1999 Mounty 5.0 aka My Great Bad Idea

[allmyEXes]

@Turdle Sheffield AL is about 70 miles from here.
After repair, Pilgrim heater set in place last year 12-22-23.

Pilgrim first fire last December. Many since then.

 

[97Sandbox]

I love salvage yards. I really hope they still exist by the time my kids are old enough to go, they're such great places to learn how cars come apart and go together.

Got some good stuff today. I went hoping to find a 4x4 M5R2 to start building for a backup (I didn't see any) and came home with a nice little bundle.

I got a bunch of third/fourth gen lug nuts -- I realize now they're not actually chrome but rather the notorious stainless-clad lug nuts. I picked 20 good ones and left the deformed and swollen ones behind.

There was a super clean '95 Eddie that I grabbed the multifunction switch and CC buttons out of because they were minty. Every time I see a '95 in the yard, I debate whether I want to swap all the dash parts with white markings into my Sport. I can never decide if they look cool or tacky. I grabbed the driver's door armrest too so I can replace the split one in my Mounty. I wonder why somebody scrapped the EB in the first place as it only had 167k and no rust.

The big score of the day though was a grey console from a 2nd gen Ranger. Armrest is broken of course, but I'm going to try to resurrect it and make some custom upholstery.

The console base is interesting, it has the notch in front like second gen explorers have:

But still has a spot in the back for a floor vent like a first gen:

I've never seen one with a block-off panel there before.

There was a '98 Mounty in the yard that had the same logo as the seat embroidery but in the form of a vinyl decal:

I wish I had these on my truck!

And completely unrelated to the Mounty, I found a '98-01 B-series bumper to try on a Sport as I've long considered doing for mine. I've been worried the contour would be too flat like a Ranger bumper, but it actually fit great!

Now I just need to find one that isn't dented and preferably has fog lights.

 

[CDW6212R]

Nice stuff. I think you should have bought the lower valance if you do plan to get one of those bumpers. The plastic part will be harder to find unhurt I bet.

 

[97Sandbox]

It doesn't look like it so much in the pictures, but the steel part had a big dent on the driver's side. And the lower valance is without fog lights, I'd like to keep fog lights on my Sport. One will turn up someday!

Has anyone deconstructed one of the base console armrests before? I couldn't find any good threads by searching. It's tough to tell how they snap together.

 

[Josh P]

I wonder why somebody scrapped the EB in the first place as it only had 167k and no rust.

Usually a bad transmission.

 

[410Fortune]

Stepson put a Mazda Navajo front clip on a 90 bii. Looks cool requires a little welding on bumper brackets
B4000 bumper on a sport very interesting
I have installed ranger off road
Bumpers on explorers but never a factory piece

I really like the mountaineer logo in the pinstripe
We could print some of those if they are not available.. wife has a cricut machine

 

[97Sandbox]

I'd love to have a Navajo, I really like their badging and tail lights. It's just fun to see something different I guess.

The one thing I noticed with the B series bumper is that it fills the gap that the Explorer has between the grille and bumper. Mounty bumpers do this too. I've read some people dislike that gap, but if you have your bumper properly aligned, that gap actually matches with the body line that runs along the sides of the truck and wraps around the tailgate. I have little doubt that's what designers had in mind back in the day.

I really like the mountaineer logo in the pinstripe
We could print some of those if they are not available.. wife has a cricut machine

I've never been able to find any online. I'll take a few of you print some!

 

[410Fortune]

I have 3ea 96-97 mountaineer grills in the shop, one of the rarest of all the pieces

My favorite front dress is the 98-01 mounty but they do t make any cool headlights for those hahahahaha so would have to retrofit some projectors into some factory housings and try to re clear them…. I can’t leave anything alone.

Now says it’s all sport tracs or rangers around here no more gen iis in the family

Off to see about finding mountaineer graphics

 

[CDW6212R]

I'd love to have a Navajo, I really like their badging and tail lights. It's just fun to see something different I guess.

The one thing I noticed with the B series bumper is that it fills the gap that the Explorer has between the grille and bumper. Mounty bumpers do this too. I've read some people dislike that gap, but if you have your bumper properly aligned, that gap actually matches with the body line that runs along the sides of the truck and wraps around the tailgate. I have little doubt that's what designers had in mind back in the day.
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I've never been able to find any online. I'll take a few of you print some!

Hmm, what you need is a Saleen bumper, or both of them. I'd love to see someone able to reproduce those, even if it had to be in fiberglass. My rear cover is warped massively from whatever accident and storage it had before I got it. Setting inside my Mountaineer hasn't changed it, it will take some interesting work to straighten it out at all. If I manage to get my project done enough that the bumpers and wing go on it, I might let the spare front I have go.


My green one is what I'll try to put on first, I wish I had been able to buy the whole set the man had way back then, these were really well designed parts;

 

[410Fortune]

Could make molds of those pieces

 

[97Sandbox]

Yeah, these days with 3D scanning someone could get a rough scan, clean up surfaces in CAD, and CNC foam molds. Then you could lay up new parts in fiberglass, carbon, etc.

 

[97Sandbox]

I'm good at some things, not so good at others. Upholstery may fall in the latter category, but I'm content with my first attempt at a DIY armrest cover.

It's made of seat back and although it's distorted, I definitely like it better than the stained velour that was on there before.

I repaired the cracks in the plastic core and added some more foam padding on top too. Overall it's nice to have the matching color. This console even came with the removable inner tray.

I also got the lug nuts swapped. Before:

After:

Sometimes these little jobs are really satisfying.

Purrington approves.

And I got it all done in time for another beautiful sunset.

 

[DintDobbs]

@97Sandbox Those wheels on the Mounty are sick! I don't think I've ever seen those in person.

 

[97Sandbox]

Thanks! I've been hunting for a set of AR-39 "sawblade" rims, but these "nitros" showed up locally at a price I couldn't refuse. They've definitely grown on me and I enjoy having period-correct aftermarket wheels.

 

[410Fortune]

Nice work! Armrest looks fine! Did you sew it?

 

[97Sandbox]

Yep. My grandma's Singer from the 50s chomped through the vinyl like a champ. I just couldn't keep the pattern lined up perfectly so the whole cover is kind of twisted. These armrests a basically just two panels that fold into each other with one continuous stitch joining them (think baseball).

 

[Josh P]

I think it looks good. I couldn't do any better, I've made some curtains that I had to sew the ends together, it's as much art as it is skill.

 

[97Sandbox]

Upholstery is one of those trades/crafts that I'm sure takes years of practice to get really good at.

I may try again sometime, but I'd really rather find an OEM leather/vinyl armrest from a first gen Eddie or Limited. One will surely turn up in the salvage yard, I've seen grey ones before, but didn't need one at the time.

Only challenge is all the Limited upholstery has a contrasting color piping. I got lucky with the one I put in my Sport, it's tan with brown piping, which looks okay. The grey ones I've seen with teal, purple, or black piping -- the latter being the only one that I think would look okay in the Mounty.

 

[97Sandbox]

I've been using the Mounty a lot these last couple weeks. Hauling brush, scrap metal, and logs around the farmstead. It hasn't missed a beat, which is why I haven't really had anything to share for an update.

I'll continue to hunt for that armrest, another 4x4 M5R2 to rebuild as a backup, and a non-chrome grille to paint and swap for my peeling chrome one. I may work up a solution for my ratty fog lights too, but they both work so I haven't messed with upgrading them yet.

Reworking my tailpipes would be good too, I should probably bump that up the priority list. But it's getting awfully cold to be laying on the ground outside.

This thing continues to be an absolute blast to drive, worn synchros aside. Hitting the gravel back roads around here in 2wd is very fun and it's nice to have 4x4 when I need it -- that's the beauty of the 4406.

 

[allmyEXes]

Nice truck. I'm glad that everything is working out with it.