Sneak Peak: My Jurassic Park Explorer

[scoodidabop]

My Jurassic Park Explorer WIP

I'll post some "progress" pics too but I just took these tonight...

Here it is a few months ago:

This is in the cargo area:

So I still have to apply decals to the hood and sides. LOTS to do but for now I'm gonna go ahead and integrate a temporary dash monitor while I fab a custom dash out of fiberglass. Interior thus far is stock so I'm working on building the center console and dash while looking at quotes for seat upholstery. My taillight guards, brush guard, running boards, and antenna light are ALL off brand but work on a temporary basis (Found this forum after I bought all the parts. I'm looking for the correct items constantly!). Eventually I hope to obtain the screen accurate parts but there's no telling how long that may take.

This project went a little deeper than I hoped. When I bought the Explorer ('93 XLT 141K miles) it had LOTS of regular maintenance but there was something that sounded like a head/valve knock... so I bought it anyway based on A.) The paint color (Tan! Maybe I can skip repainting the door jambs!) and B.) Many systems were serviced or replaced (power steering pump, AC compressor, suspension, radiator, tranny...etc). Long story short it needed a new motor or a rebuild due to a rod knock... so I learned how to swap a motor. Found a donor with low mileage on craigslist for $240. Bought an engine hoist for $120 then sold the hoist when I was done for the same amount.

Paint job is the "$50 paint job". Used rustoleum exterior gloss enamel, thinned with mineral spirits and applied with foam rollers. Wet sanded, buffed, and waxed. Rustoleum stock 'Sunburst Yellow' and 'Burgundy' and the green is a custom color in Valspar exterior alkyd enamel. Still working on touchups and perfecting the paint, but needed to get the car on the road so naturally some bits need more attention.

Anyway I'll throw out some "progress" pics soon!

 

[delexploder]

You need a set of bfg all terrains

 

[Papichulo1767]

Not bad my friend. keep it up and keep us posted

 

[scoodidabop]

You need a set of bfg all terrains

Man I lust for those tires. The budget for this project isn't huge so a $750 tire purchase might not fit, especially since the bubble roof is going to cost about that much.

Luckily Houston has some really good Pick-a-Part locations... I might find a decent set there to get me by in the mean time.

 

[delexploder]

There my favorite tires and i can still remember seeing them on the rig in the movie, junk yards a great place to get tires on the cheap im goin this weekend to my local yard cause they have a Navaho with two good 31s on it.

 

[scoodidabop]

Here's the wood faux finish I put on the door handles:

And a quick shot of my panasonic dash monitor running the "tour program"

 

[obie]

This is awesome! Great job on the Ex, this is shaping up to be one of the nicest JP builds I've seen!

 

[ProjectJP]

thats incredible! One of the best one's i've seen, AND you're also from Houston. I'm in the market for an explorer as well so I can start my project. Haven't quite found the one I wanted yet, but would be cool to do a little photo shoot once we're done haha

 

[Jason94sport]

You need a set of bfg all terrains

Pre KO versions

 

[scoodidabop]

thats incredible! One of the best one's i've seen, AND you're also from Houston. I'm in the market for an explorer as well so I can start my project. Haven't quite found the one I wanted yet, but would be cool to do a little photo shoot once we're done haha

Awesome! Good luck with it man! I've had some decent success with my roll on paint job if you're interested in taking that route. There's room for improvement on mine but unless you've got the hookup at a paint shop its a great way to save cash. Again my budget was/is pretty small on my build, thus I've tried to utilize junkyard finds and alternatives wherever I can. Since leaving the retail world and pursuing a self-employed life last year I've really had to dial back my hobby ventures. Either way since taking the Explorer on the road for it's first time a few days ago I've had loads of awesome feedback. It's probably a bit dangerous though since people tend to hang next to me on the highway longer than they should to check out the car... and I haven't even put the "Jurassic Park" decal on the side yet! I figure if I can get it to 80-90% accurate then people automatically "buy in" to seeing it as the real deal, thus I've skimped in some smaller details. I still look for the screen accurate parts all the time though since I, deep down, would prefer having it that way.

Anyway I'm on the NW side of town if you ever wanna meet up and check it out. I'm ordering my bubble roof next week!

 

[scoodidabop]

Pre KO versions

Pre KO includes the word "RADIAL" I assume? Where the heck does one obtain those? I'd love to have the screen accurate versions but I bet by now most of the ones that still exist are worn out or dry-rotted

 

[ProjectJP]

Awesome! Good luck with it man! I've had some decent success with my roll on paint job if you're interested in taking that route. There's room for improvement on mine but unless you've got the hookup at a paint shop its a great way to save cash. Again my budget was/is pretty small on my build, thus I've tried to utilize junkyard finds and alternatives wherever I can. Since leaving the retail world and pursuing a self-employed life last year I've really had to dial back my hobby ventures. Either way since taking the Explorer on the road for it's first time a few days ago I've had loads of awesome feedback. It's probably a bit dangerous though since people tend to hang next to me on the highway longer than they should to check out the car... and I haven't even put the "Jurassic Park" decal on the side yet! I figure if I can get it to 80-90% accurate then people automatically "buy in" to seeing it as the real deal, thus I've skimped in some smaller details. I still look for the screen accurate parts all the time though since I, deep down, would prefer having it that way.

Anyway I'm on the NW side of town if you ever wanna meet up and check it out. I'm ordering my bubble roof next week!

Yeah we should totally link up so I can take a look at the progress. Still no luck on finding an explorer this weekend.. How are you going about acquiring the bubble roof?

 

[Jason94sport]

Pre KO includes the word "RADIAL" I assume? Where the heck does one obtain those? I'd love to have the screen accurate versions but I bet by now most of the ones that still exist are worn out or dry-rotted

Yeah I didn't think that through......

 

[92exp4x4]

Looking good

I hoping to paint mine by the end of the year. We'll see i guess.

 

[scoodidabop]

Started with this:

Used these:

Wheels first:

Added red. Oops you need a frikkin motor! Here ya go!

Roll-on lookin sexy:

Old (top) new (bottom) headlights:

Painted the aluminum running boards with rustoleum trim and bumper rattle can:

Tape. So much tape. Don't wait too long to remove it. It's a pain.

Bam!

Lots of work left to do but it's getting there.

 

[ProjectJP]

looking amazing! You're going to have to let me know your secrets on getting a hold of some of those parts. So......... I picked up a 93 XLT yesterday from Austin.... and it begins.

 

[scoodidabop]

looking amazing! You're going to have to let me know your secrets on getting a hold of some of those parts. So......... I picked up a 93 XLT yesterday from Austin.... and it begins.

Awesome! Good luck with it man!

My running boards aren't the right brand but they're really close to screen accurate. Found them at the pick-a-part on a Blazer for $15 a piece. There were lots of old vans that had the same running boards but they were damaged. The ones I used are easy to find and paint black, but the screen accurate DeeZee brand is much harder to come by. Same thing with the tail light guards and brush guard. Mine started out like this:

Right brand and era but it was made for a really big truck. Had to cut it down quite a bit and reshape the bumper contour. Again close, but not completely exact.

There's a forum (currently down and being moved) that had only about 15 members that had loads of info about the parts used on the on screen car. I'll be happy to share any other details you want... lights, dash cams, monitor model numbers...

 

[scoodidabop]

looking amazing! You're going to have to let me know your secrets on getting a hold of some of those parts. So......... I picked up a 93 XLT yesterday from Austin.... and it begins.

Actually now that I think about it... you just became my local competition on sourcing nearby accurate parts. Let the games begin...


Check you PMs. Lets hang sometime.

 

[GRNMACHINE]

Roll On Paint---WoW that looks good!! Nice work.

 

[ghostbuster88]

Starting a JP explorer, got a few questions:

what size is that battery box lid for the tracker?

What kind and where did you get the brush guard and it's fog lights?

Where did you get the rear brush guards?

Where did you get the running boards?


Yours looks awesome by the way!!