Justin's 97 Sport -- "Sue"

Marcus Aurelius · September 6, 2009

Either a how to or a write up. They look like they are mounted to the tailgate from what I can see from the picture and it seems like a pretty cool idea that I may want to try out.

-Marc

97sprt4x4 · September 17, 2009

Toast · September 17, 2009

I love it! I need to get new shackles on mine so bad, I hate the ass sag mine has =(
Everything looks awesome man, Im ordering more LEDs today so I can do the lights along the bottom of the door soon =) Keep the Updates and Pictures coming =)

97sprt4x4 · September 28, 2009

Potential winter plans:

What i have:
285/75R16 Michelin X Radial LT Load Range D

What I'm getting:
Helper Springs
16 Stock Aluminum from a 4dr ex

I'm planning on Fitting up the
33s with the helper springs and a tt with minor trimming

Will the 33s be too much for the SOHC with 4.10s?

Glen4X4 · September 28, 2009

That should be a descent combination, that's what I was planning to do.

joshuaj0214 · October 6, 2009

not bad! looks like you've been busy....

now will you get her dirty? mabye going to Wharton on sunday if you want to try her out!

joshuaj0214 · October 6, 2009

97sprt4x4 said:
Will the 33s be too much for the SOHC with 4.10s?

I ran this setup for a long while and its pretty decent. The 4:10's make up for the taller tires a little. A 5.0 with 4:10's is even better thou

:

97sprt4x4 · October 6, 2009

While i would love to bring my truck, it's sitting in jerz. However if you decide to go to wharton (i have no idea where that is) i'll go as a passenger and spotter if you so choose as i would love to go on a trip where it's not a trail with ruts. and yeah there has been much work, i'm thinking possibly a 1 inch hockey puck lift and tt and helper springs to fit the 285s with interior trimming, but i'm at least doing the tt and helper spring when i get home for winter break.

Justin

popei.oliver · October 11, 2009

Russian designer works with Zagato on ZR1

Russian designer works with Zagato on ZR1-based Iso Rivolta Marella concept

http://www.autoshortnews.com/russian-designer-works-zagato-zr1-based-iso-rivolta-marella-concept/

:yelexp::yelexp::yelexp::yelexp::yelexp::yelexp::yelexp::yelexp::yelexp::yelexp:

97sprt4x4 · October 11, 2009

popei.oliver said:
Russian designer works with Zagato on ZR1-based Iso Rivolta Marella concept

http://www.autoshortnews.com/russian-designer-works-zagato-zr1-based-iso-rivolta-marella-concept/

:yelexp::yelexp::yelexp::yelexp::yelexp::yelexp::yelexp::yelexp::yelexp::yelexp:

um.... okay....

97sprt4x4 · October 19, 2009

Real update soon, for now a quicky

.

Good news, tupperware is off and staying off, as well as coolant flushed and 6th spark plug replaced

Bad news, now i've got holes and rust! oh dear.

97sprt4x4 · October 20, 2009

Rust and Holes oh My!

Alright, last Saturday was a productive night for Sue. Set out with a bunch of things in mind, I only got a few done, but it was still productive none the less.
- I changed my coolant.
The stuff in there was BLACK! it was really really gross... like if i were just walking in i would have thought i drained my oil pan. But alas, it came from the radiator. The new stuff went in and now it's a nice pale green. and boy of boy my heat is hot now... actually burned my toes.. still not sure if this is good....

- Replaced the 6th and final spark plug. The last time we tried this it took us about an hour and half to do the spark plugs. i finished the passenger side, the really hard one in just under 45 minutes, and then i went to grab the other three to move over to the driver side, and alas... i only find two. :banghead:

We're not entirely sure, but we think the kid's dog that i was working at ate it, not sure how or why... but that's the only conclusion that we could come to, because it was not ANY where.

- the tupper ware is gone! My original plan was to take it off the truck, wash it down, sand it down and bed line it like i had with the front and read bumper. However. once i had both sides off completely i took a step back, and i loved the body lines so much more. I've always had a complaint that the rear tires have a bad offset with the body of the truck and without going to a 12.5 inch wide tire, they look so tucked into the rear. plus the fenders stick out so much that it's just ridiculous.

Now the problems that come along with this... :frustrate

as almost everyone knows the trim is held on by christmas clips and these t clips. both of which have holes in the metal to hold them on. I'm not sure as to why.... but the front fenders have two sets of holes, so i have like 14 holes in the front, and 8 in the back and 10 along the rocker panel. those are fine and all just cover the inside with tape and fill them in with bondo. done. the real problem lies in what i found under that i wasn't expecting (see attached) :splat:

The first picture is of the Passenger side dog leg, this one concerns me the most. I have no experience with patching rust, and I've looked around but there are no 2dr dog legs that are available for replacement, nor do i have a welder that i can use of have any experience with the welder. So i'm not sure how i can do this and have it look right at the end.

As far as everything is concerned the first and more important thing to get done, is get rid of the rust before they start salting the roads. otherwise it's gonna get real bad, real fast. Can anyone suggest a way to stop the rust, as well as a way to fill in the dog leg... my first thoughts are to try to patch it like you would a hole in sheet rock... put a mesh screen on it and put bondo over it and sand it down until it looks normal. but i'm thinking this may not be good because i've never seen it done... i don't really care what it looks like persay as i'm going to be hercing around the wheel wells and the bottom half of the truck once the rust has been fixed.

Any and all help will be appreciated.
Justin

:feedback:

Currency · October 20, 2009

The way I was told on how to fix the holes by my father and several top body shops in my area was. To hit the area of the hole with a hammer. then bondo it up, Otherwise it will be harder to just fill the hole's in. As for your rusted areas, I would recommend welding in some new sheet metal. If you bondo them areas up it will be a crap job imo. I have to find a welder to do mine on my first gen, it looks really bad now that I pulled the running boards off. Actually have mud covering most of it up now

:

Looks like a mud paint job from the molding on down, A nice chunky light brown

It was actual mud, not muddy water. I attempted to get my explorer stuck in a corn field but that was not going to happen. Buried all four wheels up to the bottom of the rim and even in 2wd it just pulled itself right out like it was nothing. Makes me love it so much more

97sprt4x4 · October 26, 2009

winter temp fix

I need more time to find a welder that won't charge me an arm and a leg to do what i want done. So i did a temp fix for now. Let me know what you guys think.

I also did under the lip on the lift gate, but i didn't spray that white as it cannot be seen.

This is the stuff i used is Rust Reformer. You have to sand it down and get all the lose stuff off, then spray this off. it coats like black paint but apparently stops the rust. I wouldn't know if it does, but i'll trust the name. Then i used Dupli-color SUV paint in Oxford white to match my paint the best i could. I think it came out pretty well.

Justin

jg09 · October 27, 2009

Just have it coated in Line-X! It'll be pretty expensive, but you can take a lot of cost out of it if you mask everything off before you take it there. Plus, Line-X can be sprayed in a few colors, including white, as I recall, and it can be sprayed on pretty smooth.

97sprt4x4 · October 27, 2009

jg09 said:
Just have it coated in Line-X! It'll be pretty expensive, but you can take a lot of cost out of it if you mask everything off before you take it there. Plus, Line-X can be sprayed in a few colors, including white, as I recall, and it can be sprayed on pretty smooth.

That would be a possibility but it wouldn't fill the hole in, I would have to get it welded anyway. So i may, but i need to figure out how to weld and where to get a welder cheap for the summer, on top of wanting a sound system back and lifting it up two inches and fitting up the 33s

jg09 · October 27, 2009

97sprt4x4 said:
That would be a possibility but it wouldn't fill the hole in, I would have to get it welded anyway. So i may, but i need to figure out how to weld and where to get a welder cheap for the summer, on top of wanting a sound system back and lifting it up two inches and fitting up the 33s

Yeah, Line-X wouldn't fix the rust, but it would definitely keep it from happening again. And it would make your x's exterior pretty much bomb proof.

97sprt4x4 · October 27, 2009

http://www.mcneilracinginc.com/off-road-fiberglass/Ford/Explorer/95-00_2dr/index.htm

This is a potential idea for me to do. i wanna fit 33s, but i cannot fit them without destroying my stock fenders. With these i could potentially just do a tt and 4dr leafs. what would be the problems with these?

jg09 · October 28, 2009

97sprt4x4 said:
http://www.mcneilracinginc.com/off-road-fiberglass/Ford/Explorer/95-00_2dr/index.htm

This is a potential idea for me to do. i wanna fit 33s, but i cannot fit them without destroying my stock fenders. With these i could potentially just do a tt and 4dr leafs. what would be the problems with these?

Having owned an Explorer with those fenders and hood, I will say, they're a pretty good option, but you'll find (at least with x1s) that the metal structure behind the fender hangs down lower than the fender when you put the wide mouthed fiberglass on there. so depending on where your tire is rubbing, just slapping on a set of fiberglass fenders may or may not fix it. Just a warning...

97sprt4x4 · November 16, 2009

Well... i have some good news and some bad news. The good news is i have new oil, a new fuel filter, and a new serpentine belt, as well as my idle problem has greatly decreased, probably from the above.

Bad news.... well the explorer is currently in the shop... my rear brake lines from the junction back were apparently about to rust through. seeing the $590 bill from ford made me cringe and attempt to get it done myself. Yeah... didn't happen that way. i had the line run up over the axle and was attempting to screw it into the distribution block on the axle, and it stripped.... lucky me. But the scary part is, when i pulled the old line off, it crumbled in my hand. looking down the tube, over half was pure rust, no metal. i'm lucky that i didn't "NEED" my brakes, because if that were the case, i'm pretty sure they would have failed. The reason it's in the shop is because i'm back at school now and have no time to fix this and find the parts i need, and when i get home again i need my truck in functional order.

ah well, next on the list, passenger side CV axle, and the drivers side wheel bearing is shot, so i need a new hub.

Justin

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