Anyone know where to get this repaired or how to repair it?

[delexploder]

Its nice to see not everyone is part of the throw it away and get a new one club!

 

[shadowless127]

I understand the emotional attachment to your car. My X now is the only vehicle i've had an emotional attachment to since my first truck (which still pains me 5yrs later). I've actually put my X up for sale a couple times because I wanted to try and get into something else and I've pulled the ad both times; one time I actually cancelled a sale because I didn't want to part with it.

The body work looks fantastic, very good job. As far as painting it yourself... Just don't. do yourself a favor and just pay to have it resprayed. Unless you are a painter, and/or have access to all the appropriate tools and a paint booth it will not come out how you think it will.

 

[96explorerxlt2wd]

Had to put another $100 in to it this weekend. That should be it and it's ready for inspection as long as the seat can be fixed. The passenger side rear door was bent at the bottom and had to be replaced at some point and while the door was sitting off the Explorer, the window was smashed out so it was easier and cheaper to replace the whole door instead of just the glass for inspection. The door was gray so I'm hoping he can just paint above the trim green and it will match. Does anyone know if the factory gray for the whole body is the same as the gray they used for two-tone paint?

The tracks on the seat were bolting nicely into place but when I pushed on the back, it flopped down and then sprung right back up. The guy that's been doing the work took a look at it and said the mechanism to adjust the seat is fine, but there is a bolt that holds the back in line with the mechanism and that was sheared off. He was going to work on that and hopefully save me $25 and the headache of finding an all power leather seat that doesn't have lettering.

delexploder Unfortunately there are too many that are not a part of that club but I am very proud to say that I am part of it.

shadowless127 I know what that's like. I've bought 3 different vehicles with the intention to buy cheap, fix, and sell them but drove them for a while and decided to keep them. Unfortunately at 8 cars, anything else I buy has to be sold.
As for paint, it will be a long while, and I have plenty of old body parts laying around that I plan to practice with before diving in to it. I made that mistake a few years ago with my grams car and let's just say I was relieved to find a car in the junkyard that was the same color with a bumper in great shape.

 

[96ExplorerX]

Congrats on getting your beloved Explorer back on the road without breaking the bank.
I'm curious since you didn't use any 'professional' repair shops in the rebuilding process and did a lot of work yourself, will you have any problems in getting the new salvage title issued?
Pennsylvania Reconstructed Vehicle Title Law

 

[96explorerxlt2wd]

Congrats on getting your beloved Explorer back on the road without breaking the bank.
I'm curious since you didn't use any 'professional' repair shops in the rebuilding process and did a lot of work yourself, will you have any problems in getting the new salvage title issued?
Pennsylvania Reconstructed Vehicle Title Law

It was never totaled so I don't have to worry about that. I figured there was no comprehensive or collision on it so there was no point in turning it in to only have to pay more on my insurance which is high enough as is. Plus I didn't feel like messing with the extra hassle and expense of getting it back on the road. My next project is an '88 Mustang that T-boned another car and I was told just to get it back on the road, not including parts or labor to fix it, I will have to pay about $300 to get the inspections and paperwork done.

 

[96explorerxlt2wd]

So here she is as complete as I can afford for now. Now I can pickup where I left off over a year ago.









Hopefully, she won't need anything for a while. I picked her up last night and she still ran like a champ. Pulled slightly to the right but these are old tires and rims off of my '98 and they did the same thing after an alignment and balance on that one too. The alignment shop said that the camber was out but it didn't need a camber kit. Might be because I have never had it aligned and I put ball joints on it in December before it was wrecked. Not quite sure if that makes sense because I'm not too clear on what all goes on with the different parts of alignment.

Luckily, she was done just in time. My other Explorer seems to have some kind of fuel issue that will be addressed over the summer. Left me sitting at the bank yesterday morning but I could smell fuel after turning it over a few times. Then it all of a sudden fired right up. Guessing it isn't the fuel pump but maybe the fuel filter? It's done it twice now and it has about a 1/4 tank left.

So with the green Explorer I don't have a long list until she's back to the way I bought her but I want to go back to the way she came from the factory then maybe some light mods. Not quite sure yet. Here's the list of what I want to complete by summer:
Replace passenger step molding
Get another headliner
Reinstall interior
Replace odometer gear
Replace dash bulbs
Fix shift indicator alignment
Replace driver side valve cover (has a hole rusted through and leaks)
Clean or replace EGR to get CEL to go out

Also my airbag light flashes anytime the vehicle is on. When I was still driving it, I took one of the airbag fuses out to install a remote starter just so I didn't have to worry about accidentally deploying the bags because someone else had left the harness under the dash a mess. The guy that did the body work said that some manufacturers require you to take the vehicle to a dealer if you have the fuse out and turn the ignition on so that they can reset the computer. He said that unplugging the battery might work also but the battery was removed in May and another one wasn't installed until September so that should've covered that. I checked twice, and all of the fuses seem to be in and OK. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[96explorerxlt2wd]

Just in case anyone's interested, here's my next project. This project is for a different forum however.

 

[bill06447]

The airbag light is flashing a code. Count the flashes between pauses, post the results, one of us with a service manual can post the result/repair for you

Bill

 

[96explorerxlt2wd]

The airbag light is flashing a code. Count the flashes between pauses, post the results, one of us with a service manual can post the result/repair for you

Bill

It flashes 5 times.

 

[96explorerxlt2wd]

I still haven't had any seemingly problematic issues with the green Explorer. I do have a rattle that seems to only happen while on the gas. Not sure if that is engine or transmission related. It almost sounds as if a heat shield is loose but I wouldn't thing that would only make noise when on the gas. It doesn't do if I'm coasting or idling. I would also like to still figure out what is going on with the airbags.

I'm also having problems with my gray Explorer that are really starting to bother me. The not starting is getting worse. Still the same thing...cranks but won't start, smell gas, sits for a while and then may decide to start or if I floor it while cranking it over it may or may not start but seems to try. I also noticed when it is running that my charging meter is lower than normal. This has happened 2 other times now both times being the alternator and the last one died on me (left me sitting, luckily in the front yard). When I replaced the engine, it was out of a '99 so I had it all torn apart to replace the wiring harness. The small harness that went to the alternator and the plug in off of the main harness looked fine, no kinks, bends, bare spots, etc. What could be causing me to go through alternators? The first one was changed out in August 2013, the next a few weeks later to a rebuilt one which is what is giving out now. Maybe 8,000 miles put on over that time.

 

[delexploder]

If its flashing 5 times I believe its the bulb in the cluster

 

[96explorerxlt2wd]

I don't quite understand, are you saying that the lightbulb in the dash is causing a problem?

 

[delexploder]

Yes, I know it sounds crazy,

 

[96explorerxlt2wd]

So does the bulb just need replaced or is it the part that holds the bulb in? I have to get in there sometime for the odometer and the light behind the fuel gage is out so I can just add that to the list if so.

 

[delexploder]

Its a sign of a broken circuit in the airbag system, the bulb is the most common cause you may have broken wires ,but I would start by fixing all the lights in the cluster, bad bulbs can cause alot of problems in these rigs

 

[96explorerxlt2wd]

Thanks, at least I have a place to start now. I would've never guessed something like that could cause a problem. I'll try to get to the bulbs in in the next few days and see what happens.