Hello from NJ

[sparky13a]

Been watching for a few months and thought I would introduce myself. I have a collection of Explorers. My wife has a 2002 XLT, which after a recent 30" of snow realized that the 4WD does not work. The posts here on this subject have been extremely helpfull. My daughter uses my 2001 Sport which we also just realized has no 4WD. My vehicle is the project. I have a 97 XLT which was our first Explorer. When we bought the 2002 my wife convinced me to let my son use it instead of trading it in. After putting a new Transmission in it he proceeded to slide it sideways on ice and tee-bone the drivers side into a pole. Luckily no one was hurt but the vehicle impacted directly into the pillar between the drivers side doors and buckled the roof. I purchased a front-end wrecked 98 XLT and cut-off the entire drivers side and roof and welded it on my original vehicle. It came out great, maybe even better structurally than original. I'm now in the process of painting. If anyone needs any insight on how the bodies of these vehicles are put together let me know.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! Post some pictures of your work.

 

[1AJeremyD]

Welcome to the forum! Definitely would like to see the before and after pictures if available.

 

[sparky13a]

I'm new to this. As soon as I can figure out how to attach pictures I will.

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

welcome u can join www.photobucket.com that will give u a code to post pics on here

 

[sparky13a]

Thanks! Will give it a try.

 

[sparky13a]

Here we go!
As stated previously this 97 Explorer XLT slid sideways on ice at about 15 MPH into a pole. The impact was directly between the doors. In addition as the vehicle left the pavement it leaned towards the pole at impact and caused severe damage to the Roof.

The Insurance Company Totaled the Vehicle. I had just replaced the Transmission 2 weeks earlier to the tune of about $3,000. I decided that I would take the $800 off the Insurance payout for this Vehicle and replace the Components with new Ford Parts. I drilled out all of the factory Spot Welds, and removed all the damaged Body Components. The Floor and Floor support were slightly damaged at the impact area, but I was able to dolly these back into near perfect shape.

When I found that even going through a local Body Shop the Ford Parts were about $3,000, I decided to buy a 97 XLT that was wrecked in the front from a junkyard. In a similar manner I drilled out all the Factory Welds and separated the entire Side and Roof as an Assembly. The major advantage of buying this donor vehicle is that I did not have to reassemble the Roof and Side in individual Components. In addition, the donor Vehicle had all the interior components in the same color grey as my original Vehicle, Wiring Harnesses, and etc.. A bonus is that the donor Vehicle has a Moon Roof which my original Vehicle did not have.

I decided that I did not want to remove the dashboard, so I staggered the cuts in the A-Pillar and the front of the Rocker Panel in an opposite fashion on each Body. The donor Body was then clamped and tacked on to the original Body and all dimensions checked. Once it was determined the assembled body was true, all of the Spot Weld Holes were Plug-Welded. The staggered cuts were fully welded and ground. The newly assembled Body turned out to be better than original as the rear doors and especially the Hatch lined up better than when I bought this Vehicle new!

I am now in the process of Painting. I am painting this Vehicle the original red color. As the donor Body is white I had to completely remove the drivers side Doors and Hatch in order to paint the Door Jams. In addition I need to paint the Interiors of the Drivers Side Doors. I will provide finished pictures when done. If anyone wants me to go into more detail and/or provide lessons learned (and there are a few!) I will follow-up with a more detailed description.

 

[sparky13a]

Thanks for the help posting. I left out one of the best pictures!

 

[JT1007]

where in nj? I,am in ocean and monmouth county. Got any parts for sale?

 

[sparky13a]

Scotch Plains (Union County). At the present time it seems like my entire house is filled with Explorer Parts. Most of these will be reinstalled. I will have some extra interior components (grey) left over but I won't know for sure until I finish. As far as the donor body is concerened, I ended up bowing to the pressure applied by my wife to get rid of the rest of the body, which was sitting in my driveway and scrapped it. I wanted to remove the entire passengers side so someone else could use it but I did not have the time. I should be finished in about a month and will advise what parts I have available.