Hello All, I've been browsing this forum for the past 5-6 months just looking at what people have done to their Rangers/Explorers/Mountys, trying to get ideas of what I'd like to do to my own.
First I guess I'll throw in a little story as to how I purchased her
I bought a 1993 Ford F150 Flareside with the 5.8 351W back in February for $1,600 and restored her from top to bottom, and ended up selling it a few months later because I didn't need a vehicle at the time and wanted to see someone get use out of her. About a week afterwards I ended up striking a good job about an hour away and needed a vehicle, and a friend of mine had recently introduced me to some cool neighbors I didn't know I had. I went over to their house to meet them and noticed an Explorer sitting in the corner of their yard, only it wasn't just an Explorer, it was a Mountaineer ( that at the time I didn't know existed. ) with a whopping 5.0 302 High Output with 155,000 miles. Has working AC, 4 Wheel Disc Brakes, Tow Package, all new tires, and a properly wired aftermarket stereo system. I talked to them for about 5 minutes and asked about it, told them I wanted to buy it, they said "I won't take less than $700", so I literally reached in my pocket and handed it to him, signed the Title, and drove her home.
Personally I had never seen a Mountaineer before, I never cared for the front clip on the Explorers, but the grill of the '97 Mountaineer to be specific, in my opinion looks very nice.
Also, I haven't seen many others that have Willow Green interior
I don't have too much to say at this point because I haven't done much to it besides minor cosmetics, I painted some of the AC vents black, the cup holder black, and some of the door trim black to match the stereo bezel. I did however do the usual tune-up, and replaced both of the seals on the transmission as they had a small leak.
I plan to make some performance changes, lift it, fabricate a nice brush guard for the front, get a winch, and what would an Explorer be without lights
Anyway, I'll try to add more later when I get the time, here are some pictures of her for now.
UPDATE 1:
I went to the junk yard yesterday in hopes of finding a nice set of nerf bars or running boards, but ended up changing my mind, I have something else planned that I will post at a later date.
While I was looking at one of the first gen Explorers, I noticed the cup holder was different, and I liked it much better than the one they put in mine from the factory because it has more storage, so I snatched it up, and because it was grey and my interior is Willow Green, I used spray-on bed liner ( because its cheap, rugged, and looks good ).
Final Product:
UPDATE 2: - 11/15/2014
Was busy today. Installed new rotors and pads, new shock mount bushings, and since the rock-guard coating was worn off, faded white, and looked ugly on the bottom, I redid it with black bed-liner, as well as my front wiper arms as they were chipping. I also put some white led's under the dash, and back seats to light up the floor at night.
UPDATE 3: - 12/23/2014
Installed new upper ball joints, lower ball joints, control arms, and sway bar links. No more squeaking
Completed the Fog Light Mod, they now come on with just the running lamps turned on, and they stay on even with the high beams. The fog light switch on the dash also still works to disable/enable them.
The conversion into a Limited Mountaineer began here.
Also added power seats for both the driver and passenger sides ( no picture ).
UPDATE 4: - 01/24/2015
Installed an overhead console, I found a tan one at a junkyard, wired it all up, and the next day ended up finding an Explorer with green interior, and got the green overhead console so it would match. Also ended up grabbing an auto-dimming mirror, and some misc. small interior parts to replace the non-matching ones I had such as the driver-side seat panel, seatbelt cover, OBDII port cover, etc.
All wired up:
UPDATE 5: - 01/25/2015
Installed a RAP module today. Chose to install it under the dashboard near the fuse panel, so that I'd use less than half of the wiring I'd need if I chose to put it in the original location. I just used wire clamps to tap it into the vehicles wiring harness, and it works great!
Recent exterior picture, nothing new, but I had to
UPDATE 5b: - 02/01/2015
Not really an update, but the new ExplorerForum stickers that I designed just came in. I put one on both rear windows, and the lift gate window.
First I guess I'll throw in a little story as to how I purchased her
I bought a 1993 Ford F150 Flareside with the 5.8 351W back in February for $1,600 and restored her from top to bottom, and ended up selling it a few months later because I didn't need a vehicle at the time and wanted to see someone get use out of her. About a week afterwards I ended up striking a good job about an hour away and needed a vehicle, and a friend of mine had recently introduced me to some cool neighbors I didn't know I had. I went over to their house to meet them and noticed an Explorer sitting in the corner of their yard, only it wasn't just an Explorer, it was a Mountaineer ( that at the time I didn't know existed. ) with a whopping 5.0 302 High Output with 155,000 miles. Has working AC, 4 Wheel Disc Brakes, Tow Package, all new tires, and a properly wired aftermarket stereo system. I talked to them for about 5 minutes and asked about it, told them I wanted to buy it, they said "I won't take less than $700", so I literally reached in my pocket and handed it to him, signed the Title, and drove her home.
Personally I had never seen a Mountaineer before, I never cared for the front clip on the Explorers, but the grill of the '97 Mountaineer to be specific, in my opinion looks very nice.
Also, I haven't seen many others that have Willow Green interior
I don't have too much to say at this point because I haven't done much to it besides minor cosmetics, I painted some of the AC vents black, the cup holder black, and some of the door trim black to match the stereo bezel. I did however do the usual tune-up, and replaced both of the seals on the transmission as they had a small leak.
I plan to make some performance changes, lift it, fabricate a nice brush guard for the front, get a winch, and what would an Explorer be without lights
Anyway, I'll try to add more later when I get the time, here are some pictures of her for now.
UPDATE 1:
I went to the junk yard yesterday in hopes of finding a nice set of nerf bars or running boards, but ended up changing my mind, I have something else planned that I will post at a later date.
While I was looking at one of the first gen Explorers, I noticed the cup holder was different, and I liked it much better than the one they put in mine from the factory because it has more storage, so I snatched it up, and because it was grey and my interior is Willow Green, I used spray-on bed liner ( because its cheap, rugged, and looks good ).
Final Product:
UPDATE 2: - 11/15/2014
Was busy today. Installed new rotors and pads, new shock mount bushings, and since the rock-guard coating was worn off, faded white, and looked ugly on the bottom, I redid it with black bed-liner, as well as my front wiper arms as they were chipping. I also put some white led's under the dash, and back seats to light up the floor at night.
UPDATE 3: - 12/23/2014
Installed new upper ball joints, lower ball joints, control arms, and sway bar links. No more squeaking
Completed the Fog Light Mod, they now come on with just the running lamps turned on, and they stay on even with the high beams. The fog light switch on the dash also still works to disable/enable them.
The conversion into a Limited Mountaineer began here.
Also added power seats for both the driver and passenger sides ( no picture ).
UPDATE 4: - 01/24/2015
Installed an overhead console, I found a tan one at a junkyard, wired it all up, and the next day ended up finding an Explorer with green interior, and got the green overhead console so it would match. Also ended up grabbing an auto-dimming mirror, and some misc. small interior parts to replace the non-matching ones I had such as the driver-side seat panel, seatbelt cover, OBDII port cover, etc.
All wired up:
UPDATE 5: - 01/25/2015
Installed a RAP module today. Chose to install it under the dashboard near the fuse panel, so that I'd use less than half of the wiring I'd need if I chose to put it in the original location. I just used wire clamps to tap it into the vehicles wiring harness, and it works great!
Recent exterior picture, nothing new, but I had to
UPDATE 5b: - 02/01/2015
Not really an update, but the new ExplorerForum stickers that I designed just came in. I put one on both rear windows, and the lift gate window.
