it and cut it to size. I then used a 1/4" bolt to hold it to the original handle and now all you have to do is stick your hand under the hood and push up.
Here's a picture of it painted in white I covered the white with some more Ford Blue paint then bolted it up.

I didn't get a picture of it installed but I'll try to remember to this weekend.

This will probably be my last update till after Christmas as I have finals next week and as soon as I'm finished with them I'll be headed to Texas until the 23rd.
So I hope everyone has a great Christmas and don't forget the reason for the season.

 

[Przybysz]

Awesome work! How come you decided to take apart your 4wd?



Btw, Cant wait for the pic of your new hood assembly! I'm looking into modifying mine

 

[willindsay]

Awesome work! How come you decided to take apart your 4wd?



Btw, Cant wait for the pic of your new hood assembly! I'm looking into modifying mine

I took the hubs off and cleaned them because the Auto Hubs are prone to failure.


Here's the finished pics of the hood release handle.

The paint had very little time to cure before I installed it so I think that's why it rubbed off I'll probably take it off and repaint it eventually but right now it's too cold here.

When the hood is closed it is right up against this piece of the hood but since it's a rubbery material it flexes and causes no problems.

And because of the positions I attached it you don't have to move it much to get the hood to open.

 

[mr cribb]

I like your style.

What happened to original hood release?

 

[willindsay]

I like your style.

What happened to original hood release?

I have some mesh behind my grill to keep bugs and rocks out of the radiator and it's too tight of a weave for me to get my finger through. I had been using a screwdriver but I got tired of hunting for one.

The original release is still in tacked I just bolted mine too it.

 

[willindsay]

Hope everyone had a good time over the holidays. I know mine have were very busy but now that school has started back and work has ended for a few month's I have some free time.

Not much has happened to the Ex over the break accept getting driven a little.
I did discover that I had a small leak in one of the transmission lines after letting it sit for a week. It was a simple fix though just had to tighten the hose clamps on the line. I attribute the loose clamp to the change of temperature.

I also changed the oil. Before I changed it I added half a quart of trans fluid to it, to clean some of the gunk out, and drove it for about 100miles. The fluid came out very black. After two weeks on the new oil it hasn't changed color at all which it normally has so I'd say it was very worth while.

Well on to some pics of the tools I got over the holidays.

Biggest thing is a air compressor.

It's fairly small but should come in handy. Hopefully it's powerful enough to run an impact occasionally.

Also got a new drill.

My dad picked it up at an auction for 35$. It's brand new Craftsman with battery and charger also had an extra drill body.

I also got a Home Depot gift card and used it to pick up a pair of gloves.

They are great gloves and really supprised me being they were only 2$. Gonna use the rest of the card to pick up an LED Maglite cause I've been wanting one for a while.

Saterday Night I went to the auction with my dad and picked up a little shop vac with tons of different attachments and a pair of jackstands that match the ones I have now all for 35$. Which seemed like a pretty good deal to me.


Probably not gonna be much happening on the explorer for a while as I've started saving up for a hand gun and to get my CCW when I turn 21 in February. Thinkin I want to get a SCCY CPX-2.

 

[willindsay]

Also I forgot to mention I picked up some strings of Christmas light on sale after Christmas and converted them to run on 12v.

Tucked them away in storage for now and will put them on my car next year. If anyone is interested I've got one more pair to do and I'll take pics and do a write up on it.

 

[RyansX]

Also I forgot to mention I picked up some strings of Christmas light on sale after Christmas and converted them to run on 12v.

Tucked them away in storage for now and will put them on my car next year. If anyone is interested I've got one more pair to do and I'll take pics and do a write up on it.

Do a write up! I want to do that for next years Christmas parade instead of having to bring our power inverter

 

[willindsay]

Alright I'll try to remember to bring all the stuff to school and do work on it in my studio.

I would do it at home but I'd have to do it outside and we got about 3inches of snow today.

Here's my car in the school parking lot.

It's a mess outside right now since it's been raining since Monday we've had a good bit of flooding(I've got some pics I'll put up later). The county hasn't been able to treat the roads cause it'd all just was away so I'm expecting the roads to be ice in the morn when I head home.
I did go for a little drive to get some dinner right after the snow started add I'm am extremely impressed with the Ex. It did tons better in this wet sloppy snow then it did in the dry slow a couple years ago. I stayed in 2wheel the entire time and the only time it broke loose was when I gunned it to see if it would.
I would attribute this difference in handling to the tires. All around I am very happy with the performance of these Dakota Definitey AT2s.

PS:Anybody got a remedy for fogging windows? Ever since I had my windshield replaced it has fogged like crazy no matter how many time I clean it. Been meaning to pick up some RainX anti fog as I used it before with success just wondering what everyone else uses.

 

[CDW6212R]

Thursday night and the next morning was interesting, at least the ground was warm enough that the snow didn't last long.

For the fogging windows, that is probably from excess moisture getting inside the truck. I have an old 91 that is constantly fogged in rain weather. My 98 was so bad Friday from having it open while swapping tires, I had to scrape the inside glass. That would not normally happen if I had been driving it with the AC compressor/heat going before parking it.

I'd check the seals on every door, glass, and the hatch very carefully. If you find gaps in the ends of the seals, or around the window seals, too much humidity is getting inside, creating more fogging of the glass. The door/hatch seals are easy to replace, and they used to cost about $35 new from Ford. They should be available from other places too.

 

[willindsay]

Thursday night and the next morning was interesting, at least the ground was warm enough that the snow didn't last long.

For the fogging windows, that is probably from excess moisture getting inside the truck. I have an old 91 that is constantly fogged in rain weather. My 98 was so bad Friday from having it open while swapping tires, I had to scrape the inside glass. That would not normally happen if I had been driving it with the AC compressor/heat going before parking it.

I'd check the seals on every door, glass, and the hatch very carefully. If you find gaps in the ends of the seals, or around the window seals, too much humidity is getting inside, creating more fogging of the glass. The door/hatch seals are easy to replace, and they used to cost about $35 new from Ford. They should be available from other places too.

Well that would explain my problem. lol The only door seals that are intact are the back doors. Guess I'll be adding those to my todo list.

Think I'm gonna give the RainX anti fog a try for the time being though.

 

[CDW6212R]

I used to save the used seals, I had a few from my old 93 Explorer, and junk yard stuff. Since buying and installing one new seal, that's the best way, they fit and seal so much better than used stuff.

 

[willindsay]

I used to save the used seals, I had a few from my old 93 Explorer, and junk yard stuff. Since buying and installing one new seal, that's the best way, they fit and seal so much better than used stuff.

I've got one for the driver door that I pulled from a 2nd gen at Pull-A-Part just haven't got around to installing it. I'll likely got the junk yard route for the time being.

Forgot to mention last night we still have snow on the ground here. I went out Thursday about 3pm and drove around and a lot of the roads were still covered. We also had a lot of down trees over the roads (reminds me I need a gas chainsaw) some still haven't been moved all the way off the road. I've got some pics of the snow we got here I might get up sometime this week.


Also as an update on the Ex. she did great in the snow only slippin once or twice. I did have a headlight bulb go last night but I replaced it with the spare I had. Gonna be lookin for a deal on new set of bulbs this week and retire the ones I have now to use as spares.