accident=new grill, bumper, headlights

[pedziak]

hey guys,

iv been poking around the forum for a few months now, looking for ideas for 99 mounty. i thought i would finally post and see what you think.

i was in a crash a year and a half ago, and did some damage to the grill, bumper and left head light. i have been looking for cheap replacement options and toying with the idea of custom grills and whatnot. however,im in college right now, so replacing everything with oem would be an expensive option, as would custom accessories from manufacturers. so, i figured i'd give some repairs a try.

my plan is to repair the grill by means of epoxy, then paint it white to match to factory color. is this unrealistic? first i have to strip off all of the chrome finish, since it was already coming off. then i had the idea to remove the vertical bars in the center of the grill and replace it with some mesh. i then stumbled upon boominXplorer's front end which is almost exactly what i had in mind.

the left headlight is only missing one of those tabs to aim it, unfortunately, but otherwise works fine. so, i figured while i have the grill off, i would look at headlight options. i would love a pair with more output, like HIDs. what have you tried and which brands should i look at?

my apologies for the lengthy post.

 

[manaen]

I am in the same boat right now due to some ice we had a few weeks ago. I will be curious to see what type of input you get here.

My current plan is to replace my bumper with a custom fab'd offroad bumper made of plate. With a diamond plate top and diamond plate skid pan.

 

[smurfxlt]

i crashed my truck and had to replace the whole front end about a year ago. my advice would be to check out some junkyards for cheap options. i replaced everything (hood, fender, grille, header panel, headlight, corner light etc) for under 200 bucks. and if you want HIDs, i have a great website for cheap HIDs. if you want it PM me and ill try to find it.

 

[410Fortune]

his 99 Mounty uses a unique grill and headlights, only found on 98-01 Mounty's

I think the epoxy idea is a great idea! Your 99 Mounty grill/lights are not cheap to replace!!!

You can also convert to the 95-01 explorer grill and headlight assembly, but where is the fun in that?

Just FYI Certifit.com (sordafit LOL) lists your hedlight and grill available

grill: $76.50, headlight: $30.75

so I was off a bit, parts are available and they are not super expensive either....

 

[pedziak]

wow, the cheapest (new) grills i'v seen were around $150. nice work 410fortune. if this epoxy business fails, ill definitely check that out. my plan is to hit up the local junkyard anyway for a bumper and few other things, but i figured there aren't many mountaineers in there.

i am curious about the explorer grill/bumper switch. i know it's possible, but when i look at the front clips side by side, i notice the piece of metal underneath the headlights is a different shape. how does one deal with that?

 

[BrianDye]

It'l be a good experience project and fun at the same time...
I would check on some aftermarket (If thats what you want) on eBay, there are aftermarket taillights I like on there for my explorer that are cheaper than OEM!

 

[pedziak]

well, i tried the epoxy nonsense. i can't keep the cracks together for it to cure... oh well, it was worht the $6 to try.

It'l be a good experience project and fun at the same time...
I would check on some aftermarket (If thats what you want) on eBay, there are aftermarket taillights I like on there for my explorer that are cheaper than OEM!

are you talking about grills or headlights? i have looked around for a long time for aftermarket mounty grills. they simply don't exist to my knowledge. it's a shame, the exploders get all the play...

but anyway, on to plan B. we'll see what the junkyard has to offer.

 

[Dannyboy]

I went into a junkyard and found a clunkered Explorer, pulled the header panel, headlights, marker lights, grill basically everything on the front end for $75.

Cash for clunkers has given us some great parts vehicles.

 

[celly]

I went into a junkyard and found a clunkered Explorer, pulled the header panel, headlights, marker lights, grill basically everything on the front end for $75.

Cash for clunkers has given us some great parts vehicles.

We didn`t have C for C up here in Canuckistan, but I got a similar deal on some 2nd gen Explorer grille parts. I`d rather hit a bone yard than attempt repairs myself.

 

[BrianDye]

Yea, ive never really searched for mounty grilles...
I was talking about aftermarket grilles, and headlights. (Like billette, and diamond cut, etc)