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Picked up a Clean '03 Sport Trac...

edman1000

Active Member
Joined
June 18, 2011
Messages
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City, State
Eden, Ny
Year, Model & Trim Level
'97 Sport
Well, Apparently I’ve caught something because I can’t stop buying Explorer’s now… Just picked up an ’03 Sport Trac with only 63K on it. Silver (did I mention I hate silver vehicles….) It’s very clean (not as clean as my green ’97) but clean for a northern vehicle. Apparently it’s from southern Jersey. It does however have a salvage title which doesn’t bother me. It got crinkled right below the passenger side rear door. New door and rocker chunk (common theme in my life) and it looks fine. I checked over the repair and he did a decent job. The rest of the body looks good too. Only minor surface rust underneath around the holes. I’ll touch up anything bad an oil the piss outta it and it’ll be fine for the next ten years! Any way, you guys don’t want to hear my life’s story so here ya go…
image_zpso7w50lrl.jpg


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As you can see from the pictures, she’s a virgin…

Future plans: I don’t do any serious expeditions or anything but I live in farm country and do get into the slop from time to time so essentially it’ll be a mall crawler/DD.

- Body lift for now til I get the budget for something else. (any experiences with BL’s is welcomed. Who makes the best one?)

- I got a set of warrior shackles off a parts truck I bought (cant just leave them lay there!) those along with the coil overs I did in my sport gave me 3”. Will need to level out the front to match and although I heard they ride like crap, may do torsion keys for the time being. So this and the body lift will give me at least 5”

- Eventually will do an Over the axle in the back but would like to figure out the front first. Don’t want any more then 5 or 6” total (so may have to take the BL back out at this point but I doubt that happen and I’ll end up with 8-9” total…smh). Have been contemplating a solid axle swap or a superlift coil conversion??….

- Rims - I got a set of 15x8 aluminums left off my ranger that I’ll throw some 33’s on for now. Would like to get a set of bigger dia (17 or 18) and run a lower profile off road tire on it but I need to do more home work as to what looks stupid. Any pointers on rim size would be helpful… not going to Rock crawl or anything so not having a big sidewall is fine.

- Plastics – These are faded an look like crap. The plastic used in ’03 sucks. I’m definetly gonna paint or rhino line them. Was thinking matte black or dark gray… any thoughts? What would go good with the silver ?(did I mention I hate silver vehicles….) I seen a silver Escape the other day with the trim painted Gloss black an almost puked so now I’m worried about black although Matte would look better than gloss.

- Front end – Although it is growing on me as of recently, I hate the front ends on these (an the ’01-03 sports.. sorry if I offend anyone) was thinking of doing something like an ’03 ranger fx4 grille an bumper… thoughts? I’ll probably just leave it alone though…. Well maybe a Pre-runner bumper or such…?

Thanks guys!
 



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Great to see a Trac saved from the graveyard and at only 63k miles I sure hope it lasts you a long time!

The best and only body lift is Performance Accessories p/n 70023. It's easy to install and doesn't affect the drivability in my opinion. The best thing about the Explorers and STs is that they sit way lower on the frame than all the midsize and full size pickups so the BL doesn't look stupid with huge gaps anywhere.
When you do the BL, do yourself a favor and order a new body mount bushing kit from Prothane and switch to new poly bushings as I'm sure your OEM mounts will have some rot from being a northern truck. A lot of us chose not to do everything at once and are now kicking ourselves.
I ran the BL/tt/shackle lift for a while before finally going to SAS/SOA. I was able to run 35s even in the woods. It didn't flex the greatest, but I think is a great setup, plus you'll only have a couple hundred bucks in lift.
Don't waste your time or money on Superlift as they really don't make them anymore and you don't gain any ground clearance at the front diff. A SAS will cost about the same and if you're like me a solid axle makes more sense about how it works which lets me work on it myself a lot easier than IFS.
For the plastics, check out the pics in my normal registry linked in my signature. It should be on the 1st page. I used Krylon Fusion gloss black and love the way it turned out and how it holds up. Just remember prep is key!
If you want a different bumper check out RLC bumpers and a couple threads down from this one in the ST forum has a couple guys that are running them right now.
A lot of our registries have a list of what we've done as far as parts and whatnot with pictures to help you get hooked on modding anything and everything on the truck haha.
 






Yes, buying Explorers/Mountaineers is a disease. I can't seem to stop buying them either. Fortunately for me, nice ones are getting harder and harder to find.
 






I Absolutely need to have that RLC bumper! I like the second truck down with the hoop up over the winch. Definetly may do that. Not too keen on cutting up the front fascia but oh well.

Very true that we can get away with Body lifts on these trucks and not be gawdy like others… Not too worried about flexing, she’ll see more mud and snow then obstacles. Tell me more about these body mount bushing kits… pics?

Excellent work on the plastic! Doesn’t really look too glossy, kind of a Matte finish. Now just gotta figure out if I wanna go dark gray or black…? Prolly Black to match the rest of the trim…
 






I'm not a fan of silver either, but bought a silver '02 Christmas Eve 2012. Mine is also a salvage title, supposedly mostly damage to the bed, and had 63,850 miles at time of purchase.

I would definitely stay away from gloss black for the plastic. Gloss black rarely looks good on trim except on a black vehicle in my opinion. I'd probably opt for dark gray, but definitely a matte finish whatever color.
 






I Absolutely need to have that RLC bumper! I like the second truck down with the hoop up over the winch. Definetly may do that. Not too keen on cutting up the front fascia but oh well.

Very true that we can get away with Body lifts on these trucks and not be gawdy like others… Not too worried about flexing, she’ll see more mud and snow then obstacles. Tell me more about these body mount bushing kits… pics?

Excellent work on the plastic! Doesn’t really look too glossy, kind of a Matte finish. Now just gotta figure out if I wanna go dark gray or black…? Prolly Black to match the rest of the trim…

The hoop was definitely worth it in my opinion. You can get it welded on or bolt on. Welded on makes shipping a good bit more expensive. Bolt on only cost another $75 when I bought it (not meant to be a quote for anyone else in the future). Great to work with and quickly built and shipped.

Here's my thread about changing the body bushings.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=404608&highlight=body+mounts
 






I would go with black just to keep with all the other colors. In addition, most black paints will blend in the even you need to touch up and can't find the exact color you used.

I went with the gloss so that when I wash my truck it matches the paint better and doesn't look like it faded. One reason I don't like plasti-dip or bedliner as an accent paint is because they fade much quicker.

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As far as pictures of the body mount bushings, if you search for it a few threads will come up and show the deteriated oem mounts.
 






429 –2 silver salvagers with 63k… Cool Coincidence! Hope it’s not a bad sign! Haha! Definetly not doing Gloss black! O1ST’s does not look that glossy. It’s more of the Matte look I was thinking of, kind like bedliner… but really didnt want to do that either… Whats with the 429cj? What do you have hiding in the stable? ….I know a bit about the old Ford muscle…I play on the asphalt too!

Offtrac – Any more pics of that front end? Maybe from the side diagonal shots? Got a link to your photos?

O1ST – I know you said you used the Fusion gloss black but it does look Matte-ish in the pics… Is that just how the pics look are is that the real deal. That is almost exactly the look I wanted. Any closeups? Also, what did you do to prep before painting? The plastic on mine looks good an dry and I want to paint it before I get the urge to spray it with tire foam. It does look like the previous owner wiped it down with something but I’ll clean that off with acetone or such…
 






Offtrac – Any more pics of that front end? Maybe from the side diagonal shots? Got a link to your photos?

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This is all I have right now. Still need to get pictures with the RCI skid plate installed.
 












429CJ-3X2 comes from a very rare, reportedly 1 of 6, factory experimental 3x2 429CJ intake manifold I ran on a '74 Ranchero with a .060 over 460 (=472 cid) for 25 years. Sold the intake a year ago to the friend who found it for me when he was looking for a Boss 429 2x4 intake but found 2 Boss 429 3x2 intakes, the CJ 3x2, and a highly modified small port 429 2x4 intake instead. He bought them all - from Jack Roush - sold the CJ intake to me, used the 1 complete Boss setup himself, sold the other Boss 3x2, and traded the 429 2x4 towards a low mile black '69 Boss. This was in 1980. As of last year I think he said the Boss still has only 11,000 miles on it. I eventually ended up with the 2x4 intake, but later sold it without ever using it. All the intakes were Ford parts, but I'm not sure how many had actual Ford part #s . There wasn't any repro stuff yet in 1980. My old CJ 3X2 intake should be showing up on a '70 429 CJ Falcon soon. The Falcon (think Fairlane/basic Torino body style) came from the factory with the CJ. Way more info than you asked for, but rare stuff hardly anyone knows about.

I have a '70 Cyclone project in the garage that I've had for 35 yrs, and will never do anything with. Priorities have changed. Too lazy to sell it.
 






O1ST – I know you said you used the Fusion gloss black but it does look Matte-ish in the pics… Is that just how the pics look are is that the real deal. That is almost exactly the look I wanted. Any closeups? Also, what did you do to prep before painting? The plastic on mine looks good an dry and I want to paint it before I get the urge to spray it with tire foam. It does look like the previous owner wiped it down with something but I’ll clean that off with acetone or such…

I did a decent amount of prep. I ended up taking all of my cladding off to paint so I didn't have to worry about it. I scrubbed it with Dawn soap and hot water and then pressure washed everything to make sure all the soap was gone. After it dried for a few hours in the sun I started spraying it. Lots of light coats is the way to do it so you don't get any runs and get even coverage.

I'll find some more pics and post them up. Most people do go with a matte or satin black. I can't think of anyone else that is running gloss.

Pics:
Most recent (1st wash in a year or so)

9DC5ED89-D16A-48CD-A752-509044330356_zps5ajjt2a4.jpg


Day after it was painted. You can kind of see the gloss in the sun on the rockers but imo it works with the dark paint. Not sure if it would be any different on a silver truck but you can see what that would look like on "can't think of his name from Indiana."

IMG_0004.jpg
 






429CJ-3X2 comes from a very rare, reportedly 1 of 6, factory experimental 3x2 429CJ intake manifold I ran on a '74 Ranchero with a .060 over 460 (=472 cid) for 25 years. Sold the intake a year ago to the friend who found it for me when he was looking for a Boss 429 2x4 intake but found 2 Boss 429 3x2 intakes, the CJ 3x2, and a highly modified small port 429 2x4 intake instead. He bought them all - from Jack Roush - sold the CJ intake to me, used the 1 complete Boss setup himself, sold the other Boss 3x2, and traded the 429 2x4 towards a low mile black '69 Boss. This was in 1980. As of last year I think he said the Boss still has only 11,000 miles on it. I eventually ended up with the 2x4 intake, but later sold it without ever using it. All the intakes were Ford parts, but I'm not sure how many had actual Ford part #s . There wasn't any repro stuff yet in 1980. My old CJ 3X2 intake should be showing up on a '70 429 CJ Falcon soon. The Falcon (think Fairlane/basic Torino body style) came from the factory with the CJ. Way more info than you asked for, but rare stuff hardly anyone knows about.

I have a '70 Cyclone project in the garage that I've had for 35 yrs, and will never do anything with. Priorities have changed. Too lazy to sell it.

My brother was a parts slinger, used to go from swap meet to swap meet back before ebay was around with a trailer of parts. I used to tag along with when I could 11 or 12 years old diggin through boxes of old ford parts. He was big on the first gen mustang stuff but had everything in his collection. I used to know quite a bit... prolly forgot more than I knew! I was big on the cleveland stuff for a while. Even ran one in my Capri... Yep, Merc man here too. '85 RS, had it since '94... Build thread if your interested:

http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthr...Mercury-Capri-RS-5-0-History-amp-build-thread
 






I did a decent amount of prep. I ended up taking all of my cladding off to paint so I didn't have to worry about it. I scrubbed it with Dawn soap and hot water and then pressure washed everything to make sure all the soap was gone. After it dried for a few hours in the sun I started spraying it. Lots of light coats is the way to do it so you don't get any runs and get even coverage.

I'll find some more pics and post them up. Most people do go with a matte or satin black. I can't think of anyone else that is running gloss.

Pics:
Most recent (1st wash in a year or so)

Day after it was painted. You can kind of see the gloss in the sun on the rockers but imo it works with the dark paint. Not sure if it would be any different on a silver truck but you can see what that would look like on "can't think of his name from Indiana."

[=]


Okay, back to the trucks....

I still say it doesnt look that glossy! haha! Snap me a close up when you get a chance if you could.

I guess I need to see it on a silver one.... Who's this "what's his name" from Indiana you speak of??!?!?
 






Okay, back to the trucks....

I still say it doesnt look that glossy! haha! Snap me a close up when you get a chance if you could.

I guess I need to see it on a silver one.... Who's this "what's his name" from Indiana you speak of??!?!?

Will do.

I couldn't remember just looked him up though. His username is interscope8. Go to the 'Show off your sport trac' thread and he has pictures of his on page 25. There's also a red Trac right below his with the black paint.
 












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