Varsity's 2000 Explorer Sport

[Varsity]

After a somewhat disappointing trip to the picknpull, I did manage to come back with some mirrors off a '99 Mounty with puddle lights, so hopefully soon they'll be hooked up and working, then I can convert those to LEDs too

[Varsity]

Quick picture of the most recent finished product:



But as you can see I got the puddle lights working and finally finished both sides. Kinda tricky, but it's done with and is just about the coolest thing ever. And while it was out, I changed the regular 912 bulbs with some 194 LEDs which are just as bright, if not brighter and look a whole lot better. I haven't really figured out how to take good nighttime pictures that do justice to what's been done, so I should probably figure that out and hopefully get better/good pics of the puddle lights, LED domes and LED dash.

[sport97]

Nice mod. I need to pick up a set on my next trip, are they plug and play or did you need to wire the puddle lights into something?

[Varsity]

Thanks for the compliment. Umm as far as plug and play, unfortunately mine were not so I would imagine it would be the same for others. We basically tied into the dome lights to make it seem original rather than tying into a door ajar switch or anything. Although mine was a little different because I had some different wiring for when I added the overhead console and its domelight. The wiring wasn't TOO bad, just tricky at times. With a day or two of free time and some patience, it can be done. I drove around without a door panel while working on it. The results are totally worth it.

[sport97]

I gotcha. Maybe, if i do this, I will tie into the light on the inside of the door (not sure if yours had one of those or no) that way the wiring will stay in the door behind the panel. I would be interested to see good night pics of the leds if you can snag them, I was decently impressed by stock puddle lights when them at first saw it at first.

[Varsity]

Yeah I would imagine having those side marker lights would make everything waaaaaaaaaaay easier and doable. I wish mine had those but some genius at Ford decided '98+ didn't need them. I read somewhere on here that they introduced puddle lights to compensate for the lack of the lights in the door but I don't know much about that. That may be my next project after fixing my rockers.
And I'm looking into better pictures. My camera refuses to take any decent night pictures. No matter what setting(s) I choose I just get black. Its a cheap camera but should be able to get some nice pictures. I'll poke around tomorrow and within a day or two I'll try and get some good shots of how nice these things really are.

[seventystangfan]

Ooh, looks like a nice side project. I replaced the side marker lights with 194 leds and they're pretty bright. But I always find myself wanting those puddle lights... Night shots are difficult with point and shoot cameras. If you really want to be able to take good pictures at night you should get a DSLR, but I'm sure there are some better point and shoots.

[Varsity]

Ok, I think I got some better nighttime pictures. I wish I could've gotten more distance, but it's pouring outside so I was limited to the garage space. These doesn't really do them justice, but until it clears up, this'll have to do. Sorry about being blurry, still learning the fancy settings on the camera.











Hopefully these pictures give a rough idea. It's really neat.

[sport97]

That's pretty decent light output. What did the mirrors cost you at the yard?

[Varsity]

$10 a mirror. It was 1/2 of the Pick N Pull.

[Varsity]

Threw a couple of recent pics in the first post.

A little update is appropriate I think. The Explorer is nearing 93k miles, not far off from when I got it, haha. It's been running great and no problems, although I am battling with a CEL now, code showing for the cam sensor. I replaced the synchronizer awhile ago, but it came with the wrong sensor, so I just threw the old one back on and I think its a little past due now. I'll eventually take care of that, but it's not really a priority now.

And actually as of a couple of weeks ago, the Ex is done with its high school duty with me. Maybe the tassle gives it away, but after two years of driving me, friends and any other passengers to and from school and anywhere else needed, the Ex can take a break now. And I'm really thankful too because I have needed the truck ALOT this year, and actually one of my grades relied on this truck getting me and my group to the volunteer site. I'd feel awful if something went wrong on the truck and affected other people's grades. Fortunately, aside from loving gas, the Ex hasn't asked for anything and has been stone cold reliable in getting me and anyone else where we needed to go. Now it can look forward to college-duty.

Most likely no new projects or mods coming soon, because my biggest and most important thing now is taking care of the rocker panels. I don't know how that's gonna go, but I want to take care of it before anything else or before they get worse or to the point of no repair. Should be fun and exciting.

[Joe Dirt]

Very cool... Another happy Explorer experience!

You know, you can get the bulb harness/socket, and the housings from a pre 98 and put them on the the 99+ panels... Hook the wiring into your puddle lights and you have footwell lights again.

[Varsity]

Originally Posted by Joe Dirt

Very cool... Another happy Explorer experience!

You know, you can get the bulb harness/socket, and the housings from a pre 98 and put them on the the 99+ panels... Hook the wiring into your puddle lights and you have footwell lights again.

Haha you got that right.

Yeah I'm going back and forth on those footwell lights, but its definitely a possibility. I've been on a hunt for a decent message center/full length console at the local junkyards but really to no avail. Wrong colors and the only decent ones looked like they were run over by a truck and sat outside for 10 years. Next trip I have to get a new center bezel since this one is busted in one too many places and I'll keep an eye out for those lights. They are pretty neat...

[Varsity]

Haha fixed the stupid cam sensor issue for now I think... Who would've guessed a cam sensor from an '06 Taurus would work...

[Varsity]

Ok, finally got around to something that's been bugging me since day 1 with the Explorer... rust. Really, compared to most Sports around here and even some four-doors, the rust really wasn't THAT bad but as most people know, rust only gets worse so I figured to attempt a shot at more rust removal before it got out of hand. Some before pics with the trim on:








Without the trim:




Honestly not too bad. I don't really have any pictures of the lower underside of the rockers, but they were so bad that I just got a can of rust reformer and just sprayed the crap outta the rockers and backsides underneath. In the last pic you can see my accidental overspray towards the front of the door. Unfortunately I don't have any pics of the process because it is a very dirty sticky process making it hard to stop and grab a camera. So at this point I have most of it sanded down and the big holes covered with the fiberglass and body filler applied. In a couple of hours I'll go spray a quick coat of primer and call it a day. I don't really have a problem driving around like that.

[Keeper0311]

Looking forward to seeing some progress shots!

[Varsity]

Alright, really not TOO much progress for today since it's been in the high 90's today but I did manage to get a coat of primer on everything else I didn't have time for yesterday. Maybe tomorrow if it isn't too bad out, I'll be able to sand down some of the bondo on the rocker holes.

And I never believed people when they said they liked their trucks without the plastic "tupperware" around the wheels and doors. Found out that I totally agree, but in my case I would need to do a considerable amount of work to make it look decent. Soooo I'm gonna do the next best thing, paint all the trim black again with Krylon Fusion. Not sure if it'll make a big difference but its worth a shot. I think that's it for now...









And if you notice the huge bubble in the third pic above the rocker, I did sand that down and primed over it just to be clear. Like I said this is a very rough stage 1, just to get some body filler down and a coat of primer where needed. Once the weather chills out a bit, I'll go over and do more precise work, especially to ^^^ pic. It's got the hardened fiberglass and resin over the big rust spot.

[Keeper0311]

Looks good man, it'd be cool seeing a bit of a step by step. I've got some rust I need to take care if too.

[sport97]

Good luck with the repairs! I did mine 2 years ago, still holding up. Somewhere I have all my pics from my body work if you wanted to check it out i can find it. My drivers side was totally shot.

[Varsity]

Sport, I have that thread bookmarked Your thread actually kinda inspired to give this a shot. I wanted to try fiberglassing first and see how that goes, if not I'll go the way you went next.

Keeper, thanks I'm really trying. There's rust by you? Didn't think you guys would really be affected. I'll keep trying to take pictures whenever I can even though it can be difficult. This really is just a little rust here little rust there kinda thing so may get kinda boring. I do not by any means expect professional results sort of just a learning experience above all.