Happy New Year everyone. It's time for some catch up.
A bit has changed since my last post. Today I woke up excited that I had no plans to do anything and what else might I do? Yeah, work on the 56!!!
I recently got new parts using a gift card for AutoZone that I got for Christmas. I now have new Motorcraft sparkplugs, serpentine belt, oil filter, and lower radiator hose. I got a quart of POR-15 paint and a tube of POR Patch that came in the mail today too.
So, I set out to the shop to warm it up, organize, and then it happened. The smell of a dead rodent appeared. I saw some droppings by some tools a couple weeks back and set out some D-CON mouse pellets, so I knew that I got it, but where could it be? I couldn't find it anywhere until I was organizing the shelf that I have been storing all of the disassembled Explorer parts and restored 56 parts. A huge box I had been using was oddly disfigured and my heart sank.
Whatever had been living here has been $#itting, pi$$ing, and eating on any non-metal thing in this area. I found the rotting carcas inside the box still and I couldn't help but freak out thinking that perhaps there were more ready to jump out at me when I moved anything else. Still not sure exactly what it is, besides dead. It's as big as a rat.
Most of the damage was to plastic bags, boxes, and the sun visors. I guess I may use this as an excuse to find some 56 visors. And I was getting all excited to have lighted mirrors, lol.
I had a hand from a neighbor, that needed my engine crane, which helped make space in the cramped shop, where I could move the front clip back up front for more fitting/trimming. You can see that I cut the top corners off the radiator support panel. I'm sure I'll have to trim more for the hood to close, but for now this works for visualization.
I noticed before that there would be some rake in the stance, but on the level shop floor I could see how severe it was. I really needed to bring it up a bit, but without risking height for the dash without need for filler, like I've seen a couple times. I personally don't like filler.
I had to modify the cab some more to stabilize the angle, the only place I could do this is at the rear. The problem with this is that the rear sat flush down on the floor of the Explorer. I needed to loosen up the front, push the whole cab back, and then tuck the rear under the floor. This also required trimming the corners that wrap around the frame. It was lowered about an inch. This seemed to do the trick. If I can close the hood, then we're fine. Sorry, I didn't get any good pics of this but you'll see some in the background in later pics.
With the adjustments, the front clearance is still a mere 7". I guess that's still higher than my car, perhaps this will be just fine. (Insert "that's what she said" joke here)
Since I had the cab in "semi-permanent" position (for the millionth time), I screwed the cab in place to keep it from shifting prior to welding. I decided that it would be time to remove most of the steel braces I had inside the cab. I left the passenger side intact due to additional work still needed on that side.
While I was cleaning off the shelves, I decided to see how well the center console fit. Would it allow me to open the cup holders? No, but I can see myself using the extra vents in the back of it to my advantage. Did you know that there are actually heating elements inside the ducts for the rear passengers? Interesting tidbit. Why don't all cars have this for ALL the vents? Hmmmm.....
Then I decided to inspect the seats for rodent damage. All was fine, but while I'm at it, how does it look inside the truck???? My heart was racing as I climbed into the loose seat. Without a battery to power the seat (nor wiring) I couldn't put the seat in a natural position, however, I was super excited to have that moment. I couldn't tell if I was shaking due to pure excitement or if it was just simply cold.
Now, in other news...
Before Christmas, I came across a boat for sale for $400. I wanted to ask, "what dark alley do you want me to meet you in?" as it seemed too good to be true. Once again, not only was it real, the gentleman just renewed the tags and registration for the boat in October. This thing has bedS (plural), a bathroom, kitchenette.......
Sound system, refrigerator, nearly flawless interior.......
Long Range CB radio, CD player, fully enclosed top with bimini top as well.....
Although the outside seats are weathered, they should be easy to recover and it needs a good cleaning. The main thing wrong with it is that the outboard has a crack in the bearing cover. I actually found an entire lower unit shipped to me for $129, so that will take care of this.
I used an Expedition to drag it home. It dwarfed the Expedition to the point that it looked like a PT cruiser. It is huge and heavy. To give a an idea how big, this one below is identical (a year older though) in size but with the full top in place.
I also found a local Craigslist ad with a 5.0 installation. It looks like newer F-150 interior components.
I'll be back again soon with more updates on the build. Thanks for viewing!
Nothing out of the ordinary until you open the hood 
