Saved from neglect hell: 98 Explorer mini-resto

[Facimeor]

Looks amazing and looks like no shortcuts either. I would have all the confidence in the world in that truck if I bought it.

Funny you should put it that way, as I feel the same about it regardless of its miles. Here are some other things I fixed along the way:

• audio display intermittant - resoldered the power supply as per help from here. now working steady
• HVAC fan made noise then stopped altogether - solution was to remove the mouse nest in the squirrel fan and unshort the resistor
• bad power window chaild safety switch made only drivers controls work - fixed by taking switch apart and cleaning the contacts
• armrest cover shredded - replaced with black genuine leather
• fog light mounts broken, lights flopping around, one bulb out- fixed mount with epoxy, replaced both bulbs with silverstar upgrades

______________

Also from this thread here is the meat of the trans repair:

Might as well make this a diary of the process since I went ahead and dove in head first like I always do.

So, it took me a little over 6 hours to get the trans out of the vehicle. Part of the problem was that everything was stuck fast and the exhaust was pretty rusty. Rather than making more work for myself down the road by having to pull manifolds and drill broken studs I took my time, used plenty of Blaster and worked all my exhaust bolts out without breaking anything. It was quite a relief actually.

After that it was fairly routine but still it seemed like everything took extra effort to free up for removal. It doesnt help I dont have a lift and Im working on cold concrete with a near 50yo body, but...she came out!

That was yesterday, so today I cleaned up the outside of the trans. Easy off oven cleaner FTW! I then mounted it to an engine stand, an idea I got from the explorer forums and set to taking it apart:

I dedicated a work area and table to the job so I could keep everything in order, clean and organized. I have pretty good light in this spot as well.

So skip ahead to most of the day taking my time, being careful to note how everything came apart and which was was up...I came to the reason for this repair, the broken reverse band. Ive seen this exact same failure on others pictures. Seems like a weakpoint, but what do you expect at 300K miles.
The tab that the reverse servo pushes on to constrict the reverse band was broken off.

At the end of the day, this is where I stood, transmission torn completely down, everything bagged and/or tagged and all I can do now is wait for my rebuild kit to arrive. (note the laptop for the teardown manual on hard drive for assistance as needed). Man I love technology.

The guts of the beast. Everything looked really good coming out.

The problem and the solution:

and fast forward to a few hours later, completely reassembled:

I also ended up replacing the transfer case as it turned out the one in there had been run dry of fluid and the chain was badly stretched. During the process of finding that problem I ended up buying a replacement front carrier as well. I say buy, but it was really more of a trade screw up on the junkyards part so I ended up with it for free. Total cost of the transfer case and front carrier ended up at around $175 with fluids.


All said and done I have just under $1000 into the truck including an estimated cost for the chemicals I used that I had on hand. Kelly Blue Book on it even with the miles is just over $4k, so I think it was worth the effort!

 

[Varsity]

I would think so too! Sounds like a ton of work, but a lot of fun as well. You're not restoring a pretty muscle car this time, but an Explorer, a vehicle most people just run to the ground laughing and then send it to the junker. Definitely something I admire. I just have to keep that in mind when trying to get rid of some weird spots on my door handle.

 

[Limited02]

GREAT WORK!!! I really need to give my Ex a good detail soon, it's been too long.

Please tell me you took the Ex back to the previous owner to show them what you did??? They'd probably buy it back for more than they sold it to you

 

[Facimeor]

I would have if they didnt live more than an hour away from me. That might be a little like rubbing it in their face, lol.

If I sell it for close to what Im asking for it, the profit will be enough reward for me over and above how proud I am of my hard work.

 

[Kris Guilbeaux]

What do you use for cleaning the leather seats before you condition them? I just got my 98 Limited and it was owned by a smoker. I plan to use as many of your tricks as I can to make it look new again.

 

[Facimeor]

In my case my seats were SOOooo bad that my Meguiars cleaner didnt hardly make a dent so I broke out the big gun, good ol' Purple Power. I diluted it 1:1 with water and cleaned fast enough that it never sat on the leather for very long. Its a tad harsh for everyday use on leather but the majority of my cleaning was obviously an oily residue. Since I was following with a very thorough multiple application conditioning I wasnt worried about it taking the oil out of the leather. Ive used this method several times and not seen any long term problems with it.

however, I have actually found through lots of experimentation that Windex is one of the best cleaners for smokers residue. Its great on all your hard surfaces like door panels and other interior plastics.

I found the only way to completely remove the smokers smell is a really good Ozone treatment.

 

[Ranger379]

thats absolutely amazing work. haha and i thought i cleaned my explorer too much... a full cleaning is in order for mine also sometime this summer.

how did you go about cleaning the engine bay?

that truck looks brand new again

 

[Facimeor]

The engine is the same answer, Purple Power (They really should sponsor me, lol), no dilution, but I wet it down first and work small sections at a time with a variety of brushes, including bottle brushes, toilet brushes, small paint brushes and nylon detail brushes. Anything big enough for a wash mitt I hit first, then just go to work with the PP and brushes.

Once Im all done I usually dry it off with a quick trip up the highway and back, let cool completely then hit with my favorite Meguiars (they too should sponsor me, lol) dressing spray. Since the engine bay gets dirty easy I go light on the dressing and let sit for a few hours, then with a microfiber, I wipe up any left over and buff to a dry shine anything plastic that stands out.

 

[TekMan05]

Pheewwww I just finished my carpet cleaning. I will say this for all the work your carpet better be really stained to make it worth it. LOTTA work. Took me a week to do between working and stuff. I also scratched my door taking my seats out. But here's some of my pics from my phone.

The white powder is crushed sugar cubes. Since my mom used to ride horses she had these in the console

WTF is this CH*T?!?

 

[TekMan05]

Scratched my baby taking the shotgun seat out

On a side note I was also gettin my rusting rear bumper repainted which is why I engaged in tearing the interior apart since she was down. Check it out. The color wasn't a 100% match but anything is better than rust!

After sandblasting

Also did the roof rack rails

 

[Cozmik]

Wow!!! I like cleaning and detailing and I'm 'ok' at it...but I definitely need to attend the School of Joe Dirt and Facimeor! You two are AMAZING!!!!

Very inspiring thread!!!

 

[Facimeor]

Tekman, you didnt need to take the back seats out, just unbolt the front legs from the floor to get the carpet out from underneath then set them back down. I can have carpet out in an hour. The part for me that takes the longest is waiting for it to dry completely.


Good work nevertheless!

 

[Joe Dirt]

Tip- if you have a dehumidifier at home, lay the carpeting next to it on top of an open box/sawhorse, etc. so it can get air underneath, turn the dehumidifier on next to it, and it dries more than twice as fast as sitting outside...

 

[TekMan05]

Yeah I see what you mean by the back seats now. Oh well, I also figured out I didn't need to completely dissasemble my rear control in the center console to get it out. It was a major B**ch to get back in. Overall It was a good learning experience on working on my interior though!

 

[Varsity]

Is Purple Power the answer to cloth seat stains too? I just did probably my most intense cleaning on the Explorer and found to my dismay a disgusting stain on the driver's seat. If you scratch it with your finger, it turns whitish and you get dirt under your nail, but once you leave it alone, it turns back to obnoxiously dark and stuff. I bought the Purple Power Spray which was actually a miracle worker on numerous spots in my interior, but this seat stain is killing me. Should I do the 1:1 Purple Power/water mixture on it and wipe with a rag or something? I'm freaking out just a little. Here's a rough picture even though the lighting is screwing it up.

And not nearly as important, but I've found some whitish stuff on my center console. To me, it looks like discoloration but I also think it could be some type of stain. Anything recommended for tackling this "spot?" Purple Power?

Thanks! Like I said, I did one of my best cleanings on the Explorer and I give credit to you and your advice. Especially the Purple Power spray that works miracles on my sun visor and door carpet.

 

[Facimeor]

Purple power is first and foremost a degreaser (a very strong detergent), and therefore works best against greasy dirt. When you think about your interior basically it is human oil and dust (I know, gross right?). Thats why it works well. Many other degreasers would work I just happen to find PP to be the right mix of strength while still being relatively safe.

One thing it will not work on very well is waxy dirt. If you scratch something and it turns whiteish, then returns to color after sitting a bit, its waxy. Ever have a car that used to be inhabited by kids that left behind crayons that melted into the carpet? I have. Its a pain in the ass.

One method for dealing with waxy stains is to draw them out with an iron. grab an old brown paper bag and open it up flat. Using a houshold iron on low temp, put the paper over the stain and then press the iron over it. It wont need too much heat, just enough to melt the stain. It should be drawn into the paper. Just keep moving the paper to a clean spot until no more wax/oil will come up. Then try cleaning the spot once again with your detergent of choice (PP).



as for the whiteish stuff it might be dry oxidized plastic from the console itself. Ive found it particularly common in the Ford plastics to do that. One word of caution here. PP will make that worse. It draws whats left of the natural oils out of the plastic/vinyl where its already breaking down and since it draws the dirt out as well you are left with a whitish residue thats even more noticeable.

For that I would use a cleaner with a conditioner in it. Mequiars vinyl and rubber cleaner/conditioner works very well for me in those cases. I like to get a little agressive with it though by using an ultrafine 3M scuffer (the grey ones) to rub the "chalk" off the surface. Its fairly agressive but its also the only thing Ive found that evens out the tone of the plastic back to factory color.

Dont forget to treat everything you clean with the appropriate UV blocking protectant afterwards to keep it as nice as possible for a long time to come.

 

[Varsity]

Hmm, strange but makes perfect sense. Never would have thought of ironing the stain out, but like you said, most cleaners I've used don't make much of a difference. It's weird because if you look at it from the driver's side, its horrendous. If you look at it from the passenger side, you don't see anything. I'm nervous, but I'll give it a try sometime soon.

As far as the whitish stuff, still not sure what I am going to do. I didn't use PP on it, only Tuff Stuff, a cleaner that I know does great on just about everything. For awhile, I thought the white stuff was from the Tuff Stuff, but then I realized that it didn't resemble any type of spray marks or anything so it couldn't have been from me. I was thinking of spray painting it as a somewhat quick fix too. I didn't want to spend too much time on it going mad, but your suggestion seems like a happy medium. I'll have to give it some thought. Thanks for the tips, I knew you would be the one to be able to help.

 

[Facimeor]

for the waxy stain if you are uncomfortable using the iron technique get a spray bottle of the hottest water you can get from your tap, mix in a little dish soap and spray then immediately shop vac, repeat as many times as needed.

The hot water melts the wax, the detergent emulsifies it and you can suck it out. I once knocked over a candle on my living room carpet and that technique got the lions share of the stain out.

 

[Varsity]

I'll try the hot water technique first as that sounds like the safest bet now. If that doesn't work, I'll use the iron. I'm nervous, but want this stain out. Thanks for the additional tip.