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expo5.0 done- what classic ford next?

expo5.0

Elite Explorer
Joined
October 18, 2001
Messages
7,196
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5
City, State
Red Wing, MN
Year, Model & Trim Level
1996 xlt
My C43 is reaching a point where i'm not going to be doing too much more work to it for a while.

I'm going to be selling my Cutlass in the near future for a two rig and picking up a car trailer etc.

I want to pick up an older Ford car and utilize what i can from my stalled Explorer project in building said car.

My thoughts right now are to build a fuel injected, 5.0 litre,bagged, roadstered, early t-bird- i know how big of a project that could become. Any advice? any thoughts? anyone willing to sign on to help me out when i'm stuck? can i use my explorer axles, brakes etc.?
 



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Those are pretty sick. Throw a modern twist on it and you would have one bad ass car
 






Yeah man, make it a "pimp my ride" lol.

I'd take the classic body style, but add anything and everything you can from today's time.

fiberglass fenders, hood, keep it as light as possible.

idk about bags, but i definitely think a mean street car would look awesome. a for using explorer axles, i want to say the mustangs have the same 8.8? but i'm not sure, i think i read it somewhere though.
 






My thoughts right now are to build a fuel injected, 5.0 litre,bagged, roadstered, early t-bird- i know how big of a project that could become. Any advice? any thoughts? anyone willing to sign on to help me out when i'm stuck? can i use my explorer axles, brakes etc.?

Hmm well it would be a hell of a project. The first thought to my mind is that those old t-bird especialy the convertable are beyond exspensive i think the cheapest i found a junk one was like $3k. I don't see why you wouldn't be able to use the rear axle, but you'll have to make your own mounting tabs and hope they are close to the right length. Brakes you can use though, but i wouldn't try to keep the ABS system. What are you planning here? Do you plan on 4wd/awd in this car? or is yours 2wd? You could keep most everything in the engine compartment for sure and trans (if 2wd or you're have to buy a 2wd tailshaft).
 






I say 61


mufp_0704_01_z+1961_ford_thunderbird+side.jpg
 






I would be doing a 4-link rear with bags for sure

the 55-57s are priced out of this world- i think i can get an early 60s car for sure and not feel bad about cutting it up (but would be looking for an earlier one if one pops up)

I would not want abs, but i would likely want to at least start out with the explorers brakes.

I would definitely want my 8.8 rear end (with the 3.73s and ls- why not?) my 4r70w and a rebuild version of my 5.0.

i do not mean that i would try to swap the body onto my explorer frame- unless for some odd reason that seems weirdly possible.

I do not want awd either- as i will want to use a mustang II or similar (nova?)suspension up front with my bag system.

-drew
 






So the idea is just to use the Explorer as a parts vehicle?
 






eh, i think you'd be better off selling the explorer and buying a wrecked late model mustang, t-bird, cougar, or mark for parts. Plus if you can find a wrecked cobra you could have a DOHC motor and better brakes and stuff. All though hmm the newer ones have IRS axles hmmm :scratch: that would be nicer if you could find a way to adapt that.
 






eh, i think you'd be better off selling the explorer and buying a wrecked late model mustang, t-bird, cougar, or mark for parts. Plus if you can find a wrecked cobra you could have a DOHC motor and better brakes and stuff. All though hmm the newer ones have IRS axles hmmm :scratch: that would be nicer if you could find a way to adapt that.

Or just pick up a Mk8 to get a DOHC and IRS much cheaper than a Cobra. For a while I had such a project floating around in my head but with a Torino as the classic body to stick it in.
 






i'm not going to care how fast it goes so much- and i really like the idea of allowing my Explorer to live on in something i'm going to keep far into the future. it was my first car and i've literally spent thousands of hrs working on it. I feel badly about deciding not to finish it as i had intended, but i know that i really won't want it long term when i do finish it- i'd rather put the effort into something that i will want to keep.

My C43"k" will hopefully be the first car in my lifelong "collection" and this will be the next.

-drew
 






so wait, what happened with your explorer that your not finishing it? i love your explorer and i always try to find pictures of it and info on it. don't take it apart!!!!
 






my explorer was daily driven for too many years here in MN-

In order to make it as nice as i would want to/would like my show vehicle to be i would want to build a new frame, replace much sheet metal (mostly in non-visible areas), rebuild the motor, and finish the bodywork i've stared. The major bodywork is very close to done to be honest, but the underlying junk that i'd want to do is way too much work to have a customized explorer when i'm done. Another way of putting it is that having a custom early thunderbird is cool to most american people into cars while having a customized explorer (even if it's amazing) is only cool to a very small portion of those people... Honestly, not to rip on myself- but i can already see now that it wouldn't be something that i'd find cool 3 or 5 or 10 years from now. feel what i'm saying?


yes, the idea would be to use as much of the explorer as was applicable for a donor vehicle- it deserves to live on to some degree and the 5.0 and 4r70w at the very least are a good enough starting point for this project.
 






The engine and trans are great, but you could get those for less than what is lost if you part the truck out. You would need the dash harness as well as all of the under hood wiring etc. I plan to dig into that wiring myself in the future for my 91 Lincoln. I want the far better OBDII PCM of these Explorers.
 






i'm just very reluctant to sell the car for what it's really worth AND i'm stuck where if i take parts off of it then it won't be worth anything at all very quickly (ie- without the air suspension it's undriveable)

I'm also all about the learning experience that doing all of this will provide me- I'd rather tear into my truck and learn as i go and then re-assemble elsewhere than have to do a lot of the things for the first time on the way into the new car.

I know it would be more cost effective to just buy a motor (without question when you consider my hourly pay vs. noobness when it comes to rebuilding the motor) but i absolutely want to do it myself.
 






It sounds a bit like where I was with my 93 Limited before I tore into it. With a little sentimental respect you want to keep a piece of it alive in another form. The two vehicles are enough different that it seems that it would be simpler to put the Explorer in a condition to sell. How much of the air suspension can you use for the car? I'd say putting together the stock parts for the Explorer wouldn't be hard.

Building an engine is fun, with new parts it's truly sweet to do it yourself. I have never done a stroker engine so with my lack of much space or time, I've paid a few hundred extra to have one built for me. If you don't go too far with a combination, or keep the budget small, I'd suggest that you take the time to do the engine yourself. We can help with the details, you would need to simply allow much more time.
 






yeah, my explorer is absolutely impossible to go back to stock with! I wish it was otherwise, but the modications done to attemp to do the air suspension and keep awd were very extensive to the front end and there are other issues mechanically as well (not with using it- just completely preventing it from going back to anything like stock). Of course finding a buyer for an explorer with basically 0 normal working doors could prove difficult as well (keep in mind i don't even have a liftgate anymore on the truck). I could get it in primer basically as-is within a few months and it would be a very solid custom sport truck for someone to purchase, but it won't be what i want long term. Also, there is the problem that if i sell it for what a bank will loan on it i'll be coming out with a lower $ amount than i can part it/keep the parts i want from it for.


so far as the air suspension goes- i'd have about a $2500 head start on things in parts alone provided i stick to a suspension set-up on the car that allows me to run 6" diameter bags (should be doable no problem). The air on the truck has nothing but the best parts... parts which are worth more to me ($2k minimum) than they are worth on the used market, for sure.

It has a $600 custom alternator already on it that i'd be re-using.

It has KMC Hellion wheels- 18" up front and 20" in the rear in very good condition with $1100 worth of brand new bfg kdwII nt rubber. value- $1500 easily.

I will be able to sell off the good bits of my interior- i know my cousin is going to take my dash off my hands for $300 (it has a 17" monitor in it), i can sell my fiberglass doors, kickpanel, and center console as well (have to be worth over $500 altogether), and lastly interior wise i have 2 virtually brand new navigator black buckets- $300+ there. So- 1k+ easily on interior bits

I'd also be happy to part all the other basic stuff that i could- glass, seatbelts, that kind of stuff- $$$?

Lastly, there is the value of the drivetrain, rear end and brakes- I know 5.0s are cheap and plentiful but that stuff has got to be worth at least $1500 all together to me AND i know the history of all of it and will know i have all the parts etc. etc.. Not to mention the sentimental value.

So, if i add that stuff up i get a little more than $6500. If i had to put a value on the truck (selling it as-is) it would be closer to 4k at best- and that might be pushing it to actually get that much. It would definitely take another couple hundred hrs of work to get it into a condition where i would expect it to sell for comfortably more than $6500!!!

Someone tell me i'm wrong, please? maybe you want to buy my truck as is for over $5k and save me the trouble of any of this?

so far as building the motor- yeah, i'm really looking forward to getting into it and learning etc.. I've started to do a lot of engine work (forced induction stuff as you can see in my signature) and custom installation etc., but i've yet to have any real experience taking a motor apart.
 






I was afraid that you had exactly that kind of parts in it that cannot be priced with a whole vehicle. You know what the parts are worth and how much labor would be needed to make it whole. You have gained the knowledge and skills with those changes, keep that in mind when you part it out. That is beyond a price.

The engine/trans and all of the support parts might bring near $1000, but no more for you to buy or sell it. Deals of $600-$800 turn up occasionally, the trans and wiring etc. make the big difference. That you have it all in one place and in fine condition, that is worth more to you. Look at those like any 302 and medium sized trans, it should all go into most older Fords.

Try to concentrate on headers for the body style you start with, that and trans mounting. The rest is easily workable, FYI the 94/95 Mustang front dress can be used in place of the Explorer parts. You have to use the Explorer balancer and timing cover, but the other stuff can come from those SN95 Mustangs. I am about to buy a SN95 water pump(and pulley) from FMS for my 347, those have no clutch fan, it's electric. The Mustang parts set down a little bit more than the Explorer parts. The alternator, PS and AC compressor is different, but for a custom install that's minor. Regards,
 






i'll have issues there if i don't have fitment- if possible i want to keep the explorer acc. drive etc. (my dual alt set-up and engine driven air compressor run off of it)

i have the fms/borla headers on my truck currently- will probably need to sell those.

so far as the value of my parts- i absolutely don't care about the $ aspect of it (that i'm "losing" money or whatever). Every $ i spent has been more than worth it educationally without a doubt! It amazes me (lol) how much i've been able to do with so little $ with my subsequent vehicles... particularly the C43.

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i will post a few more pictures soon after this next weekend. I'm going to STL for the worldstreetchallenge.com show- running the audio portion of it.
 



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Have fun with that event. I'm going to look at the 94/95 front brackets again before doing anything about my alternator and power steering. You should need as short of a front dress as possible for the car. I'm thinking of a possible super charger. Night,
 






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