$200 V8 Project

[RandomNerd2000]

So, I got a V8, again, not gonna hurt this one, with that aside, it's time for the story.

About a month ago, I saw online for $200 a 2000 Explorer with the V8 in it, claimed to be rusted out, and needing a fuel pump, and went to see it, it wasn't rusted out, is rusty though, no body rot, but wouldn't start, so I told the guy I'd take it. Well, he didn't have the title, but promised faithfully he could get it, so I told him when he got it, I'd take the truck. He messaged me online earlier, told me he had the title, and I went, got the title, truck, and paid him, and hauled it home. Well I got busy messing with it, and tossed a fuel pump relay at it, and it cranked right up, and runs perfectly, no noise, drives great too, shifts nice, pretty fluids the whole way round, so it's a keeper, now to just part out my 99, engine and rear end aren't for sale, rest is gonna move on.

 

[CDW6212R]

Congratulations with the new truck, I hope it lasts for ages. For that price, you should be able to be generous and buy a lot of new maintenance parts for it soon, versus hoping things last a while etc.

I had to do a lot of parts swapping with my new 98 to get it driveable and somewhat reliable. I've slowly worked at doing other things to eliminate leaks and tune up items etc. Take your time and replace all of the little things people usually put off(door strikers, switches, door seals etc).

BTW, what color is the interior of your 99? I could use a really nice medium gray rug, my new 98 is fairly rough in condition for everything, so my best parts will come from my 98 Mountaineer unless I find other better parts.

 

[RandomNerd2000]

My 99's interior is mostly junk, the seats are going in the 2000 once I get them dug out of storage, and the carpet in it wasn't anything nice before at all. The main thing for the 2000 is rust, it does have some rust, but it's in good shape really for what it is, and I am, it's gonna get a full service, ball joints, sway bar end links, fluids through and through excluding trans, because he said it's been rebuilt, and I do fully believe it, it has new lines, a new cooler, and the case is clean as a whistle, plus the fluid looks great. The main indignities on the body are, the hatch is blue (truck is white with gray on the bottom half of the doors) and the hood got shut on a wrench, both are easily fixed with a visit to the JY. Got a Limited grille for it too I got for my green truck but didn't get painted, so that's gonna be a nice touch.

 

[CDW6212R]

Well enjoy your new truck with no monthly payments, and take great care of it. I don't know how much road salt you get there, but for rust I'd get started on it. My Mercury came from Milwaukee in 2003, and I decided a long time ago to replace it due to corrosion in the body seams. I'm keeping it as a spare, it'll last ten years for sure if I take care of it.

You might make the time after main things, and get under it with rust prevention/treating chemicals. I like Eastwood for everything but a few items, like POR 15. Eastwood makes the best rust dissolver, due to it being a thin liquid. It's great to spray onto almost anything, just avoid interior type materials. It cannot(nothing can) get into body seams and fully kill rust, which is why my Mercury is an eventual victim, but it will do more in those impossible to reach places. The thin liquid wicks well into seams, between body pieces.

Fortunately it also is treatable after use with almost any products. You can wipe it down at any point with a typical final prep solvent, and use anything else from POR 15 over it, to paint, or primer, or a seam sealer. Of course always start by removing as much actual rust as possible, either with a grinder, or sand paper, or a brush etc. The more you do mechanically before using the rust dissolver or other conversion products, the less rust will be left behind.

So don't simply spray some kind of undercoat over it all, stop as much rust as you can, and finish with an undercoat.

Fortunately my "new" 98 Limited has no visible corrosion on it, which is the only reason I bought it. It was a GA car until eight years ago, and some young lady got it in NC as her first car. She didn't take care of it and it looks awful, but I can fix it with the parts I've accumulated. It takes time, and I'm getting slower LOL.

 

[RandomNerd2000]

So, rust inspection went well, it's extremely solid and will last a long time, shackles are the absolute worst part, by far, the brake lines look amazing, the fuel lines look great too. Anyhow, I've cleaned the battery terminals, established there isn't one properly working door on the whole truck, the driver's window is off it's track, the lock is stripped, the rear hatch actuator is stripped, no key for it, can be talked into opening, passenger side door doesn't lock or unlock, it's STUCK unlocked, rear doors, outside door handle is broken on RR door, does open from inside, lock is dead in the water, LR door does lock and unlock with the button at times, but generally it's not having it. Also in other news, got a fresh oil change for it, got 10w40 because that's all I could find for whatever reason, hasn't had one since 2011, it's black and really thick, and cleaned the battery terminals and we're making real progress.

 

[CDW6212R]

Sounds typical for a car this old and let go for a great price. Those little things are bothersome, but go at it and know it saved a bunch of money.

My truck needed both front doors readjusted(hinge bolts), five of the size strikers, and all latches lubricated. The doors didn't open or close well, so it was being hard on the latches, and ruined the strikers. I still have my RF lock actuator not unlocking often, but I couldn't find my spares when I had the door panel off. I'll get to that eventually.

 

[RandomNerd2000]

Yeah, this was a steal on a V8, I've turned heads when they ask how much I gave locally. The passenger side door refuses to lock, by key, pushing the cylinder down, or pushing the button, so that's a new one, the other doors will get better with actuators and fixing the window issue.

 

[CDW6212R]

That lock actuator is frozen, I had that happen twice in my Mark VII. Don't force it for long, it can damage the linkage rods so later everything is more loose. You need to take the door panel off ASAP and remove the linkage from that actuator, even if you don't have a replacement yet. That will save the rest of the many parts in the linkage system. The window likely just needs new plastic pucks in the drive section, $7.

 

[RandomNerd2000]

That's what I figured, the truck doesn't have power locks working ATM for the other doors, the hatch is mostly stripped, so it's not counted, I am gonna pull the linkage for the actuator, unless I have a good one still in the 99, I haven't forced it, I've got experience with Explorer doors and that's something you don't forget

 

[CDW6212R]

When you do go at the lock actuator, remove the short window guide near the actuator/latch etc. It's held in by one bolt, the 11mm size found a bit below the latch area. It'll be the only bolt you see on the inner door face in that area, gold colored. Remove that and the guide just pulls straight down. It goes up into the bottom of the window channel that you can see looking up through the holes near the latch etc. It's easy to remove, and not hard to put back in. That guide is right in the way to getting at most of the parts near the latch. The linkage stuff is the PITA, go slow with that.

 

[RandomNerd2000]

I wish I'd have read that post BEFORE I installed the actuator, the RF door is fully working now however, gutted the caved in door from my 99 and it works perfectly. Got any rear door tips? Also changed the oil, it's a lot better sounding IMO now, engine is obviously high high miles compared to my 99, but it's FAR from worn out, at idle it makes zero noise, same with cold cold starts.

 

[koda2000]

I've replaced a front and a rear door actuator. The front one was easy. Maybe I made the rear one harder than necessary, but I removed the door latch in order to be able to unhook the actuator. I see that there are now new style actuators that have a removable rod. That would make the job a lot easier.

 

[RandomNerd2000]

Well now that I've done a front one, I've got that down, gonna tackle the window and actuator in the other door, and then the rear doors, I'm gutting the 99 doors so I haven't spent a dime other than the bolts to bolt the brackets for the actuators to the door, so far I'm really happy with the truck, it's so close to identical to my 99 I love it, only difference is the exterior colors and it's AWD, interior is identical. I've got one that broke the rivet in the 01 truck so I'm gonna finally tackle that this week, that and dating in a truck with the actuator bouncing in the door isn't my thing.

 

[CDW6212R]

Lubricate the door latches soon too, that will help. Mine were all a bit "sticky" and louder and harder to operate. One of mine, the RF, has one of the two jaws not working. So it's harder to open the door from the inside. That has almost damaged the inner door pull handle, and the bad actuator might have been a factor too. When everything is in great shape, things work really smoothly. I treated the leather twice last week, so now it's a bit sticky/wet, but it already feels softer. Keep working on it, the time will pay off.

 

[RandomNerd2000]

I have, I personally use WD-40, since the Graphite lock lube, logic would seem that the graphite has to go somewhere, and yeah, my 01, I lubed up the doors in it with WD-40 every 500 miles, and now they work really well.

 

[RandomNerd2000]

Question, the 16 inch wheels the Eddie Bauers and some XLTs shipped with, like my Eddie Bauer has, what do those wheels look like on the XLTs without body molding? I'd like to have similar tires between both trucks but don't know about the look of the 16s on a XLT

Eddie Bauer Reference -

 

[CDW6212R]

Those wheels have the same offset as the other Explorer wheels, both 15's and 16's. I have those wheels stored as spares I never used, I've liked the 99-01 Limited 16's the best. I have them on both my 98 and 99 now, and neither has fender flares on it. They fit the body well.

Why do you ask about the fender flares, because there are lots of holes underneath them?

Below is from my 99 as a rebuilt vehicle, prior to drilling the holes for the moldings.

 

[RandomNerd2000]

I was asking because the EB has 16s, I have NO intentions of removing the flares, but rather, wanted to see the overall look with 16s on a regular XLT. I'd like Limited wheels for my trucks, but they're hard to come by here

 

[CDW6212R]

You would like the 16's, they provide better tire choices than 15's I think. I prefer a lower profile tire, and since OEM tires were from 29-30", I'm using 255/65/16's. That's the stock width, but 5% lower profile they are the same 29" height of the 15" stock tires. It handles slightly better than the taller original size tire.

 

[96eb96]

Interesting fact - Those 16" wheels direct fit 98-02 crown vics, marquis and tc. I always wonder how the teardrop marquis wheels would look on an ex. If you like wheels from those cars (and there are plenty in the JY), you may have a nice match there. Wheels are easy to refinish, maybe some can be found in good condition. The newest panthers moved to a FWD (flat) type offset.