What to do with some old Explorers

[biggun-nohurry]

So I have not one, but two Ford Explorers.
I'd up some pics, but they're bone stock and beat up so not much to look at. But they need some work which means I need some advice. Got a red one (Exp1) and a white one (Exp2)

Exp1 (red) - Pretty good shape inside but peeling bad out. The engine lost head gaskets. My boy, enamored with the thing, wrenched for days and days. Success! He loved it. Lasted 2 days before throwing a rod through the pan.

Which brings us to Exp2 - Saw it parked in a yard. It ran. Gave $350 for it. ROUGH shape. Don't think i even got a title for it. Pulled the motor and did R&R on Exp1. More success! But it leaves Exp2 without a motor. Well.. a heap of a motor on a pallet, anyway.

But now, Exp1 - with the replacement motor - has all kinds of noise. Old motor; old problems. Lots and LOTS of tappet noises. Clickety, clickety. And now it won't shift right. (Modulator, Governor, whatever, I can do that.) Figure it's not long for this world.

Soooooooooo..... You wanna introduction? Okay, I'm an Aerospace Engineer that could use some advice from the guys that actually know stuff because they've done the wrenching. Now, because it's the first thing you'll ask, lemme tell you what the usage will be:

We're in Kansas. Rocks? Nope. Not crawling. Mud? Some. Probably. Snow? Can get deep and impassable. Lots and lots of gravel roads. High speed gravel with merciless potholes.

Both Exp1 and Exp2 need motors.

I could go for a major rebuild on the 4L V6, but i think there might be much better choices, including V8 choices. Any suggestions? Exp1 is pretty clean, at least inside, and could merit a new motor. I wouldn't mind getting serious with it for a longer relationship.

Exp2 might be a lost cause. I could easily strip it to the frame rails and plant whatever drivetrain in it. I could even drop an old Mercedes body on it because i know where i can get one for free! Magically 4WD MB redneck style. I think it'd be cool. Maybe do some bogging. Maybe do some on-road. Who knows? Need some input, especially on drivetrain.

Anyway, hi and glad to be here.

 

[Turdle]

welcome from another Kansan.

where in this lovely state are you?

 

[shucker1]

Welcome to the Forum!

 

[massacre]

Welcome

 

[410Fortune]

HI! What year are the two ex's?

 

[biggun-nohurry]

welcome from another Kansan.

where in this lovely state are you?

Thanks.

I'm in the less-lovely part. Just outside of Wichita.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! It looks like you have two options:

Choice # 1: Get a V8 drivetrain, and put it into the first Explorer. Use the second one for spare parts, and give the rest into scrap metal along with both drivetrains. The average price is 4 cents a pound for scrap iron where I live. I don't know about where you are. They round it off when you give them the whole car so you never get the full price for the weight. You could get more if you separate everything (iron, aluminum, radiator, condenser, evaporator, battery, etc).

Choice # 2. Rebuild both engines, and have two working vehicles.

 

[biggun-nohurry]

HI! What year are the two ex's?

I knew someone would ask that, so i went and checked to be sure.
The crappy white one (Exp2) I'm not certain because i can't get the door open. I think she said it was a 1993. It's a "Limited", but now pretty trashed.
The red one (Exp1) in good shape (but running the other engine for now) is a 1992.

 

[biggun-nohurry]

Welcome to this forum! It looks like you have two options:

Choice # 1: Get a V8 drivetrain

Yes, that was sort of my thinking, too.

However, there's a great many different V8 drivetrains out there.
Any particular recommendation that would fit well?

 

[biggun-nohurry]

Choice # 2. Rebuild both engines, and have two working vehicles.

After some thought, I gotta declare this one a non-starter, but thanks anyway.

Rebuilding that V6 after blowing a rod through the oil pan is just a bridge too far, for me. I don't even know if I'll get core money for it -- i'll certainly get dinged for the oil pan casting. The one engine that's running, sure. The blow out, no.

And the white Limited is just so trashed up it's not gonna come back to life. I'm not that obsessed with these things. But I DO see it as a set of frame rails and a running gear that could be made into many other things, on-road or off.

For instance, I know there's a lot of old 40s-era pickups with S-10 running gear underneath. I could look at a custom job of some sort.

 

[Turdle]

You will want to get an entire donor vehicle for a proper efi -wiring harness-pcm swap. While it is doable, for the use you stated, I would just get a 98-01 AWD v8 explorer and start building it. Swap in the selectable 4406 transfer case , maybe do a coilover conversion for the front to get rid of the torsion bars-

Fitting the v8 into the first gen is more challenging than making a 2nd gen v8 perform like you want it to.

 

[410Fortune]

What about just putting in a good used engine?

V8 drivetrain into a Gen I truck (91-94) is not a simple conversion

 

[biggun-nohurry]

Fitting the v8 into the first gen is more challenging than making a 2nd gen v8 perform like you want it to.

V8 drivetrain into a Gen I truck (91-94) is not a simple conversion

Ah, OKAY!
See, THIS is the kind of wisdom I was hoping to find. V8 in a 1st gen is not simple? Didn't know that!
I'll let that idea slide, then. Fun while it lasted.

So, I'll go back to just keeping it more or less stock, drivetrain-wise. Besides, i've been down the engine-swap road already, so that's familiar territory.

Nothing i hate worse than getting deep into a hopeless project.

If I come across a donor vehicle of some sort -- even a new ecoboost or something -- i might be tempted. There's even some smaller engines that will outperform this stock engine, I'm almost certain.