DAT05EXPLODER
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this is a cool thread to read/watch. keep up the good work.
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'98 XLT 5.0 Frame Off Restoration
- Thread starter obie
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GRNMACHINE
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No clue how I missed this thread. Awesome work. Who is doing the work? Re: Bodylift from a few pages back (just read the entire 7pages)--a 2" should be find with steering, at least mine has been. With all the work they have done, fabbing up your bumpers should be pretty easy. Who is doing the work? Rare to see nice work these days.
frickea86
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Wow, great job so far man. I know the feeling of rust taking over, I am needing to start doing something about my rocker panels and rear wheel wells as the PA salt is killing it.
Also, going to hit up that Salt-X wash and the Amsoil HD Metal Protectant like you mentioned. Need something better then cheap rubberized coating and this seems to be a interesting alternative.
Amazed at the progress, keep the pics rolling!
Also, going to hit up that Salt-X wash and the Amsoil HD Metal Protectant like you mentioned. Need something better then cheap rubberized coating and this seems to be a interesting alternative.
Amazed at the progress, keep the pics rolling!
obie
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Find:
Thanks man! I'm not trying to make anyone jealous though, and I'm sure once I post just how much I've paid at the end of this most feelings of envy will disappear, haha. And do you have a link to what you're doing to yours? I haven't seen your thread yet, I don't think.
Atlas:
Almost too much work to list. I've had rockers and dog legs replaced on one side, dog leg replaced and rocker repaired on the drivers, rocker structure replaced on both sides, #2 cab mount brackets replaced and repaired, repaired both rear quarters and wheel wells, replaced both sides' quarter panel trim areas, repaired both front fenders, replaced radiator support, repaired door lips, replaced liftgate lip, and that's just the major stuff.
To be honest, I really wish I could have done all this myself like you're doing, but as good as I am with a wrench is how bad I am with bondo and bodywork. If it wasn't a vehicle I cared so much about I would probably have just kept going and learning myself, but I didn't have the skill for how I wanted the old girl to look. But thanks man, and you keep up the good work! Glad to hear about your house by the way.
Dat05: Thanks man!
GrnMachine: Thanks! All the bodywork and paint is being done by Crown Point Auto Repair & Restoration in Crown Point, Indiana. I really can't say enough about how awesome they are, both for their quality of work and their outstanding customer service. I saw their work on a lot of old muscle cars and it cemented their place as my number one pick. And about the bodylift, I've decided against it. I don't want to go too high and make the tires look tiny, plus I think it'll keep better stability.
Frickea: Thanks man! PA salt is basically what started this whole process, haha. I was in that state for one winter and it nearly ruined my baby. Otherwise a great place to be though. I was over in Blairsville, if you know where that's at. The Asoil stuff is great, though I don't have first hand experience with Salt-X. I'm gonna try it next winter, but I figured if it's good enough for the Marines in K-Bay Hawaii to use on their guns and equipment, it's good enough for me.
A quick update for today:
I picked up the new tire and had it mounted on my new wheels today. Just the one for now, so they can check clearances once the frame and body are mated again. The 4 doors are now done as far as the inside goes. The exterior paint won't be done until all the work on the liftgate and hood are done and the vehicle is whole again, so that way there won't be any small gaps with the digital pattern due to unsupported body weight.
How's this thing supposed to roll with no axle?
Thanks man! I'm not trying to make anyone jealous though, and I'm sure once I post just how much I've paid at the end of this most feelings of envy will disappear, haha. And do you have a link to what you're doing to yours? I haven't seen your thread yet, I don't think.
Atlas:
Almost too much work to list. I've had rockers and dog legs replaced on one side, dog leg replaced and rocker repaired on the drivers, rocker structure replaced on both sides, #2 cab mount brackets replaced and repaired, repaired both rear quarters and wheel wells, replaced both sides' quarter panel trim areas, repaired both front fenders, replaced radiator support, repaired door lips, replaced liftgate lip, and that's just the major stuff.
To be honest, I really wish I could have done all this myself like you're doing, but as good as I am with a wrench is how bad I am with bondo and bodywork. If it wasn't a vehicle I cared so much about I would probably have just kept going and learning myself, but I didn't have the skill for how I wanted the old girl to look. But thanks man, and you keep up the good work! Glad to hear about your house by the way.
Dat05: Thanks man!
GrnMachine: Thanks! All the bodywork and paint is being done by Crown Point Auto Repair & Restoration in Crown Point, Indiana. I really can't say enough about how awesome they are, both for their quality of work and their outstanding customer service. I saw their work on a lot of old muscle cars and it cemented their place as my number one pick. And about the bodylift, I've decided against it. I don't want to go too high and make the tires look tiny, plus I think it'll keep better stability.
Frickea: Thanks man! PA salt is basically what started this whole process, haha. I was in that state for one winter and it nearly ruined my baby. Otherwise a great place to be though. I was over in Blairsville, if you know where that's at. The Asoil stuff is great, though I don't have first hand experience with Salt-X. I'm gonna try it next winter, but I figured if it's good enough for the Marines in K-Bay Hawaii to use on their guns and equipment, it's good enough for me.
A quick update for today:
I picked up the new tire and had it mounted on my new wheels today. Just the one for now, so they can check clearances once the frame and body are mated again. The 4 doors are now done as far as the inside goes. The exterior paint won't be done until all the work on the liftgate and hood are done and the vehicle is whole again, so that way there won't be any small gaps with the digital pattern due to unsupported body weight.
How's this thing supposed to roll with no axle?
GRNMACHINE
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Awesome, I will have to check them out next time I am out that way. I cant seem to find it yet, but recently yahoo news had a tricked out Ford 650 which was painted in digital camo.
Found it, google nick barnett's custom ford f-650, there were numerous websites that popped up. Wasnt familiar with most of the websites so I didnt want to link them.
Found it, google nick barnett's custom ford f-650, there were numerous websites that popped up. Wasnt familiar with most of the websites so I didnt want to link them.
FIND
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I don't do build threads, and most of what I have done with mine is maintenance, or returning things to stock or better versions of stock that were modified in horrible ways. For instance, when I first bought my truck, it had horribly gaudy 18" chrome wheels that weighed about a metric ton. Now my explorer is on stock 16" wheels with a set of 245/75R16 Dynapro ATMs on it so it will perform better in almost all driving conditions that I normally experience. Highway, light offroad, snow.
I've replaced a few body and trim details that were not quite good enough, replaced the headlights with a new set of OEM Ford headlights, tails with the ones that have the clear turns instead of amber and aren't covered in 800 bazillion coats of VHT like the stock tails that were on it when I got it. New rear springs, shocks and shackles are waiting to go on because they arrived right as that beautiful spring weather we were getting in December and January ended. Swaybar bushings, endlinks, body mounts. The exhaust was originally 3" with the cats cut out and a single magnaflow muffler with a 4" tip. It is now something sensible that matches well to the headers that are on it. I put in an electric fan, which actually saved me money since my fan clutch was stuck anyway.
Nearly all the lights in and on the vehicle have been replaced with LEDs. I originally had a nice pioneer bluetooth stereo in, but I recently replaced it with an older Clarion CX609 that I managed to find, because it also has bluetooth hands free, but it looks more like a stock radio. I'm going to add lighted window switches in the rear, and I might do a quick thread for those... though it is pretty straight forward. Just use lighted switches from the front, add a wire from the lighting to the front doors back to the rear so you have power. I just thought that it was a nice little touch. I pulled the rubber sill plates off for some brushed aluminum ones that say Explorer. I think they were for a sport trac maybe? IDK, random e-bay find.
Most of the rest of it has been general maintenance items outside of an e cam that I put in. There are a few other things I know I am forgetting. I know I've spent a substantial amount on the car, and outside of an engine rebuild/replacement and major body work like repainting, I've pretty much touched almost everything that made the truck show its age.
I've still got to pick up stuff to do a coilover conversion in front, and I'd probably like to pick up an engine to rebuild, but the one I've got seems to be running incredibly strong for now. I'm considering doing a little customizing to the front end, specifically the lighting, which I probably would do a thread on, and I'd love to paint the truck some time... only it is outside the budget to have a shop do it right now, I don't have a good place to paint anymore, and I don't really have the time or motivation to undertake that kind of project anymore anyway myself. I probably need dyno time for a better tune to one of these days, though I think what I've got is pretty good, so I'm not real motivated. Plus, I'm not 100% on color. I've been leaning towards green with brown bedliner on the bottom half... but I probably will want to swap my interior out for tan if I do that. Otherwise, blue and grey, or safety orange and black. Eventually I need to get off-road lights, but I've been holding back money recently to budget for a move.
Oh well, for now I'll stick to my goal of having my truck ALMOST as new as yours. Some of the parts I've been replacing weren't even bad, I've just been picking up things at intervals so that I know the things won't go bad. Even with all that, I'm still not going in near as deep as you are, but at least I know my nearly 15 year old Explorer runs like new.
I've replaced a few body and trim details that were not quite good enough, replaced the headlights with a new set of OEM Ford headlights, tails with the ones that have the clear turns instead of amber and aren't covered in 800 bazillion coats of VHT like the stock tails that were on it when I got it. New rear springs, shocks and shackles are waiting to go on because they arrived right as that beautiful spring weather we were getting in December and January ended. Swaybar bushings, endlinks, body mounts. The exhaust was originally 3" with the cats cut out and a single magnaflow muffler with a 4" tip. It is now something sensible that matches well to the headers that are on it. I put in an electric fan, which actually saved me money since my fan clutch was stuck anyway.
Nearly all the lights in and on the vehicle have been replaced with LEDs. I originally had a nice pioneer bluetooth stereo in, but I recently replaced it with an older Clarion CX609 that I managed to find, because it also has bluetooth hands free, but it looks more like a stock radio. I'm going to add lighted window switches in the rear, and I might do a quick thread for those... though it is pretty straight forward. Just use lighted switches from the front, add a wire from the lighting to the front doors back to the rear so you have power. I just thought that it was a nice little touch. I pulled the rubber sill plates off for some brushed aluminum ones that say Explorer. I think they were for a sport trac maybe? IDK, random e-bay find.
Most of the rest of it has been general maintenance items outside of an e cam that I put in. There are a few other things I know I am forgetting. I know I've spent a substantial amount on the car, and outside of an engine rebuild/replacement and major body work like repainting, I've pretty much touched almost everything that made the truck show its age.
I've still got to pick up stuff to do a coilover conversion in front, and I'd probably like to pick up an engine to rebuild, but the one I've got seems to be running incredibly strong for now. I'm considering doing a little customizing to the front end, specifically the lighting, which I probably would do a thread on, and I'd love to paint the truck some time... only it is outside the budget to have a shop do it right now, I don't have a good place to paint anymore, and I don't really have the time or motivation to undertake that kind of project anymore anyway myself. I probably need dyno time for a better tune to one of these days, though I think what I've got is pretty good, so I'm not real motivated. Plus, I'm not 100% on color. I've been leaning towards green with brown bedliner on the bottom half... but I probably will want to swap my interior out for tan if I do that. Otherwise, blue and grey, or safety orange and black. Eventually I need to get off-road lights, but I've been holding back money recently to budget for a move.
Oh well, for now I'll stick to my goal of having my truck ALMOST as new as yours. Some of the parts I've been replacing weren't even bad, I've just been picking up things at intervals so that I know the things won't go bad. Even with all that, I'm still not going in near as deep as you are, but at least I know my nearly 15 year old Explorer runs like new.
obie
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That's good man, keeping vehicles running long past their "expected" life is something it seems too few people do nowdays. And with Ford's excellent powertrain/drivetrain combo on the AWD 5.0s means that the majority of fixes are just little things and rust, bleh. By the way, I think the green and brown sounds the best, but safety orange and black would be a pretty unique combination too. If you have any photoshop skills, go ahead and post it 'em, I don't mind if you hijack a bit.
Believe me, I never intended to get this deep. In the beginning, it was just taking off the tupperware to fix some rust spots and replace the cab mounts, and as you read through the thread you can see the madness spiraling out of control, haha. "Oh, while it's already down, I might as well do this and this and this and these and this!" I've gone from thinking three grand was enough to holy crap I can't believe I'm spending nearly as much as this thing was brand new 15 years ago
It seems Monmix was right all along.
Believe me, I never intended to get this deep. In the beginning, it was just taking off the tupperware to fix some rust spots and replace the cab mounts, and as you read through the thread you can see the madness spiraling out of control, haha. "Oh, while it's already down, I might as well do this and this and this and these and this!" I've gone from thinking three grand was enough to holy crap I can't believe I'm spending nearly as much as this thing was brand new 15 years ago
It seems Monmix was right all along.FIND
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Hah, I've got no photoshop skills whatsoever. I MSPaint everything, even though I have access to CS6 and still have older versions of CS sitting around. But, if anyone wants to give it a shot, there's a picture of my explorer in the first page of the Explorers in the snow photo contest in Exploring Everything Under The Sun.
I've been giving serious thought to the green and brown, but I'd have to swap out to tan interior, and I'm not in any hurry to paint or do body work anyway. Plus, then I would have to do some darker leather accents in the interior to really balance it out, and cut some wood trim... It would be a never ending project until I had something that really went well together. Orange/Black is just a thought because it seems like it would be fun to have, and no one would ever be able to say they didn't see me coming and be taken seriously.
I've been giving serious thought to the green and brown, but I'd have to swap out to tan interior, and I'm not in any hurry to paint or do body work anyway. Plus, then I would have to do some darker leather accents in the interior to really balance it out, and cut some wood trim... It would be a never ending project until I had something that really went well together. Orange/Black is just a thought because it seems like it would be fun to have, and no one would ever be able to say they didn't see me coming and be taken seriously.
obie
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I know how you feel about the interior. Once this thing is rolling again, there's still a ton more I want to do to it. I'll eventually get the entire interior gutted again and replace everything with the Eddie Bauer prairie tan dash, headliner, trim, seats, and carpet. I just gotta find a junkyard around me that has one in good condition. Then there's saving up for the CB setup, 4.56 gears and Auburn locker, new front and rear offroad bumpers, new winch, the cowl hood, the floor shifter conversion, a *possible* 4406 TC conversion, and the list goes on and on. Though if my F150 ever dies (190K miles and running strong, doesn't look like that'll happen anytime soon), the 4406 swap will be a piece of cake and I won't need to buy a single part. Just a matter of paying off debt and working plenty of OT to get this thing truly beefed up.
obie
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Paint!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man! Super excited today!
I'm gonna be a small tease and tell you all that the pattern work has started on the liftgate, but I don't wanna post any pictures of that until it's all done
As you can see, they put clear over the base, but all the pattern work so far is just the flat coat until it's done. I'm actually very glad I decided not to go flat, because it doesn't look good, definitely not as good as I thought it would. So kudos to them for changing my mind.
Don't worry about the panel gaps or anything yet either. They just fit them up for the base coat, everything will be perfect before the pattern work starts, they just need to get it on the frame first.
Speaking of the two getting back together, it's gonna be a while more yet. Superlift's new status is another month before it's done, and then it still has to ship. At least 4WheelParts.com gave me a $75 gift certificate for waiting four months on these guys. That'll go towards replacing my fog lights with some KCs. And in a way that's good, gives me another few weeks of working OT to save up more money.
Oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man! Super excited today!
I'm gonna be a small tease and tell you all that the pattern work has started on the liftgate, but I don't wanna post any pictures of that until it's all done
As you can see, they put clear over the base, but all the pattern work so far is just the flat coat until it's done. I'm actually very glad I decided not to go flat, because it doesn't look good, definitely not as good as I thought it would. So kudos to them for changing my mind.
Don't worry about the panel gaps or anything yet either. They just fit them up for the base coat, everything will be perfect before the pattern work starts, they just need to get it on the frame first.
Speaking of the two getting back together, it's gonna be a while more yet. Superlift's new status is another month before it's done, and then it still has to ship. At least 4WheelParts.com gave me a $75 gift certificate for waiting four months on these guys. That'll go towards replacing my fog lights with some KCs. And in a way that's good, gives me another few weeks of working OT to save up more money.
RyansX
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It's looking great man! Can't wait to see how this turns out! I'm so jealous that you get a basically brand new Explorer, built the way that you want!
GRNMACHINE
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Drooooooling!!!! Cant wait to see some more paint!!!
IAmTodd
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That looks amazing! I'd love to do something of this scale to my measly truck.
Just curious; you've gone this far and put this much work into it, why did you remove the door glass and window trim?
Just curious; you've gone this far and put this much work into it, why did you remove the door glass and window trim?
obie
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Thanks for the kind words fellas!
The door glass is still in there. Only the windshield, quarter panel glass, and liftgate glass were removed. Those got taken off to inspect the mounting lips for rust, and my front windshield needed replacing due to some chips in it. All the rest of the glass was in good shape, and luckily all the window lips were still in perfect factory condition.
Aside from the under and lower body rot, the rest of the truck is in really good shape, so I'm glad I took care of everything now before it got too bad.
The door glass is still in there. Only the windshield, quarter panel glass, and liftgate glass were removed. Those got taken off to inspect the mounting lips for rust, and my front windshield needed replacing due to some chips in it. All the rest of the glass was in good shape, and luckily all the window lips were still in perfect factory condition.
Aside from the under and lower body rot, the rest of the truck is in really good shape, so I'm glad I took care of everything now before it got too bad.
obie
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Well, looks like the lift is gonna hafta go on after this is all done. Superlift keeps pushing it back more and more. I guess once it finally gets here, I'll take a weekend and install it in the driveway. This also means no coilovers yet.
To be honest, I'm kinda pissed. I ordered this on December 15th and now they're saying some time in May, but it will probably be delayed again. I've half a mind to cancel and get my money back, but it seems they're going to discontinue it soon.
To be honest, I'm kinda pissed. I ordered this on December 15th and now they're saying some time in May, but it will probably be delayed again. I've half a mind to cancel and get my money back, but it seems they're going to discontinue it soon.
IAmTodd
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Fair enough. It just looks like you've taped around the trim.
obie
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Good news! After some hardcore Googling last night and a bunch of calls to some stores, I found a place that had one in stock, National Tire and Wheel. They confirmed it for me this morning, so I just placed my order and it will be here within 4 to 5 days. It was about a hundred and forty bucks more than 4WheelParts wanted, but at least I won't have to wait a few more months.
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obie
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Leaf springs are off!
Gonna take the Superlift leaf springs and sway bar links to work tomorrow to press the bushings in. It's kind of a PITA to try and hold a leaf spring in place and squeeze a MASSIVE 6" vise on it at the same time. So I'll just grab a coworker inappropriately and have him help me use the hydraulic press.
As far as the rear goes, the only difficulty I'm encountering is the upper shackle bushings, the ones pressed into the frame. I used a ball joint press to remove the sleeve, but the rubber is still super tight in there. I'm gonna try a trick my buddy told me about. He said to get a large drill bit and start digging into the rubber, and as it spins it will start slicing it all around and basically shred all the rubber and barely touch anything else. Then just hit it up with a flapper disk and press the new bushings in.
I just gotta get a few new nuts and bolts, then the new springs, sway bar links, and the u-bolt/shock skid plates I bought from Brian1 will all be installed. I also want to see if any bushings I have will fit the two "track bars" the 5.0s have. At least I think only the 5.0 models have those, not 100% sure. Might have to get replacement Ford bars. Then swing the chassis around and start on the front of the lift! Hopefully, assuming no catastrophes, the suspension will be all done by Sunday.
I have a question for you guys though. I have a new set of stock (chinese dorman, yuck) shackles, but I'm wondering if I'm better off just cutting the set of
Warrior lift shackles I have down to stock height. The stock ones are so weak compared to the warriors, but I don't really want the extra 1-2" of lift. That's too much with a 4" Superlift and a 3" bodylift. I just got my 33s, I don't want them to be too small already!
Gonna take the Superlift leaf springs and sway bar links to work tomorrow to press the bushings in. It's kind of a PITA to try and hold a leaf spring in place and squeeze a MASSIVE 6" vise on it at the same time. So I'll just grab a coworker inappropriately and have him help me use the hydraulic press.
As far as the rear goes, the only difficulty I'm encountering is the upper shackle bushings, the ones pressed into the frame. I used a ball joint press to remove the sleeve, but the rubber is still super tight in there. I'm gonna try a trick my buddy told me about. He said to get a large drill bit and start digging into the rubber, and as it spins it will start slicing it all around and basically shred all the rubber and barely touch anything else. Then just hit it up with a flapper disk and press the new bushings in.
I just gotta get a few new nuts and bolts, then the new springs, sway bar links, and the u-bolt/shock skid plates I bought from Brian1 will all be installed. I also want to see if any bushings I have will fit the two "track bars" the 5.0s have. At least I think only the 5.0 models have those, not 100% sure. Might have to get replacement Ford bars. Then swing the chassis around and start on the front of the lift! Hopefully, assuming no catastrophes, the suspension will be all done by Sunday.
I have a question for you guys though. I have a new set of stock (chinese dorman, yuck) shackles, but I'm wondering if I'm better off just cutting the set of
Warrior lift shackles I have down to stock height. The stock ones are so weak compared to the warriors, but I don't really want the extra 1-2" of lift. That's too much with a 4" Superlift and a 3" bodylift. I just got my 33s, I don't want them to be too small already!Featured images
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