My 97 ex: LETS GO!

hey everyone. my names rich and i inherited my dads 1997 explorer xlt. I am really excited for it to finally be mine. Ive got around 180,000 miles on it but still runs great. Its my daily driver and i put a ton of miles on it. I was wondering if there was anyone from new york here. especially long island! Ive found a bunch of my friends who seem to have everything but explorers. Just hoping to see some other explorer enthusiasts near me. I know of some people who are explorer enthusiasts near me, but always looking for more!
Thanks-Rich

Currently

Suspension:
PA 883 Performance Accessories 3inch body lift
Jeggs 15x8 D-Windows
33x12.5x15 Goodyear Wrangler MTR's

Body/ Lighting
Re painted:
grill
pillars
bumpers
Euro Lens Headlights
8inch LED Pods
HID 10,000k headlights


BODY LIFT DONE/

Sorry guys, I have no picks of the process. I was soo in to doing the lift i forgot. I had my two friends help me since i am still a noob haha. But anyways, the lift went great. Got all of the mount bolts out super easy. Only thing we had trouble with was after we had finished the truck was leaning to the right, but it actually ended up straightening out. Which was a relief to me.... But i bought the lift from a friend for $50.00. so i have no brackets for the bumpers.

After the lift was done i added the roof rack.
I was rolling on 28s and stock rims for a while. The lift was done in July, I just got my 33s in November. Oooops.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Nice Ex, Rich!

Grab some black spraypaint, and mask off around the b-pillars and the d-pillars and spray them black again- she'll look brand new...

 

[feared100]

I've been wanting too do that. never got any time. but i do want to do a two tone of gunmetal grey and black. its a work in progress. FIRST TIRES/RIMS/LIFT!

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

nice x u got there

 

[feared100]

thanks man!

 

[LONO100]

i recently checked out a post on the forum about a long island off road trip. try searching it and you will find the ef members from long island. good luck and post pics as you make progress on your mods. btw, it doesnt cost much to get a few inches of lift on these vehicles. look into it!

 

[feared100]

i recently checked out a post on the forum about a long island off road trip. try searching it and you will find the ef members from long island. good luck and post pics as you make progress on your mods. btw, it doesnt cost much to get a few inches of lift on these vehicles. look into it!

Thanx for the info. But I think I'm already in tht convo lol. And I can't even tell you how bad i wanna lift it. I'd just have to have either my friend or my mechanic help lol. I will most likley start to add mods to it after the winter. So that I can have it in case of snow and stuff. But i have looked up on how to lift and all that

 

[feared100]

http://www.partstrain.com/store/details/Ford/Explorer/Surco_Products/Roof_Rack/1997/SURS4550.html?ptc=S1171391678W45d204bec356b&ptsuprfordexplorer19912000surcoproductssurs4550197rora
http://www.carid.com/images/grille-guards/black-horse/Bull-Bar-w-skid-plate-black.jpg


i was looking at this roof rack and bull bar.

 

[feared100]

******Update****** Finally did something and put in my Hipro Power 8000k HID's:

Before the HID's

After

 

[2TimingTom]

any other suggestions???

Paint the bumper trim black with some Dupicolor bedliner rattle can. See my registry for pics.

 

[feared100]

i like the way your trim came out. the all black looks a lot nicer and cleaner sorta-speak

 

[feared100]

i did her alllll up today looks great

Black wheel paint for rims. Kept the caps chrome. Used black Truckliner paint for the bumpers and running boards. Black gloss for the grille. And a black matt for the pillars in the front and back.

Pillars done btw

 

[Kazer]

wow. what a difference a couple rattle cans can make! looks great man ETA on the 33's and lift?

 

[Varsity]

^^^Agreed. I plan to rattlecan my rims black with chrome center caps too. The bumper and grill look amazing!! Really excited to see what's coming next.

 

[feared100]

thanx guys (also i restored my headlights son now they're nice and shiny!) it was only $40 for all the paint as well. The chrome was my friends idea. Which I'm glad he came up with. It looks great and the trucked paint looks really good on the bumpers and running boards as well! I actually ran out of paint after we finished one side of wheels. so we drove to K-mart with half the car looking legit and the other half looking ghetto xD. Im extremely satisfied with my result! and yes i am looking to do a lift. But i will wait for summer (i still have to drive to school now) I would love to fit the 33's on there also looking for a roof light bar and a bull bar of some sorts.

 

[feared100]

getting a lil artsy with my fisheye

 

[bats]

That black looks sick with the green! Great work!

 

[feared100]

thanks Bats. I just have to put some compound on the paint and stuff. Its all faded and has streaks and rust. With the obvious scratches as well. unfortunately i am not too sure if i will do anything more to it. Since i just put $70 into it for gas today at hess for $4.09 a gallon. Especially since it is a commuter to Farmingdale. I mean I would really like to lift it, add lights, a bar, and some other accessories.

But i think I'm just going to save the money for a new car. I got over 163,000 miles on it currently. And with summer coming up i expect to put a lot more miles on it. Hopefully some on dirt. Because it can handle whats on the island. Ive asked around and everyone said nothing is too bad here. You will be fine stock. So hopefully that holds true.

 

[BUCKETxhead]

YESSSS!!! i finally found another dark green explorer with blacked out rims and trim. Ive been wanting to do that forever because the chrome is peeling on the chrome grille outline. now i know what it looks like and it came out looking so good! ill be picking up some black spray paint soon. What kind of paint did you use and what were your methods? primer? sand? looks really good.

 

[feared100]

Lol. Glad to make you happy BUCKETxhead. I love the green and black look. especially with the chrome covers on the rims. But all I did was wipe everything down making sure it was clean. Just make sure you tape up everything really well. Especially your lights and the ford sign. I used half a roll of blue tape on the lights. But its worth it to keep those lights clean. I just restored em and put in HID's lol. And behind the grill in front of the radiator i Put cardboard to protect it from the paint overspray. Also stuffed paper behind the rims to keep the brakes relatively safe. Which you can see. Also for the rim caps. My friend used a brillo pad and a hose. Just sat there and scrubbed away the dirt and grime. They look nice and shiny

NOW FOR PAINT
I just bought the paint[1 can of matte black for pillars/1 can of gloss for grille/2 cans of truck-bed spray for bumpers/ and 1 can of matte wheel paint obviously for wheels. All Rustoleum products.] I washed the areas i wanted to paint and just painted. Just be sure to keep a good distance when spraying. Otherwise you might get drips. Which look UGLY. If you do drip however dabb it with something and spray over another coat. Also wait to drive it. Just to be sure the paint sticks and cures to the car. My friend had this stuff idr what its called. But its basically like a clear coat. Which i put over the grille to make it unstick. Because when sprayed on the gloss is sticky and stays that way. The clear coat took it off and made it smooth.