Hey Jon,
No need to e-mail ya, I will just tell you right in here... I actually live in a little private community where there are lots of old people, but they come up to me and tell me how cool the explorer is..
You know we actually have some killer mud up here. With one plus when u get stuck you don't have to worry about the gators.
Now if I were to build another explorer I would do it a little differently, first of it would be a two door, not a 4 door. And I would have tried to put a bigger engine in it, I don't know how yet, but i'm sure I could find a way. A ford 427 would be pretty sweet.
Now as far as cost, I figure I could build another one for about 10-15k that's after the cost of the explorer. There are so many parts to buy and what kills ya is all the little stuff like bolts and washers. But let's say you were to buy the perfect donor rig you could do it a little cheaper.
All the suspension work that I did actually only cost about 1k. Then the engine was over 4k, rims and tires 2.5k, front and rear end 1k... then you got the bellhousing, transmission and transfercase which I can't remember how it was. And I also put a 4k stereo in it. The exaust cost me close to a k. Now the only reason I could do this so cheap is because I have done most of the work on it myself and with my buddies.
Well all in all it's costly and you better have the time to enjoy it. otherwise it's not worth having, plus you can't be afraid to brake because you don't have the time to fix it..
If you have anymore questions please feel free to ask..