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Rebuilding a 2nd gen Explorer with a 1st gen rear clip

Wow fantastic Job. I wish I had your patientce , I am installing a 5.0 out of a bird Into my 94 gen 1 Sport, just so I can have the V-8 Sound I had too many 6 cylinder machines and miss my V-8's The EFI wiring swap is driving me crazy. but If I ran one wire at a time it would not be a probem..

Love the Paint Color .. Now that you are finished with the lift can I come get it and use it to do mine..? LOL I only need it long enough to do a Body off restore..
 



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my god....i just read the whole thing and while confused as to why...i am impressed with the work..
 






You have a good eye, yes the new paint is slightly off, of course. The original paint was new base/clear from 2000. This new paint is a single part, not planned, but no big deal since this is a work vehicle. That last angle shows the color difference better than most views. I still need to remove the tail lights and finish the front edges, filing and painting.
 






Impressive would be an understatement !

Wow !:chug:
 






Thanks guys, and Jamie, the ride of the truck is very tought, like my Mountaineer used to be. I hit 99 the other day just for stress testing, I haven't had any hint of mechanical troubles. I plan to start delivering withg it Tuesday, after swapping tires/wheels. I'll take more pictures with the interior almost finished. When done, I'll have more space for storage of tools and work supplies, and the same open area for mail. Every feature works so far, I haven't finished the air supply system yet though.
 






i bet you had a lot of fun with that wiring
 






Basically my wiring was three projects. I dissected a stock 98 Limited harness to remove the ARC air system, I added circuits for my mail vehicle features, and I retrofitted a 2000 EB body harness.

My 99 OEM body harness had been cut twice, at the left seat and kick panel, so it was unuseable. The only issues I had were because of the difference between the body harnesses, different features of the two. I had to add a wire for the memory seat to GEM module, and the EB harness didn't have the memory seat module power wire(it runs to all mirrors from dash). I tapped that wire into the main seat power wire.
 






damn dude... wiring is my least favorite job but my friends are always getting me to do it for em... last summer i bought a quick stripper from sears and its the best one ive ever had and it was only 25 bucks... that made works way easier but regardless wiring still sucks
 






Wiring using factory wires and connectors is extremely time consuming. Each of the doors took about two hours to add just the two relays. I cut extra relay leads from spare harnesses, and spliced into all of the window wires at one point. I'm very proud to have all of the windows work as planned, they did need some lubricating(WD40). I can open all windows from each front door, left and right have auto down modules.

I still need to isolate the mirror switches from one another, they cannot be used while both are connected. More relays will be needed.
 






come on guys wiring isnt THAT bad :) hahaha

I have more hours in my wiring then I do wrenching I think, but its oh so worth it!
 






I also had to figure out how to send signals to the rear speakers, because full console models have those going through the console wiring. I located those eight wires in the center harness(console), and cut/spliced them in pairs. The Kenwood which I bought for the work vehicle has now been in my 95 Crown Vic, the 93 Explorer, and this 99. It sounds much better now with aftermarket speakers.
 






wow, that looks sweet. ford should make an explorer like that. maybe a designer will take some notes. i hate the soccer mom explorers that they are puting out now.
 






and yet I love to play with the wires in my truck... always putting extra circuits, rewiring stuff... but I really admire what you've done... working power window controls on both doors? that's one custom rig... :confused:
 






I had certain issues of course to deal with. This pictures is of the rear center seat belt hold down bolt. It stripped with my Snap-On T50 bit, and I ended up having to drill almost completely through it. Vise-grips and a hammer with chisel didn't loosen it. Only after drilling it through with a large bit could I carefully chisel out the threads.
 

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seat belt bolts on Fords = PITA
I keep a spare T-51 bit around now, they just twist and strip because the bolts are FROZEN
Thank goodness I seem to remove seats and stuff yearly so they dont get a chance to rust in place anymore
At the junk yard one day myself and two buddies had the entire interior of a 90 BII stripped out in about 30 minutes (hand tools) then we spent 2 hours on one seatbelt bolt
PITA
 






Ditto, my 93 driver's seat bolt was hell to remove in 1999, it came out very slowly. I replaced the bolt, and it was worse this time. On that one I couldn't use the bit, it stripped. But I did get a good enough bite with a vise-grip from below, until it was loose enough to do from above.

BTW, for legal purposes vehicles have to have matching seat belts. I had to use 99 model belts. The short belt on the side of the front seats is very tight, they have locktite red on them.
 






I always use anti-seize on those bolts and seat bolts but I also remove seats at least once a year for one reason or another... I have broken at least three T-bits in the past year alone... always buy Sears - they guarantee their stuff - just take it in when it breaks and they will replace it no questions asked...

but you know that... :rolleyes:
 






Yes, I use and did use anti-seize on those bolts. It helps a ton. BTW, I have a cheap $5 set of torx bits, and the first torx bit I bought was this Snap-On back in 1988. I've twisted the T30 doing a front driveshaft bolt, but this T50 is really good. Invest in the best for all high stress tools, like 1/2" drive 6-point sockets.

The pic here is the stock hatch hole for wiring. I had to open that up a bunch to accept the 1997 model hatch harness. I used the 95-97 wiper motor because it had four wires, the 91-94 use three.
 

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been there too... when I ran wires for the rear license plate light. That's quite a task to splice wires in this spot. Also, replacing wiring when installing the newer (2nd gen.) tails on the 1st gen.
 



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I used the entire 2nd gen. wiring, the hatch wiring was the last to go. It was easier to replace that then to cut new holes and splice etc. That hole and the hole going into the hatch were the hardest part of that project. I left the right side wiring in, and made a defrost power wire to lead from the left side over to the right side wiring. That enabled me to leave the 91-94 defrost wiring untouched, and not have to add a ground point like the 95-01's.

That experience will make it easier to add the 2003 Sport hatch I found, to my 98 Mountaineer. I bought the harness with it also, so it should be rather simple.
 






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