falconvan

Im not sure on the MC, Cass. I know I can do it with a manual MC just sure about the one I have on there. I'll probably go to a Wilwood unit.

I measured the rear frame horns whenre the bumper brackets bolt on and it was indeed narrower; 49" on the 48 and 44.5" on the 49.

I'll have to check that but I believe the 49 and up is a little narrower. I've got my 48 sitting next to it so I'll pull the tape out today and see.

I got the disc one out of a 2000 Explorer and did get the sway bar. Mine was $180 complete and they pulled it and loaded it for me. That was at Speedway Auto Salvage right across from Gateway International Raceway in eastern Illinois. I'm not sure if I'm going to use the sway bar or not; i'll need to do a trial fit first.

I just bought an Explorer rearend for mine yesterday: im surprised you had trouble finding a 3:73. I counted 15 Explorers at the yard i was at and all of them except one had either a 3:55 or a 3:73. Almost all of the 3:73 ones were limited slip.

Yeah, i did before I bought it. Almost an exact fit.

I did a little boneyard shopping on the way home from work today. After watching Robert Horne's thread on using the Ranger 5 speed I'm convinced it will work so I got one of those and an 8.8 Explorer rear end with disc brakes and a 3:73 limited slip.

Very cool, I'm in when you're done. How about posting a parts list with the years on them?

Have at it; ideas are meant to be shared. I used 3/16" rod from Lowes. A word of advice; weld very small sections at a time (1") skip around, and let it cool frequently. I got a little over anxious to get it done and have some small waves in the sheetmetal to go back and fix. These hoods are thin and it doesnt take much heat for the sheetmetal to distort.

I'll take my chances; my fat *** needs the excercise, anyway.

You bet, Cass. Id be happy to help you out. I might do this to my 48 hood, too.

Good to see you back on it, Cass. I want a ride sometime this summr!

I would think the price is negotiable; slap $900 cash in front of him and see what happens. I'd buy it for that if the body looks good and the title is clear. There's not very many decent 60+ two door cars that are worth saving left in that price range.

Not much exciting to show but lots of wet sanding going on. It took about 10 hours just to do the door and part of the cowl and quarter. I dont know if its Nason primer or that I let it dry for a few weeks before starting sanding but this stuff is really hard to sand.

There were some holes in the hood from a missing piece of trim so my first thought was just to weld them up. Then I thought I would go ahead and just weld the whole seam and make the hood one piece. Finally i though I might as well add a peak so I filled all the old trim and emblem holes and welded a 3/16" rod down the seam. It's got a little ways to go to get it in primer but I like it so far.

Very nice; I always wanted a business coupe. Very sporty looking!

I feel the same way; it seems like everytime I have a car for sale the emails from scammers are endless. I've got a nice little Honda Civic I just repainted for sale on ebay and so far have gotten about 3 or 4 scam emails a day. Here's a new scam I got yesterday: they say they want to pay the asking price (sight unseen, of course) but they want you to send them a quote on what the insurance will be and they send you a link to a place called "Auto Quotes." I got three identical emails from three different people in about 4 hours. I guess they are trying to get you to use the link and give out your personal information.

Im going to try the same swap this fall so Im looking forward to seeing how yours comes out. I've checked some specs; it looks like a lot of these Explorers had 3:73 gears.

I got my tranny, Robert. I'm giving this a shot this fall as soon as I find a disc brake Explorer rearend to go with it.

That was in a field???? If we find something in a field over here it's usually a worthless rusted heap. Im moving to the UK!

Just tell them you need a coil for a 1972 Chevy truck with a 350; that's a good universal coil. Also you will need a ballast resistor; early 70's Dodge truck should be the right one. You need the one with two terminals instead of four.

What does a full package like that cost these days?

Wow, nice custom work! I wonder if it's sitting in someone's garage waiting to be rediscovered?

I was painting a 95 Honda Civic I bought to get it ready for re-sale and ended up with 1/2 gallon of Corvette Red left over so I found a good use for it. Now all my interior parts and wheels are done. Pardon the crappy cell phone pics.

Of course you're not nuts for starting a project at your age. A great deal of the enjoyment is the building process itself. Even if you were only to get it partailly finished and pass it onto another builder, no big deal. You did your part in saving it and probably had a lot of enjoyable afternoons in ther garage to boot. As far as money? Well, if you dont spend it here you'll likely spend it somewhere else and since you cant take it with you anyway, what the hell? I guarantee we all spend money on things a lot more frivilous that this. Jump in, take one task at a time and enjoy each small victory. And if you do happen to throw in the towel later down the road, give me a call.