Some basic questions for a newbie

[Fordy nine]

Ive owned my 91 since new, and all of a sudden its come full circle from the wife thru the kids then back in my lap. Its a little rusty and worn and has some gremlins but its still runs pretty good.

From reading this site I never knew how many dedicated Explorer people there are.

Always like the looks of it and thought it had a neat stance, and always thought there was potential for it. To me its not old any more, its vintage. Now that Ive got it back, I can mod it.

So after tackeling and fixing some things thanks to this site, Im think im ready to play a little and get into some more serious mods.

But I wanna know one thing. From a tough/ overall well engineered/off road contender point of view, how does the explorer stack up against the competition? Like Blazers, Jeeps, Imports? I mean are the basics there, and how do you rate it?

Only cause I can see myself spending a lot of money on it . Since I read lots of posts with all seemingly having the same things wrong with it I wonder how the rest of the machine is and if its worth doing it to.

I would really like to hear what you all have to say.

 

[Lt.Jim]

All vehicles have their quirks! You can spend alot of money if you want or a little. This is not a cheap hobby! If it is something you want to keep for a long time, spend the money. If you really don't care if it lasts for ever I would suggest looking into budget mods. You may get lucky and get a good bit out of budget mods. Good luck and keep us up to date on what you decided to do.

 

[Fordy nine]

Thanks, at least you didnt call me an idiot , like Sgt. Swaybars did in my other post. I should get my RA brackets and bushings this week, and hopefully theyll be on by the weekend to feel the difference.

No car hobby is cheap, I have a solid $36,000 in my rotissarie 72 #'s matching big block Camaro, and almost an equal amount in another project of mine, a 67 Shelby convertable clone im building, from a 68. Not to mention a few other cool cars and rods I have.

I know it can get addicting. For this project though, I dont want to get into V6 engine rebuilding, so im wondering, with all the oil leaks does this truck have a basically good motor? Or is it poorly engineered from the get go?

I know Im lookin at gasket replacement, seems like a PITA. One of the whats gotta be done first things.

 

[cculter]

From my experience thus far the engine runs fine as long as it is maintained. I have not had this happen yet (knock on wood), but quite a few people have problems with the A4LD transmission. There are very good threads on the site from glacier991 on rebuliding these transmissions. The explorer has a good platform to start with for offroading such as the 8.8" rear end.

 

[FROADER]

All vehicles have their quirks! You can spend alot of money if you want or a little. This is not a cheap hobby! If it is something you want to keep for a long time, spend the money. If you really don't care if it lasts for ever I would suggest looking into budget mods. You may get lucky and get a good bit out of budget mods. Good luck and keep us up to date on what you decided to do.

Agreed! If it wasn't worth it, this site probably wouldn't exist either.

 

[JDraper]

If properly maintained, the Explorer's are pretty sturdy. I've owned a '92, an '01, and now a '94. IMHO, the 1st gen (91-94) are the sturdiest and best suited for offroading/abuse. Weak spot is definitely the auto tranny.

Got any pix of your other cars? I have a rotisserie restored '66 Mustang and a '04 Mach 1 sitting in my garage .

 

[Fordy nine]

Heres my 71 Camaro, 383 stroker, was a plain jane made it into a Rat Rod, my 67 Mustang that i bought for 200 bucks, It was a heap but when the wife left me i just spent a year building, to keep my mind off matters, and the 70 Convertable i just sold yesterday.

I will have to find the pics of my 72 BB it just came out of paint after a 4 year build, I only have pices in the booth, but it should be done soon. I also dont have any dig pics of my Shelby, but that car is still in all pieces.

But I am happy to hear that the Ex is solid . I dont bring my built cars out in this weather, thats why i really want to get this Ex running good so i can use it in the winter.

Here are some pics http://picasaweb.google.com/jdemuro/1971Camaro

 

[Fordy nine]

http://www.nastyz28.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7202

Hers my 72