Betty's "I want to be a mule" progress log thread

The new turd mobile. 2000 Mountaineer v8 awd.



The bad:

Was living it's prior life on a dusty road. Must tear out interior and deep clean.
Driver window off track "or something" and will not roll down. It tries but the rear part wants to stay up.

3 out of 4 door handles have issues. I have 4 new outer handles on order.
Cracked passenger side tail light housing. ( Ebay for some cool tail lights)

Compass-Thermometer thingy lit up and went out--idunno bout that yet

Door locks seem sticky, probably has to do with the handles.
It has a funky purple color trim with red metallic ( you'll have that every now and then)

The good
Gas tank was full
109k miles
I am the 2nd owner!!
Is from the local area, which means no salt!
The undercarriage is fairly clean
No dents to underside panels
Good rubber
Camber shims already installed
Looks like good service records, all recalls were completed.
Clean carfax believe it or not.

The "maybe" bad

The original owner, told the dealership it had a bad "heater core" however I have run it for several cycles, over an hour each idling in the driveay and see no leaks.
However, there was evidence of a windshield leak or the like,I saw condensation on the inside of the windows this AM. The moisture smell is that of water only-no anti freeze smell. I am thinking it could also be a cowl drain which is clogged???? but she did say the passenger carpet got wet.

I tried to get heat, however it is an auto climate control. Being 90 degrees outside, I doubt it would have given me heat.The heater core hoses were hot, and the coolant bypass valve does operate. AC blows Ice cold.

Maybe she meant to say "heater door"???

Anyway--here are the pics.



My intent is to drive this and use it as a tow rig for a light weight off road toy. Mods will be minimal. Edit: This plan did not work out so on to plan "b"

Current visual status

Progress pictures

Now, let's clean it up a little


Herculine'rd rocker panels. Rock sliders installed

BW 4406 True 4x4 Manual transfer case ( AKA Mouse entry point) installed 8-27-2012
Installed newer Tcase from a 2003 11-14-15

Saw a rainbow in Colorado so yeah, time for a picture

And here she is, on top of the highest pass road in North America. Careful tire placement a must!!!

2-2-2013

Changed "color scheme" of the Dick Cepek DC1 wheels. New Falken Wildpeak AT 31x1050x15

Then I decided Maroon washer on the wheels would look better

Update 6-6-2013

New bumpers, winch and Pro LED light . Front Bumper from RLC, Skid plate from RCI, rear bumper from Kert307

Rear anti sway disconnects

Update 9-2-2014
A cracked radiator at 70mph led to engine failure. Replaced with a freshened up a bit 80k mile engine starting on page 23

Found another rainbow in Kansas.

 

[410Fortune]

I just moved, 4 states and 4 families I am not moving again anytime soon!!

The land two spots over is for sale
Only neighbor you would have then would be us and the moose, plus its 23 acres on the river.
Bring your snow machines!!
Of course its all off grid back here and you gotta build a house and a shop
Worth it to get your doors fixed and gaskets sealed

 

[vroomzoomboom]

Lets do this. I am now going outside to tell my neighbors to move, hopefully the house will be vacant shortly. BRB

can i have (im trying to remember exactly what it was) that little stone "hut" in the back yard rent free?

 

[Turdle]

Ok Tim has dibs on the smokehouse.

 

[traveler]

Isn't the smokehouse a story and a half? Basement and first floor? Must be room for more than one.

 

[gmanpaint]

Laughs as Tim Diggs a tunnel from smoke house, to kitchen pantry to raid the cookies.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

Ok Tim has dibs on the smokehouse.

woohoo!!!!

Laughs as Tim Diggs a tunnel from smoke house, to kitchen pantry to raid the cookies.

shush! no cookies for you, and you dont get to visit my new house either!

 

[Turdle]

Mine are going bad and I'm not looking forward to fixing them

Got the driver latch done today! This thread

HOW TO - Remove and replace door latch assembly

Driver door latch part number new old stock ford OEM from Ford Parts Giant

5L5Z-7821813-AA

using that number it is only 26 bux, bare steel not yellow as original. I assume this is an old 1991 part

 

[Turdle]

Noticed a non working bulb in the overhead console, passenger side bulb which is the driver map light.

took off the cover , gave the bulb a twist to remove it and it flashed once. I got it out and see the conductor wiring trace in the console has wilted. The other bulb was heat welded into place. I got it to turn and tried to pull it out, low and behold the hole is heat deformed, rather, melted to a smaller diameter and the bulb will not come out. stuck it all back together for another time and wouldn't ya know it now the windows will not roll down. Hmmm

in a 2000, fuse 26 , 10a, is tied to the windows somehow. I replaced the fuse, now the light in the deformed slot works, and windows do also. It's a GEM thang--

 

[CDW6212R]

Heat is hell!

Time for some more LED projects.

 

[Turdle]

Heat is hell!

Time for some more LED projects.

Think I will need to be procuring another OHC first. But yes, LED's for sure.

 

[Turdle]

Betty got a new friend. 2003 116k miles 5.4 leather, dealership repaired cab rust, new paint 4 years ago.

 

[rizzjc]

Nice!

 

[traveler]

Aww man it's even a 4x4. That's what I was looking for when I got my Expy!

 

[RockRanger]

Very nice.

 

[Turdle]

It is a nice truck and for my Father I will say thanks. It is the one vehicle he bought for himself when he retired. My mother always had a nice car, ha drove leased company vehicles for a living.
He was known to wash it when it got rained on, or driven. period. Check into motel and find car wash if thats what it took. Washed 3 times a day if that's what it took to keep it shined and spot free.
It's pretty much flawless.
So, I have mixed emotions about having the truck which represents my dad throwing in the towel, and trying to keep it looking this good. It's being garaged here now so with Snowflake in the other bay, Betty got kicked to the curb.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

so how long until you start powdercoating stuff on it??

 

[Rick]

Nice looking rig

 

[Turdle]

It's been a while since anything happened in here so -----

Time for some pain.

Since nothing up front had been touched since , ok heck I'm gonna guess 2017 and Betty has seen some rough roads, plus the fact I see some torn boots on joints it's time for this

And boy does it suck getting old. Anyhoo, got this thingy off

Pretty sure these are done. they have been to colorado 2 times, moab, and all over southeast Kansas dirt

and we sit here.

I need to measure angles best I can , not sure how I will get this in good enough alignment to drive to alignment shop.

 

[Turdle]

But wait! Theres more, if you order n the next 2 minutes we'll send not one but 2

 

[Turdle]

@gmanpaint told me I needed those to be cool.


@RockRanger set me straight on how they needed to be put on Betty to actually get into cool zone. So, he made these.

about 1.5 years ago.

Then , would you believe the nerve of him to PM me last week to tell me how uncool I still was?? ( sarcastic attempt at humor)


I needed some motivation, and hope I can accomplish this task because these brackets really are top notch stuff. I've installed another version and can already see the improvement "tweaks" I wished were in that earlier set.