IAmTodd's '94 POS, wait thats my Saab thats the POS

I can't seem to stay away from the Explorer world for more than a year. I just checked out a '94 XLT earlier this evening. She's in a rather rough state at the moment but I have plans for a nice winter truck for her.

Specs:
1994 XLT
Condition of the motor: unknown
Trans: not really there
Transfercase: taking up space in the boot.

It has minimal rust for an 18 year old truck with 160k on the clock. Trans died and the owner decided to try to rebuild it himself. No such luck. It's currently sitting in a guys shop with the motor and two axles. All the parts are there except the trans which is junk. Body work is nice and straight. The passenger rocker has disappeared and a small amount of rust at the top of the rear arches. Interior is dirty, leather is rough but good new is it has a wind up sunroof!

I've just given my word on it. Title and transport should be negotiated on come Wednesday. For $350 I think it's good for parts at least!

First thing will be to get it rolling with a manual swap then continue to fix from there. Brake work will be needed with more maintenance I'm sure but I'm in no rush.

Glad to be back guys!

 

[corkey]

like Hotel California,, you can check out , but you can never leave,,

 

[sport97]

like Hotel California,, you can check out , but you can never leave,,

Looks like a fun project. My cousin is scrapping his 97 sport, 5 speed(?). I kind of want it as a project, but its beat, wrecked and rusted with a trillion miles...

 

[IAmTodd]

Got the bugger home last night. Tow truck driver just shook his head at me. The Explorer is in an interesting state. I crawled around underneath to find a few surprises that I didn't know about. The most terrifying being the cut radius arm cross member. The drivers side was sliced so that the arm could be lowered through to replace the bushing. Only the whole thing is beginning to fall through. I though it was game over at that point but RockAuto has the half cross member for $50. Arm bushing on the other side is shot and the arm is just flopping around in it.

The trans is out and someone did quite the hack job on doing so. They lacked intelligence and cut a hole in the firewall/floor to get to the upper trans bolts from the interior. Guess it looks like I'll be learning a little metal craft and welding. That's ok as the one rocker and both rear arches need patched up.

Everything else looks like a stanard '94. I'm trying to figure out a way to rig the starter up to fire up the engine but I'm not sure that will happen. Interior needs some serious cleaning and a new drivers seat. I can't believe the options this thing has for an XLT, dual power leather seats, JBL system, factory sunroof It's nearly an Eddie Bauer!

Not sure of the direction I'll be heading yet or if it's even worth fixing up.

Thanks Ben for changing the title.

 

[section525]

Welcome back, Todd.

Quite the project!

 

[frickea86]

You just can't stay away, can't wait to tear into her!

 

[IAmTodd]

NO NO, someone has already done the tearing. We need to gently put her back together.

Eric brought up a point that the bell housing should come off the trans to mount back to the motor and get the starter attached. Only issue is the torque converter being slightly stuck to the trans. Always something.

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

welcome back

 

[IAmTodd]

Progress has been made. I got the bell housing pulled from the autotragic and mounted back to the engine along with the starter. Had a few issues getting it fired. It doesn't know its in park so I had to jump the solenoid, bad fuel pump relay, and the inertia switch was tripped. After that it fires right up. Idle is a little rough and throttle response is awful but that will be addressed later.

Going to pull the engine, repair the body and work on the suspension. A small lift will be done while I'm digging in there. I figure I'm not taking things apart twice! A kit will replace a good bit of what I need.

The donor truck has been picked out. It's a '91 with 120k. It's complete and I'll be able to pull everything except the ECU which I've tracked one of those down too. There is also an XLT Sport there which I'm going to snag the flares from and try my hand at repairing the wheel arches and rockers. If it goes wrong the flares will cover.

Few minutes after getting to it's new home.

New family photo.

Radius arm hack job.

And the unfortunate donor.

 

[FROADER]

Rear Taurus buckets soon?

Welcome back and good luck with it!

 

[IAmTodd]

Ha! Not on this one. Aside from swapping in some limited front seats that's all I'm doing to the interior. I plead stupidity for what I did when I was younger haha.

 

[frickea86]

If you were a passenger in marsh with the taurus bucket seats, you would know it was a nice upgrade :smoke:

 

[FROADER]

I liked the rear buckets. I would have done it to mine had I kept it.

 

[IAmTodd]

It was comfy but a pain since they wouldn't fold.

Got an engine lift and stand last night to pull the anchor out and clean it up. If the weather holds I(we) should be going to get the donor trans.

Watch out Adam, yours is on the chopping block next. If I get this completed I won't be afraid to do anything!

 

[frickea86]

Chop away, need to lift the motor out for some necessary upgrades,

The planet really increased our DIY skills, hopefully they apply to Ford.

 

[IAmTodd]

Im hoping the Saturn hasnt instilled false confidence!

 

[IAmTodd]

Very little progress has been made. I've started PB Blasting the front to get things loosened up but it looks like a lot of the exhaust bolts will have to be cut. Figured as much. I did get a replacement rear wiper motor and taillight on the cheap so those two little problems are fixed. I also started cleaning some of the interior. Amazing how people can trash their carpets and not care!

I have finally decided on going with a two inch lift. The skyjacker seems to be a decent deal with coils, AALs, and a set of shocks. My tires aren't completely toast yet so I'll run them donut style until winter rolls around (if I get it running by then). Next weekend the engine gets pulled to get cleaned up and a few oil seeps fixed. Going to hold off on picking up trans parts until I get the Saturn sold and some bills paid off. I'm really itching to get this going though.

 

[IAmTodd]

Progress has been made! A good portion of parts have been removed in the engine bay. Right now the only two bits holding me back from removal is one exhaust bolt and the return fuel line. Both are putting up quite a fight to stay in.

Radiator had a huge amount of sediment in it and the AC system has no juice in it. I'm still keeping it connected but I have a feeling it will need major repairs in order to function again.

Saturn is sold so those funds will go towards getting this junker back on the road again!

 

[IAmTodd]

Had a very successful day. Got the trans, shifter, floor plate, wiring harness and all hardware along with two Mounty seats in excellent condition. Got everything so far for $150. Brings the total for the truck to $500 so far.

Motor is almost free, just need to get that out, everything cleaned and patched and things will be on there way. Can't wait to get this old girl rolling again.

Can't wait to retire this as my truck!

 

[TarHeel085]

I love the opel wheels on the 9-3. congrats on joining the saab/explorer owners club haha