1998 explorer front end repair

[410Fortune]

65 Galaxy!! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Man text messaging is the worst thing to ever happen to driving

 

[Spudhut]

Glad to hear she'll be back on the road. Looked like a nice one

 

[Mikey98Ex5.0]

A little update.. I drilled out all the spot welds and got the inner fender off the body and core support. I was able to push the core support forward enough to see the fan punctured the radiator so that’ll be another thing to add to the shopping list. Wasn’t bad at all talking it apart!

 

[shucker1]

Glad to see your moving along and not just going to scrap it!

 

[Mikey98Ex5.0]

For sure! I like the truck too much to just scrap it without trying to fix it

 

[974X4BLACKSPORT]

Nice to see a very professional approach at making the repair! Nice truck BTW!

 

[Mikey98Ex5.0]

Nice to see a very professional approach at making the repair! Nice truck BTW!

Thanks! It’s a learning experience for sure. But I got all the resources to do it so why not. I enjoy working on these. The TM headers weren’t a bad install with a lift. That was kinda fun. Here’s before the accident.

 

[CDW6212R]

Great progress, that's the best way to do it.

When you get time, also carefully check the body fitment, how symmetrical the body is to the frame. My 93 and my 99 were rolled totaled wrecks when I bought them. The 93 only had left side damage, minor right, so the body never had to come off. I found the whole truck moved to the right on the body mounts. I loosened them all and centered the body easily. My 99 was only slightly moved to the left, but I had the body off and put it back on straight. The body mounts are the weak links between the body and frame.

 

[410Fortune]

well done!

 

[Mikey98Ex5.0]

Another update. I got the core support out tonight with some more drilling out spot welds. Being able to see both wheels so easily now. I can see they are definitely not aligned right. It has also been awhile since it’s had an alignment. They aren’t very far off but it is noticeable. Truck still fires right up and moves on it’s own. I will for sure check and see how the body is aligned in relation with the frame as well. The fan also was the reason the radiator was punctured. I put the rad in a few months ago too...

 

[CDW6212R]

Good inspiration there for others, thanks for your efforts.

Save everything from the old radiator support, a new one won't come with any of those brackets and clips etc. That small bumper bracket still on your left frame snout, is available to buy, but also some bumpers didn't have those. Both of those frame snouts look good, you can hammer them back into place if needed. My left one was tweaked a bit, and no trouble to get straight again.

Your hood was mashed good, inspect the two hinges closely too, those you can still buy easily also. Rock Auto is going to appreciate you for a bit.

 

[RandomNerd2000]

Now's the time for a 99-01 bumper conversion, get a nice clean one with the big fog lights.

 

[shucker1]

Stay Stock Body.

Not many of us left around...

 

[Mikey98Ex5.0]

Good inspiration there for others, thanks for your efforts.

Save everything from the old radiator support, a new one won't come with any of those brackets and clips etc. That small bumper bracket still on your left frame snout, is available to buy, but also some bumpers didn't have those. Both of those frame snouts look good, you can hammer them back into place if needed. My left one was tweaked a bit, and no trouble to get straight again.

Your hood was mashed good, inspect the two hinges closely too, those you can still buy easily also. Rock Auto is going to appreciate you for a bit.

I do plan on keeping this updated until the truck is back to normal. Maybe someone else will be convinced to fix theirs if this happens (hopefully it won’t) I did save the core support for now I also checked the hood hinges and the passenger side got bent pretty good. I for sure will be putting a 99+ front bumper back on, ive always liked the fog lights and the way they look better than 98 and older.

 

[Mikey98Ex5.0]

A long time since I’ve been able to update so.. I finally have got the parts I need together to fix it up (minus a passenger fender). I got the core support in today along with a 99+ front bumper. Welding still needs to be done for the inner fenders but here it is so far! Grille is just mocked up for now... Happy new year!

 

[Mikey98Ex5.0]

Another update. All welding has been finished and I installed the header panel and grille along with the grille. Waiting on my other headlight to come in since the passenger side was destroyed. Last exterior part I need is a matching passenger fender so if anyone here knows of one let me know! Let me know what you think! Starting to look like it did before the accident..

 

[Mbrooks420]

Looking good!

 

[CDW6212R]

That looks good, but you can't have my fender. I need a couple myself, my 98 has bad body gaps, and the hood/fenders they used weren't good replacements.

 

[Mikey98Ex5.0]

Thanks! Yeah finding a matching fender will be the challenge. After that it should look like it was never hit. New tires will be going on it also so I can put the nasty spare wheel back under the truck..

 

[Mikey98Ex5.0]

More pics.. got my headlights in today so it finally has the passenger again. Now the real search is on for a fender.