Picked up a clean '97 Sport

[edman1000]

Glad to see you're getting it fixed. That has to be the cleanest '97 on the planet. Did the previous owner ever find out it got wrecked?

I havent had the heart to tell him yet... I will after it's all fixed. My body guy is one of the best around and everything will be done perfectly so I'm not worried. I've been over there several times and even though I dont do that work I know enough about it to help a bit and see whats going on.

JLindley - Very nice truck! Seriously these two trucks could be museum pieces! well mine couldve been...

 

[edman1000]

Still progressing nicely...

They assured me that all the bondo dust will be cleaned up! Haha! Yes, I'm that **** when it comes to my vehicles!

Oh and BTW, I think I've caught something... Just picked up an '03 sport trac.... Very clean, not this clean but very clean nonetheless!

 

[koda2000]

Oh man, you'll be cleaning up that Bondo dust forever. I know - been there, done that.

 

[edman1000]

Ok, Been playing with the new Sport trac so I’ve been neglecting you guys here. Body work and paint is all done, picking it up this week when I get a chance and I’ll post pics. Now I have way too much money into this thing to ever get out of it so I’m keeping it forever!

Anyway, a few weeks before the smashing, I put in the warrior shackles and the Coil over shocks the PO gave me with the truck and just haven’t posted the pics/writeup. I don’t know what shocks these were and I forgot the check the box at home but I’ll find out an update the thread. With the before and after measurements It gave me 3” of lift at first measurement. I’m sure it settled back down a bit and when I get the truck back I’ll measure again. I wrote them all down on the work bench. disregard the side to side difference. Truck sits level, I think my driveway is lumpy. Install was very simple, just watch the height of the truck so you don’t pinch a finger or take a leaf to the face… and use jack stands! These bolts didn’t even need pen. Oil! In the after pic it doesn't look like much but my driveway has a slight slope to it. look at the difference in wheel well height.
And onto the pics:

 

[edman1000]

All fixed, but I need two trim pieces if you guys can keep an eye out for me I’d appreciate it. I think I have the rarest interior color ever made though! Maybe a black scuff plate would work. Not sure about that lower door molding… The ones on this truck are basically flawless… so pissed! Lol the only thing that suck about having a truck this clean is the fact I’m afraid to drive it! I should trade it in for a scratched up built one!

 

[koda2000]

Looks great. The body shop did a really good job! Just don't let the GF near it again.

I know what you mean about being afraid to drive it. That's the way I feel about my '01 EB. I find I use my '00 XLT, as my daily driver as it's far from perfect.

I'm guessing the coil-over shocks are Monroe Load-Levelers. I'm not aware of anyone else offering them.

 

[edman1000]

I'm guessing the coil-over shocks are Monroe Load-Levelers. I'm not aware of anyone else offering them.

Good to know. I'm going to run this same setup on my Sport Trac.

...she's gonna earn the privilege to drive it again...trust me!

 

[96firephoenix]

you should have kept that red parts truck for driving... this green one belongs on a pedestal somewhere.

 

[koda2000]

Ok, Been playing with the new Sport trac so I’ve been neglecting you guys here. Body work and paint is all done, picking it up this week when I get a chance and I’ll post pics. Now I have way too much money into this thing to ever get out of it so I’m keeping it forever!

I've been working on this '01 Sport Trac I picked up for cheap at the end of June. Almost done with the restoration now. I can't decide whether to keep it or sell it.

Let's see yours.

 

[edman1000]

^thats the twin to mine!

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/...d.php?t=433655

 

[edman1000]

So it’s been a bit since I visited an updated my thread. After the body work I knew it was time to Bullet…er uh Rust Proof the old girl for snow duty. It brings a tear to my eye to drive this thing in the slop and luckily it’s been a mild winter. Also, this has been a second vehicle too so it doesn’t see much duty lately. My main intent was to corrosion proof every nook and cranny on this thing. MY steps were very simple:

1. Clean everything
2. Remove any bit of surface rust to keep it from spreading or bleeding back through
3. Undercoat to protect (before oiling to promote adhesion)
4. Oil or grease all seams and spaces
5. Wash as often as possible!!!

The previous owner had it done with Krown and was very meticulous so I lucked out there too! Most of the hems and joints had a residue already from that. Anyway, first I cleaned it as thoroughly as I could. I crawled under it with a pressure washer and sprayed every bit of dirt an grime I could find. If you seen the undercarriage pics previously you know that wasn’t too hard because this thing was so clean to begin with. After a stretch of a few dry days I then painted ever spot of surface rust (very few I might add) with a chemical called OSPHO to “kill” the rust. This is basically Osphuric (?) acid that pulls the oxygen out of the rust and converts it back to metal (read up on it for like a week first, best stuff out there). That’s the white crap in the pic below just to show how it looks. I maybe used an ounce of it on the Whole truck! LOL just a few tiny spots on the frame…. So, Then the next day I wire brushed that off and sent it into my buddy’s shop to be undercoated. Good to have a friend in the business at this point because he really did a great job on it for me. Also, The body man that did the previous work for me packed that replaced rocker section with rustproofing and undercoating too! Pics below starting with pics of it before I did anything….

Ospho:

Frame Pic:

Undercoat pics:

I recently got done going through a bronco (had to sell in my 1st divorce …*sniffle*.. still hurts) that I extensively rust proofed. When I bought that truck the body had a sort of “grease” all over the inner panels that did an awesome job of keeping the moisture and hence the rust out of it. I set out to find that stuff again an came up with 3M rust proofing (#08892). It’s actually a cavity wax that sprays into the panels to protect them. But it goes on like spray grease an after a bit dries to like a wax… anyway, I had a nozzle with an extension left over from a can of eastwood internal frame coating (don’t know if you can get just the nozzle from them) that fit on a gave out a nice pattern. The extension tube is about 2 feet long and I stuck it everywhere and spray it as I pulled out. Went especially heavy in the rear Quarters over the wheel wells till it was dripping out! Stuck it in every hole an filled ‘em up! Went through almost 5 cans! Ddint take any action pics on this but this is what I used:

3m Stuff:

Eastwood extension tube an spray pattern:

 

[edman1000]

Now I'm afraid to drive it an ruin it! lol Maybe some museum will offer to buy it from me!

 

[edman1000]

So since it’s been a year, figure I’d give a little update on the ’97. Been running awesome, Girlfriend still drives it. She won’t give it up, absolutety loves it! The only way I’m gonna get it back is if I buy her something new!


So more rust proofing, had it sprayed with Rustkote. Pretty nice stuff from what I’ve seen so far. Little messy but that’s the price to pay for good coverage…


And since it was tire time (before the snow flew) and while I was going there, I wanted to go to a 31 mud tire but since she’s driving it I settled for a mildly aggressive all season… LOL! She actually wanted to go bigger and more aggressive but I had to use common sense here even though I’ve never really done that before and am by far an advocate of it! But bottom line is she needed something good in the snow an slop. So I did some research and ended up with Cooper adventurer A/T’s. I wanted BFG’s but they are priced like gold. Anyway, 265/70/16 (basically a 31x10.5) is what I went with. I bought a Super duty and my daughter inherited the sport trac and that needed tires too so I bought 2 sets. Best price I could get believe it or not was from Pep boys. $525 a set with a $70 rebate… not bad for $113 a tire Mounted an balanced!

My point of that whole rambling is, before I put the bigger tires on it, It need to go up in the front. The shackles gave me about 2.5” in the back so the front needed to go up as much as I could get with the torsion twist safely an reliably. Did it and I got about 1.75” and it looks great. Also swapped out the 15” doe print rims for the ’99 16” sports I had lying around. Even though the Doe prints are MINT, I still think they’re ugly! Any way here she is:

Oh and here's a pic of my new toy just to show off a bit....

 

[joe doe]

love that 97 ,my 2000 was still pretty clean when i put it to the yard .i still miss that truck . man i`d buy that 97 in a heartbeat ,for the right price..lol...its still a 97 .

 

[edman1000]

Thanks! ..and I'd never sell it for the right price! haha, never find another like this.

 

[koda2000]

So since it’s been a year, figure I’d give a little update on the ’97. Been running awesome, Girlfriend still drives it. She won’t give it up, absolutety loves it! The only way I’m gonna get it back is if I buy her something new!

So more rust proofing, had it sprayed with Rustkote. Pretty nice stuff from what I’ve seen so far. Little messy but that’s the price to pay for good coverage…


And since it was tire time (before the snow flew) and while I was going there, I wanted to go to a 31 mud tire but since she’s driving it I settled for a mildly aggressive all season… LOL! She actually wanted to go bigger and more aggressive but I had to use common sense here even though I’ve never really done that before and am by far an advocate of it! But bottom line is she needed something good in the snow an slop. So I did some research and ended up with Cooper adventurer A/T’s. I wanted BFG’s but they are priced like gold. Anyway, 265/70/16 (basically a 31x10.5) is what I went with. I bought a Super duty and my daughter inherited the sport trac and that needed tires too so I bought 2 sets. Best price I could get believe it or not was from Pep boys. $525 a set with a $70 rebate… not bad for $113 a tire Mounted an balanced!

My point of that whole rambling is, before I put the bigger tires on it, It need to go up in the front. The shackles gave me about 2.5” in the back so the front needed to go up as much as I could get with the torsion twist safely an reliably. Did it and I got about 1.75” and it looks great. Also swapped out the 15” doe print rims for the ’99 16” sports I had lying around. Even though the Doe prints are MINT, I still think they’re ugly! Any way here she is:

I'm not a big fan of the Sport, but I'd gladly own that one.

 

[96Green]

Damn dude... That is one of the cleanest 2nd gens i've seen. Super nice. Looks a lot like my old sport would have when it was new. Sadly, by the time I got my hands on it, the interior was pretty naff.

 

[edman1000]

Nice! could be twins! Did yours have the retro green interior too?!?!?

 

[96Green]

No, mine had the basic grey interior.

That said, I wrecked my Sport about a year ago, and replaced it with a V8 XLT, which does have the retro green interior! I'll be honest, I wasn't a big fan of it at first, but, it's grown on me.

Here's a pic from the day I brought home the XLT. I've since fixed the center console pad.