Naasau's 1993 Explorer "The Beast"

My goal for this registry is not so much to provide a story of how this build has gone/is going, because that would take years... too many years... but rather to provide an aggregate list of the maintenance/repairs/upgrades that I've done over the years as well as what still needs to be done. That way if anyone sees me headed towards a cliff, they can throw out a warning in time, cause god knows I need all the help I can get.


Now for the nitty-gritty:

Interior:

[ ] Add additional gauges:
Fix Oil Pressure Gauge
Temp Gauges
Vacuum Gauge
[ ] Replace Dash Gauges (Make 'em Red!)
[ ] Re-engineer Center Console
Include wiring for cab winch controls
[ ] Add CB Radio
Cobra 75wx?
Hopefully something with NOAA weather channels?
[ ] Mount High-lift jack Inside
[ ] Second Row Head-rests
[ ] Install Medi-pack Holder
[X] Replace stereo controller w/ something compatible with Android & Pandora

Exterior:

Body
[X] Tackle Rocker Panel Rust!
[X] Realign front wheel well curvature
[X] Pacer Fender Flairs

Lighting
[X] Headlight Lense Replacement
[X] Headlight Relay Harness
[X] 9004/9007 Bulb Conversion
[X] Fog lights (PIAA)
[X] Aux. Driving lights (PIAA)
[ ] Aux. Reverse lights
[ ] Emergency (Strobe) Lighting
[ ] Roof rack lighting, for surround flood/workspace light

Armor
[X] Winch Mount w/ Grill guard and Brush Guards
[ ] Skid plate
[ ] Front Diff / 3rd member protection
[ ] Rear bumper & Tire Mount
[ ] Rock Sliders
[ ] Roof Rack

Recovery Gear
[X] High Lift Jack
[X] HF Badland 12k winch
[X] Front shackles & Mounts
[ ] Rear Shackles & Mounts
[X] Misc. Recovery Gear (includes snatch block and accessories)
[X] Standard tool kit
[ ] On Board Air

Power-train/Drive-train:

Intake/Exhaust
[ ] Cold Air Intake – Sealed w/ Cone filter
[ ] Larger MAF Collar
[ ] Throttle Body Mod
[ ] CPU Chip
[ ] Replace Cat-back Exhaust (Magnaflow pt#11226)

Batteries
[ ] Dual Battery Smart Management (IBS Dual Battery w/ Microporcessor)
[X] Optima Red Top
[ ] Optima Yellow Top
[ ] Relocate Batteries to custom built box outside engine compartment

Fuel
[ ] Add secondary gas tank – Run with toggle switch to dedicated pump/gauge.
[ ] Replace fuel injectors

Cooling/Misc
[ ] Black Magic Electric Cooling Fan
[ ] 2nd Tranny Cooler
[ ] In-line Remote filter for tranny
[X] AGR Power Steering Pump + Upgrades
[X] Flaming River Intermediate Steering Shaft
[X] Rebuild Gear Box

Suspension
[X] 6” Skyjacker lift (w/ dual shocks and JD coil seat buckets)
[X] Optimize!
[X] Dual Piston Caliper Front Brake Upgrade!
[X] Manual Hub Conversion (With Warn Pt#37780)
[ ] C-Clip Eliminator Mod
[ ] Gears (I'm thinking 4.56 in case I go bigger than 33")
[ ] Detroit Truetrac Worm Gear Limited slip (Front)
[ ] LS & Locker Combo! (Back)

[X] Rear U-Bolt bash plate w/ modified Shock Mount
[X] F-150 Leaf Spring Pack Upgrade
[ ] Custom Leaf pack w. full military wrap


[X] License Plate Frames!!!!!

Key:

[X] Done!
[ ] To Do.
{ } Scrapped.

Everything else I figure you can figure out.

 

[Naasau]

I reserve the right to reserve this spot!

Also, I'm still working on post #1..... give it time and I'll have nifty links and other cool stuff too!

 

[Keeper0311]

Looks great man!

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

lookin good

 

[Naasau]

Thank ya much! Soonish I'll get the rest of the links up and everything organized properly. Hopefully.

 

[Naasau]

After having a friendly discussion and gentle chastisement by Gmanpaint I went ahead and fixed my speedo cable gear, I need to do a bit of test driving, but for the moment it looks promising!

And I couldn't have done it without This Thread of Awesomeness!

I also found this thread via 4x4Junkie, who is and will always be the TTB god.

P.S. I will toss some pics up soonish.

 

[CJExplorer]

Looks better than it did when you bought it. Glad you took off the side steps, the looked odd in that first picture. Great looking Explorer, Keep up the Good Work

 

[Naasau]

Thanks! Yeah, the side steps were odd, and they hung down below the tupperware side panels. They got ditched because I kept hanging them up on things, then they started rusting right through the powder-coat!

friggin' cheap powder coats... gr....

 

[Naasau]

Good News!!! I just bought a shiny new toy for the Beast!

Though I didn't pay anywhere near that much for it. Pics to follow.

 

[Naasau]

And Installed! Whoot! Now to see if I can break something. I've heard tell that the neighbors want to be rid of their Juniper Bushes.... yes....

 

[Naasau]

As a bonus, I even got a Class III hitch at the junk yard for $30! The original owner had even upgraded all the hardware to Grade 8, so all I had to do was slap some new Rubberized Coating on it, and slap it in.

As usual, I really should'ove gotten some post painting pics.. and I thought that I did, as well as some of it installed, but I can't seem to find them at the moment. I will add some later.

By naasau at 2012-06-25

 

[Naasau]

The tranny has indeed died. Damn you A4LD Gods!

I must now summon the might of the M5OD.

 

[wood1]

Ah that sucks dude, sorry to hear about your loss.

And moving on, M5OD bought yet? I read somewhere you can mount the SOHC clutch plate to the OHV flywheel. Have to drill and tap new holes... More holding power!

 

[Naasau]

Yeah.... got the critter from a yard, complete unit from a 1992 X on Tuesday. For now I'm going to go with the standard clutch/flywheel assembly, and worry about upgrades later.

Oddly enough, I'm having a damned hard time getting the pedal assembly in. To get it out of the junker, I convinced the dash to move kindly aside with a three foot crow bar... Which I can't do now.

Any thoughts?

 

[wood1]

Sorry buddy, got nothing but a bump for you there... I remember reading there is a trick to it but can't remember.

 

[Naasau]

Damn. Thanks for the bump though!

I'm sure that I'll be able to muddle through. The question is, will it be in time for work Monday?

 

[Naasau]

Got it in time for work! Though I was bleeding the clutch around midnight Sunday... and all the trim pieces and grill were sitting in the bed on top of my recovery gear come work on Monday.

Odd thing is, all the electrical in the dash is screwed up, I've got pegged needles, odd lights, and no back light. The only thing working right is the speedometer, I'm guessing because it's cable driven.

Everything else works great! I even have the clutch safety and reverse lights, blinkers, headlights, and etc working, so I know the primary loom through the firewall is good. Does this sound like I plugged the instrument panel in wrong?

 

[IAmTodd]

I believe it can be plugged in backwards. Are you using your original cluster? I tried to use a '91 cluster in my '94 and it did all sorts of odd things.

 

[Naasau]

That was it! The light patterns were different, so I had swapped my speedometer into the 92's cluster, which was a very bad plan. I swapped everything back over to the white backing plate of my old one, and presto!, instant fix.

Thanks for the insight.

 

[IAmTodd]

Glad to hear! I had my turn signals flashing through the fuel and oil pressure gauges. That was cool for oh...two seconds!

The block plate for the auto gear selector will switch over. I just did that with the manual cluster I bought.