Tim's '93 Sport

[WormsExplorer]

Congratulations sir on you wedding hope you and your wife have a great life together. Congrats on your parts ordered. Someday I will see a trans in my garage LOL :-D

 

[timtimtimajim]

Thanks sir!

Someday you will have a trans ha! Someday soon too!

 

[timtimtimajim]

So as you all know, I got married a month ago. I wanted to share a few pictures.

About a month before the wedding my now wife came home from work. She says "I'm going to ask you a question, and I'm only going to ask it once."

So I'm thinking, okay what's this about...

She stares at me for a good minute then says "Nevermind, I already know the answer."

"So what was the question?" I ask

With a sigh of defeat "Do you want to take wedding pictures with your Explorer?"

So here they are

 

[gmanpaint]

That's awesome!!

 

[410Fortune]

Wicked cool pictures!!
Happy wife happy life
Congrats

 

[WormsExplorer]

Love the pictures sir. Does she like going out wheeling?

 

[timtimtimajim]

She does like going wheeling for the most part! It’s only when things get a little off camber that she gets uncomfortable... but I think I can get her used to that

 

[WormsExplorer]

Keep taking her our and have her drive. Let her try it like out at Rainbow falls. She will get use to it. We need to do that again.

 

[timtimtimajim]

That’s the plan! I’ve let her drive the Explorer around town quite a bit to get her used to it’s road manners. Next step is off-road!

I agree we need to get out there again. Especially when the trans swap is done! Which, by the way, looks like I’ll be starting a little bit on it Saturday!

 

[timtimtimajim]

All my parts showed up and got the garage all set up to start on the transmission swap! Should be starting to take stuff apart this week

 

[timtimtimajim]

Day one of transmission swap:

Didn't make a ton of progress, but got some stuff done. Got the transfer case skid out, dropped both driveshafts, got everything removed from the transfer case, and loosened up the bolts holding it to the transmission. Also took out the exhaust from the catalytic converter back. Managed to snap two of the three bolts that held the cat on

Transfer case will be the next part coming out.

This is my first big project since I got the Fiesta as a daily. It's nice being able to work a bit slower and not have to worry about having a car to drive!

 

[timtimtimajim]

Day two of transmission swap:

Spent the first part of the day taking the seats and center console out. Had to pull wires out of my custom center console and label them. I’ve been meaning to clean up my wiring so I guess I’m being forced now

When I pulled my carpet back I found the build sheet for my Explorer. I think I’m gonna frame it!

Bench pressed the transfer case out. And finished with pulling shift linkage and wiring off of the transmission.

I’m thinking I’ll have the transmission out either tomorrow or Thursday. Sure is nice having all this time off!

 

[timtimtimajim]

Day three:

My wife helped me out today. Was nice having some company in the garage for once! And she's a lot of help too!

Got the exhaust y-pipe off. Luckily only one of the bolts holding it on gave me problems. And also luckily I didn't snap it when I finally got it loose. I did punch myself in the face twice and smashed my left hand

Got the transmission cooler lines disconnected and am letting the fluid drip out of them over night.

Also got the starter pulled out and one of the torque converter bolts off. I can't seem to get the flex plate to rotate to get the other three though. I think I'm going to have to turn the crankshaft to get to the others. Anybody have some tips on this?

As long as things go smooth tomorrow, I should have the transmission out!

 

[gmanpaint]

Turn the crank (inside pulley) at the front of the engine, to get to the converter nuts. Remove, repeat.

 

[timtimtimajim]

Awesome! That’s what I’ll be doing today! Thanks Gman!

 

[timtimtimajim]

Day four:

Got my James Duff crossmember our. Got the converter bolts out and all of the bell housing bolts. The top two bolts were so much fun! (Not) Left the bottom two in so I could get my homemade trans jack in place. Basically setup my floor jack with a homemade adapter to handle the transmission.

Well, my floor jack gave up right about at that point. Can jack it up but it won’t hold. It slowly creeps back down and is worse with weight on it.

It’s a nice 3 ton Craftsman jack and my second one. Three years ago when I did the lift, my original jack jammed up and wouldn’t move at all. Had a lifetime warranty so took it to Sears and exchanged it. They’ve now closed every Sears in the state, so I guess I won’t be exchanging this one.

I will eventually be buying a nicer new floor jack. But for now, I’m going to get a cheap trans jack from Harbor Freight to get me through the swap.

I have to go back to work tomorrow. Hoping I can get some more done Saturday afternoon.

 

[gmanpaint]

Check the bleeder and fill screw on the jack. Might need more oil, and adjusted is all.

When you stab the manual in, use a 10" long 1/4" extension, on both side bolt holes in the block, to guide the transmission in place. If it gets ****ed at all, stop and start over, otherwise it just gets worse fighting it.

Check that your master will depress by hand before stabbing the trans back in. Some tend to be stubborn, and won't let you push the trans all the way back on.

I use a few 1/2" long extensions with a wobble end to make it almost 3 ft, to get to those upper bolts easier.

Did you get the manual engine spacer plate?

 

[timtimtimajim]

I’ll check the fluid level in the jack! I did bleed quite a bit of air out of it today, but it was still acting up.

That’s the kind of useful tip I’m here for! Thank you! I’ve got some 1/4” rod. I’ll cut up a couple sections to use as guides.

Yah I ended up using every extension I had to get to the top two. But for some reason never thought to use a wobble end, even though I’ve got a few Managed to get to them through the access panel on the trans tunnel.

And yep got the spacer plate! Had a hard time finding one, but was pointed in the right direction by one of the local Explorer guys. Adding the link here for anybody who might need it: Plate - Cylinder Block Rear - Ford (1L5Z-7007-AA) | TascaParts.com

 

[kmack]

I will eventually be buying a nicer new floor jack. But for now, I’m going to get a cheap trans jack from Harbor Freight to get me through the swap.

If you have a Lowes improvement store near you with a Sunbelt Rentals tool place inside, stop by there Saturday morning and rent one of their transmission jacks. (Might call first to make sure they have one.)
I did this last year when swapping the transmission in a Jeep Grand Cherokee. It was less than $50 for the rental and if picked up Sat morning, you don't have to return it until first thing Monday morning. 2 days for the price of a 1 day rental. Just a thought.

 

[timtimtimajim]

That’s a new one for me, I’ve seen plenty of Sunbelt Rentals but never one in Lowe’s!

We’ve got a Sunbelt on the other side of town from me. I’ll have to give them a try first.