Hi All,
I have finally gotten my own explorer after a long search for a midsize 4x4 suv. I come from a ford family and have owned fords most my life so it was natural to end up in an explorer. It's still in the early early stages but I wanted to get this started to document its transformation. It has 105k on it and a very clean interior to go with it. The paint on the hood and roof are faded beyond repair so at least the hood will get a new coat of paint. Before purchase the power steering and brake lines were replaced. It has the 3.73 LS rear end, premium sound, and power cloth seats. This will be a DD and camping/off road exploring vehicle for me so the modifications will be subtle by comparison to some of the full builds here.
The first step was to try to bring back the paint that was still ok. A good coast of ColorX helped a lot. It's got lots of little chips that will be touched up but it will always be a 5 foot car. I also painted all the wiper arms and the step part of the rear bumper. I also got a set of cheap floor mats to cover the tan carpet to keep it from getting too dirty. It needs a new right side ac vent and the cover for the rear sub and the headliner needs to be re-done. I pulled off the 3 of 4 remaining vent visors and the front mud flaps as well.
Then it was parts time. A new pioneer head unit with bluetooth and 4 6x8 speakers are on their way. It has the premium sound system with the sub so I'll have to look into being able to use that too. It’s supposed to come with the proper wiring kit to connect to the amp/sub so hopefully they still actually work. Currently there is an old Sony head unit that only plays out of the front speakers so let’s hope its busted speakers and not screwed up wiring.
Then I ordered a set of 31x10.5x15 Mickey Thompson Baja MTZs and wrapped them around Pro Comp series 5129 in 15x7. That should change the attitude of it.
Further down the line it will get a set of Bilstein 4600 front shocks and Monroe load adjusting helper shocks for the rear(it’s got a little rear sag). I'd also like to convert the interior lights to led, get clear turn and marker lights, and it will need a full fluid change some day.
The day I brought it home-
Cleaned up and shined up
I have finally gotten my own explorer after a long search for a midsize 4x4 suv. I come from a ford family and have owned fords most my life so it was natural to end up in an explorer. It's still in the early early stages but I wanted to get this started to document its transformation. It has 105k on it and a very clean interior to go with it. The paint on the hood and roof are faded beyond repair so at least the hood will get a new coat of paint. Before purchase the power steering and brake lines were replaced. It has the 3.73 LS rear end, premium sound, and power cloth seats. This will be a DD and camping/off road exploring vehicle for me so the modifications will be subtle by comparison to some of the full builds here.
The first step was to try to bring back the paint that was still ok. A good coast of ColorX helped a lot. It's got lots of little chips that will be touched up but it will always be a 5 foot car. I also painted all the wiper arms and the step part of the rear bumper. I also got a set of cheap floor mats to cover the tan carpet to keep it from getting too dirty. It needs a new right side ac vent and the cover for the rear sub and the headliner needs to be re-done. I pulled off the 3 of 4 remaining vent visors and the front mud flaps as well.
Then it was parts time. A new pioneer head unit with bluetooth and 4 6x8 speakers are on their way. It has the premium sound system with the sub so I'll have to look into being able to use that too. It’s supposed to come with the proper wiring kit to connect to the amp/sub so hopefully they still actually work. Currently there is an old Sony head unit that only plays out of the front speakers so let’s hope its busted speakers and not screwed up wiring.
Then I ordered a set of 31x10.5x15 Mickey Thompson Baja MTZs and wrapped them around Pro Comp series 5129 in 15x7. That should change the attitude of it.
Further down the line it will get a set of Bilstein 4600 front shocks and Monroe load adjusting helper shocks for the rear(it’s got a little rear sag). I'd also like to convert the interior lights to led, get clear turn and marker lights, and it will need a full fluid change some day.
The day I brought it home-
Cleaned up and shined up
