Last yard visit didn't yield what we needed so I decided to have another crack at a cover.

I've been checking crown vics & mustangs, but nothing has had the aluminum cover.

Unfortunately the donor wasn't the best choice for off ground clearance, 1 missing half shaft, & trans binding the drive shaft.

$10 got me this:



The interior is identical in shape & dimensions as the tin cover except for two things.

Where the tin tapers out to the lip, the aluminum has a step.

Also the aluminum is 1/4 inch deeper (further back) from the ring gear.

I plan on putting a piece of glass or plexi over both covers and filling to the case plug level while vertical, then comparing the amount difference to compensate for the additional volume.



Don't forget the bolts! They are much longer than standard & have captured floating washers rather than flange heads.

 

Finished product. Now I've got 3 more to do...

 

Damn that looks great!

 

Thanx, one of the 3 is yours.

 

Scnsin, yours turned out very nice.


I had one powder coated. Silver must be the magic color for these. I also snagged an aluminum cover out of a Mustang when last at the yard. Not that great I must say, the thing is paper thin. The Explorers are minimum 3/8" thick. They charge the same price for the huge Explorer cover as the do the flimsy Mustang one... a whopping $5.50 for either one.

 

Thanx man & thanx for the idea.

If I remember correctly (thought I had the thread w/pic bookmarked) the ribbing on the Mustang's was kind of weird.

I finished it with 3 coats VHT Cast Aluminum which should be fine.

Clear coat after sandblast would look good too, the natural color is nice.

 

Weird, in my above post only the top 1/4 of the picture is showing???

Second try...

 

Just remember, I get a 15% royalty ;-)

 

Just a tip for anyone wanting to use the IRS Exlporer cover on another application. When you grab the longer required bolts to go with the cover, drill (one size smaller) holes in a scrap piece of 2x4 and screw in the bolts some, to hold them. Then you can easily sand blast, prime and paint them without ever having to touch/handle them. Nice looking fasteners, will compliment the new cover.

*Yeah, my bolts still need the coats of black added to them yet*

 

Another bit of info for those who care.

Scoped a couple exploders with out drive shafts (These things must go through transmissions, first thing pulled seems like) last yard trip.

Weather was decent so I hit it today.

If you run into a cover with a small drain, it will look like this & you can't see it till out:



It will also have 2 mounting ears (twice the pain in the *** bolts) on the nose of the diff case (pinion end) where as the single ear types are like the first covers shown.

Another odd thing is that it has a FoMoCo rectangular casting mark rather than the Ford oval tween' the ribs.

The above example came off a 2007

Happy hunting.

 

In spring I'll be doing a B&M or a Ford Racing cover with built in cap supports when I service the rear change the fluid and check everything out.

 

Finished the 07 cover with a couple changes.

Color is a more subdued "cast iron" VHT high temp.

Don't want it to stand out as much as the aluminum.

Massaged out the posts.

 

Nice work with the grinder! Looks like it came like that.

 

Thanks. I've been practicing Zen & the art of the carbide burr.

Getting a good half-round radius on the ribs is getting easier.

Also used my new knock-off Porta-Band to make the major cuts on this one.

 

I dig it.

I wonder what fluid came in the explorer diffs?