Snowball 94 Limited

[willindsay]

Well I did a little work this past weekend... I got the tranny filter installed and hooked up. I can already feel the difference from the extra cooler and filter. The tranny shifts a lot smoother.

I took her for a drive up to Newfound gap(about 5000 in elevation) then to the highest point in around East TN, Clingmans Dome(Bout 6200 in elevation).

It was a long 30 mile drive up the mountain. The explorer did great never got past half way on the temp gauge even though with the uphill she was doin about 2900rpms for 5min or so at a time. Did have one little issue one of the stupid vacuum hoses came lose. It had done it to me before so Iknew exactly what it was so i fixed it,once we got back to town I got a hose clamp and put it on the hose to prevent it from coming off again.

Now for the pics...

Girlfriend decided the Explorer was a great prop for some pics of the 2 of us since I had taken tons of the car and few with her.

Now the sad News I start back college tomorrow so little work will be getting done on her for a while. I parked her right outside my dorm window so I can keep an eye on her. She will be getting a thorough work out this coming Saturday as me and my girl are head to Bristol for the Races!

 

[willindsay]

I took a break from workin on the X this weekend to make a comfy chair for the dorms I found a 2nd row bucket seat with dual armrests from a mid 90s E-150 or 250. Didn't even thing to look at the exact year I was just glad to find one that was in good condition and looked really simple to make work.

So... Here it is.

It's super comfy! I vacuumed and shampooed it once I got it home and I'm sittin in it as I type this.

 

[mr cribb]

dang you take some killer pics.

digging the new chair.... At our on post repair shop a guy took some chevy van seats and old leaf springs and made rocking chairs out of them... super comfy as well.

 

[willindsay]

dang you take some killer pics.

digging the new chair.... At our on post repair shop a guy took some chevy van seats and old leaf springs and made rocking chairs out of them... super comfy as well.

Thanks. If you wanna see more of my photographs check out the link to my site and blog in my sig.

I was debating gettin a bench seat to make a couch out of. Rocking chairs would be pretty awesome too.

 

[willindsay]

Nothin really new to report on the explorer. I've just been collecting parts lately. Last time I was at Pull-A-Part I grabbed the weather stripping for the drivers door off a 97ex as well as a trailer plug(that I already installed in mine). I also scored 50 more white LEDs off ebay for $8. I think I'm gonna use them to make a underglow setup and install a few in the running boards to lite up the steps. I'll tie all of them in to the dome lights. If I ever get some free time while I'm home I'll have plenty of projects to work on.

Now for some pics..
I took a backroad home last weekend to avoid traffic and it just happened to follow along side Douglas lake(which they are slowly draining in prep for winter) and I cam across a couple pull-offs for boat-ramps and fishing areas/short trails. I played around in some of the mud and on some of the rocky tails. Nothing real major but it was fun

Here I'm drivin up a pretty steep hill.

The old ramp made for some really cool pictures.

Flexin the suspension a bit... I also broke the door pull handle here... Now both fronts need to be replaced.

This was the more fun area it had several trails leading down to the lake that had pretty deep ruts and ditches in them plus trees on both sides. I spent like 30min goin up and down all the trails.

 

[willindsay]

Well got a little project done over the weekend I've had kicking in my head for a while.

I removed the mesh I had behind my grill and fog light holes and cleaned it real good and laid several coats of pumkin orange paint on them and topped it off with a few coats of clear.

Here's the results.

Camera's set on auto no flash

Slowed the shutter down a bit and flash.

 

[willindsay]

Had some free time Friday to tinker with the Ex a little once I was through with classes.

I started by picking up some new wiper blades. They are Rain-X winter blades with synthetic boots. I picked them up at Big-Lots they only had the, in 2 lengths 16" and 20" so I got the 20" set because I was already using 19" so I figured another inch wouldn't hurt. And if I didn't like them I didn't lose much as they we $8 for the set. I'm pretty impressed with them we'll see how they perform this winter with some snow.

I then went on to check the level of the fluid in the T-case and Read Diff. The Diff was a tad low but I don't think I got enough in it when I first filled it though. Both fluids look basically new and always the diff fluid smelled terrible.

Now my last project was something that has been annoying me for a while. Something was rattling loud under the car when first started and when stopped at lights. I tracked the rattle down to the heat shield on top of the muffler. Several of the mounts had let go. I decided to just yank it off as there was another right above it so I don't think it'll hurt anything. It took me 30min to fight this thing off but getting rid of that loud rattle was worth it.

 

[willindsay]

Continuing my prep for winter I finally properly fixed the leaky drivers side cargo window last Friday.

Very simple process Just remove all the push pins and some Phillips screws and you have access to the window which is held in with 10 9mm nuts. I left the top and bottom center ones threaded on enough so I could push the window to get the old gasket to let go without it dropping and shattering. Then I just scrapped the old gasket off and cleaned the whole area with Purple Power and a rag.

Then just applied the new 5/16" Butyl to the window frame and pressed the window in and went around 3-4 times gradually tightening all the bolts.

Window sticks out a tad bit further but it's raining outside right now and there's none getting inside my truck.

Only pics I took.

Washed Snowball after I was done just need to clean the inside window to completely finish the process.

 

[willindsay]

I go on Fall Break from college starting tomorrow so I have about 3 days of free time and no work (plus gf's fall break is diff time so no interruptions from her wanting me to spend time with her lol).

So I've got a few projects planned out to do with the truck over the break. Don't want to reveal them just yet but I will say they do involve LEDs. (Hopefully everything comes in in time).

 

[willindsay]

My Projects I've been working on are taking a lot longer than expected but I'm slowly completing them.

My First project was under seat LEDs for the back seats.
I used some extra pvc and cut it down the center to get 3 pieces. Painted it black and wired LEDs to them and then bolted them under the back seats. There are 12 under the back seats that are wired to come on when the dome lights come on. I also ground down and refinished the tips to spread out the lights.

Next project was to light the running boards with LEDs. I placed two at each end of the running boards and ground the tips on the ones furthest out. These also got wired to the Dome Lights.

Now the main project that is taking the longest. I'm making my own underglow kit out of PVC and Orange LEDs. The side lights are 6ft long and hold 29 LEDs each spaced at 2.5in. These will be wired to the dome lights also along with a separate switch hidden under the dash. I've got the mounts made and the switch mounted and wired all that's left is to finish the last side panel and mount and finish wiring them.

I'm sure I'll catch some flaming for doing this but I DON"t CARE. I like the idea and it's a fun project that was super cheap. I've got about $25 invested in it so if it doesn't work oh well.
Here's a pic of the first bar made.

 

[BrianDye]

I give you a ton of props for what your doing. Your saving hundreds of dollars compared to buying an underbody kit and strips for the interior!

That's an awesome idea though, the white LEDs under the seats with the dome lights!

It's your ride, you can do what you want to it man!

 

[willindsay]

I give you a ton of props for what your doing. Your saving hundreds of dollars compared to buying an underbody kit and strips for the interior!

That's an awesome idea though, the white LEDs under the seats with the dome lights!

It's your ride, you can do what you want to it man!

Thanks Man.

Saving money was the main motivation for making them this way plus for some reason it's relaxing to me. It's a simple project to kill time after work before I take my GF out on the weekends and she likes to help me out with parts of it.

 

[BrianDye]

Plus when people see it and comment about it you can throw it in that YOU made it yourself. That's a great feeling for sure. Those types of mods are my fav!

 

[Varsity]

Plus when people see it and comment about it you can throw it in that YOU made it yourself. That's a great feeling for sure. Those types of mods are my fav!

Agreed. No matter what others think, doing something out of the ordinary YOURSELF is an extremely rewarding feeling. Keep having fun with your truck!! Great to see the progress your making!

 

[willindsay]

Thanks guys it real is a great feeling when I finish one of the projects. Especially when it turns out as good or better than I thought it would.

 

[mr cribb]

I dig it!!!

 

[00meangreenXLT]

I like ur ex a lot dude looks really good!!

so re-sealing the rear quarter window wasn't too hard?? I'll be doing mine this week and i'm not looking forward to it lol

 

[willindsay]

I dig it!!!

I like ur ex a lot dude looks really good!!

so re-sealing the rear quarter window wasn't too hard?? I'll be doing mine this week and i'm not looking forward to it lol

Thanks.

Re-sealing was pretty simple. There's a thread I started on the leak and I put a little more info on the repair in it.

Here It Is

 

[CDW6212R]

William, what side view mirrors do you have? If they are stock, and you like the extra lighting, buy the 95-01 Limited mirrors(used) and wire those in. The puddle lights are very nice to have, and the mirrors are a direct swap(besides that one wire). You can tap into the same dome light circuit you have, add add the one wire to the truck mirror connector.

Don't buy aftermarket mirrors, I know they are much cheaper but I wouldn't have them. I'd give the one I have left away if I had an OEM one to replace it with. The hail storm cracked the left mirror glass, and I had one spare for that.

 

[willindsay]

William, what side view mirrors do you have? If they are stock, and you like the extra lighting, buy the 95-01 Limited mirrors(used) and wire those in. The puddle lights are very nice to have, and the mirrors are a direct swap(besides that one wire). You can tap into the same dome light circuit you have, add add the one wire to the truck mirror connector.

Don't buy aftermarket mirrors, I know they are much cheaper but I wouldn't have them. I'd give the one I have left away if I had an OEM one to replace it with. The hail storm cracked the left mirror glass, and I had one spare for that.

I had wondered if they were a direct swap always figured it'd require rewiring the whole mirror. Mine are the Stock heated Limited Mirrors. Adding one extra wire would be very simple since the door panels have lights in then all you'd have to do is tap them. The drivers one has a hairline crack in it that bugs me now I have reason to replace and upgrade the mirrors!

You just added another mod to the huge list I already have. Guess I'm hunting a set of 2nd Gen Limited Mirrors.