Search results

I love the 302/5.0; I put 75,000 miles on my old Fairlane, 15k or so on the first motor, burning a quart every 200 or so, plus (I later discovered) cracked piston skirts and one that actually broke off. And I'm pretty sure I remember when it happened, although I drove it another year before the...

Real nice-looking vehicle. That's not a shocking price to pay for a transmission job, but just a rebuilt unit is less than half that. I do agree that $700 is a lot for a cooling flush though. $5000 doesn't seem excessive to be into such a vehicle for. I'm not sure if DIY is an option, but you'd...

I thought about a Bronco II when I got the idea to dig up a light off-roader, but the longer wheelbase and more capacity were bigger priorities since I most had being able to tackle rough roads and bring along some friends in mind. But for serious off-roading, the Bronco II is hard to argue...

Nooooooooooooooooooo. Well, to each his own, but to me, GM is still the dark side... Anyway, I'll defer to those more experienced than me, but if it were me and I could find a clear external cause for the overheating (bad fan clutch, radiator, gunked up cooling system, thermostat, etc.) and it...

Oh yeah, seems the 1st gen is a better chassis for off-roading; the TTB gets you a little further than IFS before you need a SAS. And the boxy look is a better fit to my eye. I'm just saying, for someone with average skills and typically light off-road aspirations, a 2nd-gen 5.0 might be a...

No argument that it's a liability - quite coincidentally, there's another 1st gen Ex in the family that my little brother did some work on and drove up here, only to have the A4LD go a few months down the road. At least is did that up here, not halfway between Montana and New Mexico! I'm...

Thanks - I was wondering if that might be the way to go, but could only find one place saying you can remove the reluctor, and another post suggested you can't swap the tailhousing. It does seem from digging around car-part.com that there are more R1HDs to be found, and it should be old enough...

Well, I'm at a standstill for now. I don't see anything I could do to put it back together with any expectation that it'd last, and I'm not going to chance it. I took the case to a machine shop, and the guy said he thought he could weld it up and re-do the bore, but his rough estimate was $400...

I'd keep it. If it were in average shape cosmetically, that would be different. Once you get it sorted, you'll have a pretty nice, relatively simple and reliable vehicle. I wouldn't give up hope on the engine and transmission just yet; you just don't know until you know. I'm pretty sure the one...

So one option might be a M5OD R1HD; I found one online within driving range, and maybe there's even one closer to home. I'm finding conflicting information on simply swapping tailhousings: one thread here simply says you can't, but it references @BonesDT, who actually says you can if you removed...

Well, I might have no choice but to dig up another transmission. I finally finished getting it apart, and the bearing definitely spun in the case. Also, I might know what went wrong: there was quite a bit of RTV on the bearing retainer flange, including a decent gob in the oil passage. I don't...

Makes sense; I figure if it was a bolt-up thing, someone would have done it. I lean more towards the TTB because I hear it's more rugged and has more headroom for off-roading. Still, I might consider building off a second-gen. I probably won't start the bodywork until next spring at the...

I've done some DIY AC work, and I'd say the problem here is more likely to be an internal blockage than too little airflow over the condenser. I haven't dug into the workings of my Ex's AC; that said, it looks like there are two pressure switches - low side and high side, and the high side...

Well, it's not as bad as I thought it'd be... It's worse! You can tell the bearing was overheated before it failed because the oil catchermagig has some melting where it interfaces with the case. The rubber plugs on the top cover are gone, by the way, but hard to tell if they were just...

One of the details I didn't think to mention: I've got a new clutch and slave cylinder. I had half a thought to just keep going with what's in there, but it seems stupid not to at least have one on hand (at around $150 for both). If what's on there looks like new, I might just run it, but I...

Greetings! I've been lurking here on and off for a couple years since I picked up my Explorer from a CoPart auction - a 1994 XLT four-door, M5OD with manual transfer case and hubs. By way of introduction, I've a pilot - mostly working part-time as a military flight instructor after ten years in...