Blue's 91 XLT

Hello, this is my new to me 91 xlt. i just got it from a friend who has had it for years and just got a new truck, he needed space in his driveway and i needed a vehicle and it was one of the two vehicles i was thinking about getting, (an explorer or a blazer were on the top of my wish list) and so i bought it for 300$. Of course, with any 22 year old vehicle you buy for 300$, it has lots of little problems, but i still love it anyway.
Almost ran into his new truck trying to turn around in his tiny driveway on the way out after i bought it hehe.

Future plans includetrying to restore it as much as possible, this wont be hard inside, as the interior is almost mint aside from a small tear in the drivers seat leather, but i have to fix the rear shocks eventually, fix the tail lights, and some cosmetic stuff like minor rust and the dissapearing clear coat.
I plan to get larger tires, probably 31's. New or different leafs in back, maybe an f150 leaf pack, and manual hubs for the 4wd, along with some custom cosmetic upgrades like running boards and maybe a brush guard.

This will be a long project for me as money is and will be pretty tight for quite a while. and at first my priority is just getting it to respectable shape mechanically.

that is how it sits right now, i hope to improve it as much as i can, it has about 156k miles right now, my goal is to go to at least 350k.

any changes i make i will post on this thread as well

enjoy. thanks!


EDIT: The image site i originally used to host my earlier pics decided to delete all my photos because they started requiring a paid account to host on their site. My normal computer with all the pics on it currently does not have a charger that will work, so once i get a new charger i will repost all of the missing pictures if i can. you can see the basic progression though, just missing some of the pics on the first 2 pages. all the cool stuff is on the 2nd and 3rd pages anyways, but i'll repost the pics as soon as i can. thanks!

 

[5spdman]

Once you drive a standard first gen explorer, I almost bet you won't look at anything else.

Agreed, 110%...will be looking into another rig myself to have two different setups (desert prerunner and crawler) and the only rig I will consider is a 2 door, 5 speed manual 1st gen...actually teared up scrapping my 93 Sport the other day...

 

[mr cribb]

The latest purchase is my first 2 door the others have been 4 door trucks.

I'm digging on the 2 door much more I guess because 98% of the explorers on the road are 4 door.

 

[mr cribb]

actually teared up scrapping my 93 Sport the other day...

I know the feeling. I scrapped my 4 door a few weeks ago to buy brakes for my sport. I will have to post my video of its final ride.

 

[Blue91Ex]

The latest purchase is my first 2 door the others have been 4 door trucks.

I'm digging on the 2 door much more I guess because 98% of the explorers on the road are 4 door.

Personally I like the looks of the 2 door much better and it would be cooler overall, but having 4 doors is SOOO helpful sometimes. My truck is really a work truck, and both the cargo area and rear seats are usually filled with tools and equipment and spare cloths and parts and stuff. Having to slide the rear seats forward all the time would get real old real fast.

If I see a nice 2 door manual in really nice shape and a color I like for the right price I'd buy it, but just to practicality, I'm probably going to be looking for a 4 door manual if i decide to get another ex.

again thanks for all the input and opinions guys, always helps to have other people's opinions.

 

[Blue91Ex]

Well, yesterday was a pretty terrible day for me. I was parked at school and one of my friends was screwing around/showing off on his way into the parking lot, going about 25ish strait at my truck, locked up his brakes, and instead of letting off and turning he panicked and threw it into reverse.

His ram hit my explorer head center on the B pillar, pushing the explorer back about 5 feet, caved in and bent both driver side doors to where they could no longer be opened. The rear door bent enough at the bottom that the top pulled away from the roof about an inch. The B pillar bent inward and only stopped when it hit the driver side seat, the rocker was ripped off in the center under the pillar where it was rusted a bit above my rocker panel plate.

We went to the junkyard, bought 2 driver side doors that didnt match, were the wrong year (more on that in a bit) and the conrtol panel on the front driver door is bad, so i cant lock or unlock the doors with the electronic locks or move my electronic mirrors, nor can i unlock the driver door manually since i dont have the right key.

The front hinges are bad enough that I can't get the door to seat properly on the weather stripping, and its somewhat hard to close. The outer door handle will not last long and the bottoms are rusted. The rear door is also from a 93, and apparently either the lower hinges don't match up quite right or the impact bent the lower hinge, which is more likely.

I plan to buy some 20 or 22ga sheet metal to rebuild the lower portion of the B pillar so that we can try pulling it out some more without worrying about ripping the bottom of it off completely.

I am very depressed and angry about this whole thing and I'm pretty sure the doors will never be quite right again. If we had gotten the insurance companies involved they would have given me a hundred bucks and totaled it or sold it back to me for that much as a salvage title, I would still have to go fix it myself, and my friends insurance would have shot through the roof.

So, I am somewhat torn about what to do with this truck now. With all of the other issues it has, I'm not sure if it is worth putting a bunch more money into fixing everything, though I think I can get the doors to sit better with some more work and minimal money, but i just don't know what I'm going to do about this.... just really really sucks...

 

[Blue91Ex]

... I'll post pics of the damage (looks better than it is) and the "repair" when I get home tonight.

 

[mr cribb]

Time for a new one on your buddies dime. That's what I would do. Be like umm yeah you can buy me another explorer, or have your insurance rates jacked up.

 

[Camacorn]

Wow man, that really bites. If you're confident you can repair it, that's what I would personally do. But whether or not the guy is your friend, he should still be assisting with the $$$ to get it done, it was his ignorance that caused it.

I haven't posted it on here yet, but sometime within the last 3 days, someone backed into the rear of my Mountaineer, dented in both sides of the bumper a little bit, and put two dings in the rear hatch. But the worst part is, since the exhausts stick out a bit, they hit that as well, and caused it to push back, bend my muffler enough to cause it to tear open, and make my already cracked exhaust manifold a little bit louder...

I already have a dash-cam, now I just need a hatch-cam LOL.

 

[5spdman]

That really sucks man! I have felt the pain of wondering "is it really worth it to fix?" In my case, the Sport's body was so far gone that the time and money going into replacing the head gaskets wasn't worth it. Luckily I had another car and drove that while the Sport sat. As soon as I found the XLT though, it came in quite handy as a parts vehicle.

You're right; with damage to the B pillar, your doors and stuff will probably never line up again...you could MAYBE cut the pillar/rocker out of a junkyard (don't know if they let people do that), but it would be a pain to get lined up and to weld in with all those layers, not to mention it would probably screw with the structural integrity a bit.

To be honest, I'd drive it til I could find another vehicle, and then decide if you are going to continue working on the Ex, or find another and use this one for parts. There are still cheap cars out there that are in good condition. I have owned 4 cars to date, all '91-'93, and never paid more than $500 (in fact, they've been getting cheaper on a consistent basis... :scratch: ) But like I mentioned, it really comes down to what you want to/can do.

I agree with the above posts as well...your buddy should be helping with, if not fronting, the cash to get it repaired.

Good luck!

 

[DjDom]

I agree with the others.. I know your mods pretty well, you haven't done many performance mods. Mostly just visual mods.

Take the bumper off, take the roof rack, locking hubs and radio, and just put it on a newer Ex. Maybe a 94..

At this point, I'd force my friend to buy me a new truck.. or I'd take it to the insurance.

 

[Blue91Ex]

well he cant afford it, the insurance company will literally leave me with nothing., total it, give me 200 bucks or so probably since I paid 300 for it, if I buy it back I'm still left with a totaled truck and no money to fix it, so nothing good can come of calling the insurance company.

So if he said no we would both be screwed, and we already bought new doors and straitened out the pillar mostly so i wont make him pay for that and a new vehicle. I dont know. anyway here's the carnage.

It looked better than it was to be honest....

here is my mostly "repaired" doors, we pulled the pillar out again with straps and a come-along to get it almost right but to get it any closer i need to ad new metal to the bottom of the pillar. It rotted and I was worried if we pulled any more it might rip off... I'm going to get him to pay for the sheet metal for that, as well as new front hinge pins and clips to hold the door panels on. the truck these doors came from was clapped out.

again, looks better than it is, we couldn't get the front door to mount properly so there is like almost a 1/4" gap around the top front and back of the door, after I get new hinge pins i thin it will be able to seal at least mostly all the way around. I can live with a little gap where the pillar is bent but not 3/4 of the way around the door, its loud cold and leaks...

Also the electronics in the door are junk, cant use the electric locks or mirror controls, still have the front stock door to for parts. I don't have a key for new doors either and the outer handle is not going to last more than a month or two. I'll try and get the old door latch out of the other door..

 

[mr cribb]

The reason why I was saying for your buddy to buy a new one (to you) is the probability of finding another 1st gen on the cheap is pretty good in your area. So therefore, it wouldn't be a great amount of money paid out on his end.

Plus you would have a parts truck out of the deal.

 

[Blue91Ex]

I still might buy another first gen. i got him to agree to paying me around 300 to put towards another vehicle, so total he will end up paying me about 5-600 out of this, including the doors and hinge pins i need to order and interior clips and junk, which to be honest is prob close to the value of the truck before the accident with all the issues it has developed recently

I found out the crash bent my roof just enough so that the sunroof leaks everywhere now. did it all night and my driver seat is soaked right into the foam. will take days to dry out, I left a metal cooking bowl in my seat for the night since its raining..

Im still torn between buying another 1st gen since I can get a nice one sorta cheap (if I can find one) and an expedition or screw cab f150. its going to probably be one of those three, and if i dont get another explorer then this one will be off road only.

just really sucks since with all its issues, it was still a perfectly good running driving truck with a strait body that could be fixed with a little time and money, and now it will never be quite right again...

By the way I just wanted to mention thank you guys all for commenting and offering advice and caring, it means a lot.

 

[BKennedy]

The B pillar and roof are compromised and will never be safe. Your rig took a catastrophic hit. You understand that once sheet metal is bent that severely, it has a tendency to bend much easier? I hate to say it, but you either need to replace the entire pillar, get another Explorer, or put in a full cage. When I flopped my Explorer on its right side, it put a small crimp in the right side A and B pillars. I put in a cage because I am sentimental about vehicles and did not want to junk it.

Sorry, I feel your pain, but think about your safety.

 

[5spdman]

^^^ Word... ^^^

 

[Blue91Ex]

The B pillar and roof are compromised and will never be safe. Your rig took a catastrophic hit. You understand that once sheet metal is bent that severely, it has a tendency to bend much easier? I hate to say it, but you either need to replace the entire pillar, get another Explorer, or put in a full cage. When I flopped my Explorer on its right side, it put a small crimp in the right side A and B pillars. I put in a cage because I am sentimental about vehicles and did not want to junk it.

Sorry, I feel your pain, but think about your safety.

I completely agree with this, i know the structural integrity of that area of the roof and side is ruined, i could even tell by how easy we could bent it back with a come-along compared to the ~30mph hit it took, body structure is a one time deal. This is why I am getting him to pay me 3-400 to put towards another truck. I don't want to drive this on the road because if it gets T-boned again or rolls, there won't be anything to take the hit.

It really really sucks, but I'm going to live with it for now until I can buy either another explorer or something else, then when I have another DD, I can work on the ex at my own pace and not worry about getting to work the next day.

I'm still torn between another 1st gen and something else like an expedition or sport trac or f150 or maybe even a 98 landrover discovery I saw for sale for relatively cheap... the benefit of having parts and knowledge I can use on another explorer is nice, as well as how cheap they tend to be to maintain if they ARE maintained, something I unfortunately haven't done as well as I would have liked to in the past year. I want to fix the truck up now that I have a better job but it just isn't really economically reasonable... either way the truck has too much sentimental value to sell or scrap...

 

[mr cribb]

How far are you willing to travel to find another explorer?

I looked up the Maine Craigslist and I found a few in Vermont, but I don't know if that's too far or not for you.

 

[Blue91Ex]

How far are you willing to travel to find another explorer?

I looked up the Maine Craigslist and I found a few in Vermont, but I don't know if that's too far or not for you.

Honestly, like I said, I'm still not certain about what I want to do for my next vehicle, it's probably going to be another 1st gen or a 1st gen expedition, but I dont know yet. I wont even have the money to buy anything for at least like 3 months, and top end budget will likely be under 2k.

When I do actually have money to spend, vermont, new hampshire, anywhere within like 4 hours would probably be fine, but I'll worry about that when I can afford something. unless this truck you're looking at is about a hundred bucks.. lol

Thank you for looking though, I only have my school laptop right now and they block craigslist. In a few weeks I'll see what I have saved up and if it is worth buying something cheap soon or more expensive later.

 

[mr cribb]

The best one I found was 2 grand. It was automatic transmission manual hubs and transfer case.

 

[Blue91Ex]

The best one I found was 2 grand. It was automatic transmission manual hubs and transfer case.

Does that mean the nicest 1st gen or the nicest for the money?

I think i have decided, after looking at a bunch of other vehicles for an hour, along with all the thought i have put into it beforehand, I'm going to get another 1st gen.

Requirements are these, since I plan to buy something I will have for a long time.

- 4wd
- electric windows and locks
- preferably manual (wanted one for a while) but I could live with an auto if it was low mileage
- no rust
- 4 door preferable, 2 door maybe, more cool but less practical
- under 140k miles
- runs good
-manual T-case would be good but ok with electric.
- taken care of interior, preferably tan
- did I mention no rust? not dealing with that crap this time!
- still has a lot of miles before any major engine or trans repairs, can't afford it.
- basically just needs to be in damn nice shape. not going to deal with constant mechanical and rust issues if I pay more than a grand

now posting this list isn't me saying alright guys go find it, I'm just putting it here to let anyone interested know my plans, like I said not worth looking yet since by the time I have money for one I find now, it will be gone.

anyway I might plop some more info on it tomorow. Time to go sleep, been a very sad and exhausting week.