1st gen Front Conversion

[2sickx]

im starting to think about replacing my old dented up fenders and hood, and since my headlights are yellowed and grill is cracked, i was thinking about swapping it out for a totally different front end, i see there are tons of fiberglass conversions, but i want steel! what are my options?

 

[410Fortune]

Gen II or sport trac, but it is not a simple bolt on swap, the inner fenders and radiator support are different.

You can update it to a Mercury style front enf (mountaineer) or a Mazda Navajo front end, those will be bolt ons for 91-94 model years.

 

[2sickx]

the mountaineer front end will bolt on. like the fenders and hood?

radiator support isnt that the same thing as a header panel?

 

[MONMIX]

radiator support isnt that the same thing as a header panel?

Nope.
The header pannel bolts to the radiatior support

 

[2sickx]

The radiator support is a bolt on? or is it welded or whatever to the frame

so for the sport trac if i get both fenders, both inner fenders, hood, headlights, grille, header panel radiator support its just a bolt on?

 

[MONMIX]

radiatior support ( also called core support ) is welded on.
The inner fenders ( also called aprons ) are welded on.

Getting a bit involved here.

 

[2sickx]

damnit, but the mountianeer front end would be easier then the sport trac?

 

[86caprirs]

Well I am from Canada and the Mercury Mountianeer never made it here.It is a US only vehical.But I would love to do that nose conversion. Does anyone have pics of what It looks like?????Please!!!!!!!!

 

[Kris Guilbeaux]

Hang on Guys the Mountaineer Front will not Bolt on to a First Gen. The only way to get a Second Gen Front on a first Gen to look right is to Swap Inner Fenders, radiator Suport, and the wiper cowl.

 

[86caprirs]

So then clear corners and a billet grill are the only things to do to the front of these??What about a lower vallance??

 

[410Fortune]

OOops sorry, they did not make a gen I (91-94) Mountaineer?

 

[slravene]

ive never seen one

 

[greenbeer]

The first year of the mountaineer wa '97. But, It used the same front and lights as the Explorer. Only the grill was different. It got it's own front in '98. 97's only came with the 5.0L as well.

 

['97 V8]

Yup and i gotsa a 97. Is there a way to make convert the front end of my mounty to a Sport trac front end? Is it a bolt on or do i need to change a bunch of stuff like rad support etc?

 

[410Fortune]

97 V8 you need to use the search feature and shorten your signature

The answer is YES, and if you search you can find out how.
Good luck with that!

If I listed all my mods on my siganature it would take up like 407 pages.

 

['97 V8]

ok 410 i got the pic on the signature!!! lol. i didnt know there was a size restriction on it. as you can see im down to 5 lines.

 

[410Fortune]

Did you find the ST conversion info you were looking for?
In 6 months I located 1 Sport Trac in the nation with a complete front clip.
Ford a Gen II Ex (95+) the Sport Trac front end will bolt on, but there are alot of parts.
You can buy them all aftermarket (yuk) for under $1800. The one complete clip I found, from one wrecked Trac was going for $1500+.

Other yards were quoting me prices all over the map and giving me parts from a few different trucks and also some new. To me this was not an option. I wanted factory metal with a factory fit.

Anyways I settled for a 97 Mercury front clip in town for a good deal so the ST conversion will have to wait (may still do it down the road, using fiberglass and factory parts)