Navajo to Explorer grille and headlight information? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

Navajo to Explorer grille and headlight information?

Dubious_Downfall

Active Member
Joined
July 6, 2018
Messages
84
Reaction score
13
City, State
Fife, WA
Year, Model & Trim Level
1992 Mazda Navajo LX
Picking up a 1992 Mazda Navajo on Saturday. She's no looker. Aside from already being a Navajo front end, the grille is in multiple pieces. Well, that and the peeling paint.

I want to pull off the Navajo grille and lights, then replace them with an Explorer's lights and grille.

I have a few questions.

1.) If I have the Explorer headlight assemblies and grille, is there anything else I need to complete the swap?

2.) How do I re-wire the turn signals from the Navajo bumper signals to the Explorer signals?

3.) Is it possible to wire the turn signals to both pairs of turn signals? If so, I'd like to move the Navajo signals somewhere else, maybe near the bottom of the fenders.

Any help is always appreciated. I saw that there was a post with pictures of the swap I'm referring to, but the pictures have expired. Hoping the owner will chime in.

Also, it's a bit off topic, but... Does anyone know where I can find a black Explorer grille online?
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





You might need the explorer header panel also, the fiberglass part that the headlights mount into
Yes you can keep the navajo turn signals and wire them as "extra" turn signals/parking lamps you will just need to splice some wires

You should be able to find a black Gen I (91-94) explorer grill certifit.com, or Ebay?
 






Thank you, 410. I'll grab that header panel when I get my headlights from the junkyard.

Awesome. I figured splicing SHOULD work, but didn't want to do it without another opinion. I'll try to make a write-up for this if i do it. The Navajo turn signal placement kind of sucks.

I think at this point that I'll just paint a grille myself. I might put a Mazda emblem on it, just to further confuse people.
EDIT: Found a black grille on carparts.com. Here's a link if anyone needs it: https://www.carparts.com/details/Fo...MIh4ehl9Ku3gIVDH1-Ch3tDAIdEAkYAiABEgLYDPD_BwE

I'll try to take pictures as I work on the front end so the next Navajo owner with a wild hair up his/her butt has a bit of a guide.
 






I had a mercury grill on my Ford with a Ford emblem glued on, some people just did not seem to understand what they were looking at and would say "you gotta mercury grill on your Ford" and I would say its a Mercury mountaineer so Uhaul will rent me trailers LOL
The navajo front signals are silly, although I do love a navajo because there are just less of them out there and I like rare
 






Yeah, I like the rarity too. I owned a Ford Contour SVT for a while and loved how rarely I'd see another one on the road. Then I bought my Explorer Sport, which I liked more than any other Explorers because it looks a little meaner and you don't see too many of them. It's no surprise to me that I'm buying a Navajo, since it's just a more rare Explorer Sport with darker interior.

I'd keep the stock headlights and grille if Pick-n-Pull hadn't just scrapped the only Navajo I've ever seen there. And the body was perfect, too... Otherwise I have to stick with a grille that's being held together by hopes and dreams, and headlights that look like they got caught in a sandstorm.

I'll post pictures of her after I drive her home Saturday.

Also, since you mentioned U-haul... I just about jumped for joy when I realized that the Navajo I'm picking up has the towing package, including the 3.73 LSD and tow wire harness. Then I realized that U-haul won't bat an eye at the name "Mazda Navajo" and I started chuckling to myself. They won't get me with their stupid outdated rules!
 






I like the 2 doors also because:
1. The Bronco II was the father of the Explorer sport LOL if they did not roll over so easy the sport may have been the Bronco III but they dropped the name like a bad habit.
2. The poor V6 transmission is not taxed as much in the 2 door sport since it has #1100 less then a 4 door Ex
3. Better MPG!! Passing power, less weight = better performance!
4. You can get them cheap simply because people do not like 3 door Ford Suv's!
5. Most capable off road compared to 4 door and Ranger, the Sport is the perfect wheel base for wheeling trails and rocks IMO
 






Back
Top