90 XLT Upgrade : Recaro-Frontseats

[Crizz]

When I bought my 90 XLT last year in nov., the frontseats were reminding me on some of those garden-chairs used for outdoor / camping. They had become very softly, esp. the sidecorners, though the covers still looked good.

I thought long about swapping the interieur from a crashed 93 with electric leatherseats, but my 90 is blue, and the interieur is the same - so gray leather wouldn´t really look good at it, and swapping all incl. floor, panels, dashboard and so on would be too expensive.

2 Weeks ago we had a littl meeting with some guys around who all drive Explorers, and one of ´em told me that his friend - a saddler - has two Recaro-Seats in blue. The price was okay, so I tokk them, and yesterday I finally got them in :

First problem was creating a console for mounting the original rails to the Recaros. I used flat steelbars from 2" x 1/3", build some distance-blocks and weld them together. The Recaros are a little , even they don´t look so. So it was needful to mount them a little closer to the doors, otherwise the sliders would be blocked at the cupholder.

Well, got it all after r.a. 6 hrs., but I think it was worth it. Now I only need to get hte armrest renewed and make some thoughts how to fix the belt buckle to the seat....

 

[melsner]

Those seats came out awsome. I wish I had them in my 94. They look a bit like the sport buckets in my 91 STX. I thought explorers started in 91. Did they offer '90 models in Europe? What is your build date? Is that console original? It looks like a 93/94 console.

 

[410Fortune]

Nice execution, looks good I vote for re-covering the center armrest in a similar or new material....

 

[IAmTodd]

Looks awsome, now just do it to the rear

 

[Rhett]

What melsner said: Did they have 1990 model year Explorers in Europe? That looks like a U.S. 93-94 dash. It's got the U.S. 93-94 a/c heat controls.

I like your Recaros, and I like what you did with the floormats...

 

[Crizz]

My XLT was built in Nov.´90 , it´s an US-model, you´re right.It´s a blue duo-tone. The previous owner bought the car in dec. 1990 and shipped it to germany ( I got the car first-handed with only 31´000 mls, he only used it for wintertime ).

The Explorers sold in Europe started in 93 and had a facelift : no chrome-grille, no chrome-bumpers, plasticcovers at the the fenders, other hd- and taillights and a km-speedo. And they had other rims, not that pretty 12-hole-rims.

The concole underneath the armrest is the original ones, I only swapped the cupholder because it´s more useful than the single-ended that was in originaly. I took it from a crashed 93 XP

About the armrest : yes, it will be re-covered with the same material like the seats.

The floormats are aftermarket at ebay.de , payed about 25.- Euros ( r.a. 30 bucks ) for a set of 4 pcs ( f/r ), and the dash is modified with glowgauges and a self-made stainless bezel. The A/C-controls have been in when I bought the car, have no clue if the panel was changed, but it looks different to the 93-Euro-Modells : they have an "off"-position beneath the "max a/c"-position.

 

[Rhett]

My XLT was built in Nov.´90 ,

Then it's a 1991 Explorer.

I like your gauges. I also like the colors of your truck and the clear corners. Really looks sharp. I too have a visor, but not the one with lights on it.

 

[Crizz]

thx for compliments Never thought i would spend so much time in a car again when i bought it, but then the "Explorer-virus" took me ....
( last project has been a ´71 Mach I, but totalled it 4 mo´s later.. ( 2000 ))

 

[bmxking5]

but I think it was worth it.

Definitely looks like it to me. Nice job, the whole truck looks really good.

 

[Rhett]

Crizz what is that on the driver-side quarterpanel? Is that a reflector?
If it is a reflector, did you add that, or do all Euro Explorers have reflectors there?

 

[Crizz]

Sorry, Rhett - have no clue what you are meaning ?:| Dashboard ? What do you mean with "quarterpanel" ? If you can explain, I can answer your question. Best will be to rightclick the picture, save it, add an arrow to what you mean, save it and insert it here.

 

[bmxking5]

I think he means the driver's side front fender...that clear light that is almost by the driver's door.

 

[Crizz]

ah ! It´s just a sticker from the ford-garage where the previous owner took the car for maint., not a reflector. Looks like because of the cam´s flash.

 

[Rhett]

oh ok. A sticker. When I was in Germany I saw lots of Fords, but they were "different" than Fords over here. Some of the changes were simply extra reflectors and/or lights, but some changes were different body panels...

In Erfurt, I saw a Ford Ranger with a pair of TEXAS LONGHORN BULL HORNS on the front!

 

[Crizz]

Rhett, this car you´ve seen wasn´t with a german registration, or it was a just a jerk (sorry). In GE we have this M.O.T.-Tests every 2 yrs., and if there is anything that doesn´t fit to the regulations they will tie up the car.

About those stickers : just haven´t got the time to remove them and polish the fenders, will do it when i got my white turnlights for the fenders