Restoring an Explorer to stock form

[L.A.X]

Has anyone rebuilt a Explorer to stock, just like the day it left the dealer? I want to rebuild a 1st gen to stock. I'm good as far as engine and tranny go. As far as suspension, what bushings or parts should be replaced? I want my kid to be safe in thecar to drive it to college.

 

[Jason94sport]

Going to waste a lot of $. 1st question is what does it need? What problem is it giving you? The vehicle is quite safe.....
There no need to waste $. Basic maintenance oil changes plugs wires, etc. RA bushings, tie rod ends, steering shaft bushing, shocks swaybar bushings. There's a complete master kit of bushings available to buy for around $100.
Rotors, pads, brake lines....

 

[2stroke]

I'm at college right now with mine... Towing my boat. I also have my little car to drive around. Unless you are towing, or have money to waste, buy a car. At best they get 18 mpg, and cost a lot to drive. Safety and reliability, you are as good as any vehicle.

 

[coco944x4s]

It seems that I and my explorer lot are the exceptions to most rules. Both my 94 5spd 4x4, and my wifes 92 auto 4x4 have gotten over 20 mpg on the highway; up to 22 with mine and about 21 with hers.

 

[malohnes]

Lots of variance on mileage performance means that is an unreliable aspect in and of itself. There are lots of better options for a solid vehicle for a student, a front wheel drive car comes to mind. An Explorer is on the higher end of the expense list, but very much a viable one if the truck is in good shape, has solid maintenance and can be treated in similar fashion, something most college students are not typically good at.

 

[Anime]

There are plenty of Explorers that are about as stock as they came from the dealer, some out there are so close to stock that they have the original Firestone "Deathstone" Radial ATX tires.

If you're talking about a restoration to showroom appearance, it can be done, but you would dump a LOT of money into finding obscure or obsolete parts to get it there, and you'd have to rarely drive it to keep those parts from getting worn out.

Otherwise, it'd be more reasonable to just replace parts with whatever is currently available from the dealer, and use the aftermarket for anything else. You can also make a lot of improvements over stock with aftermarket parts and improve the safety and reliability, not to mention the appearance, over how it came stock.

For example, you could get Firestone Destination A/T tires, which are similar to the Radial ATX tires the Explorer came with stock, but are better constructed and take advantage of 20+ years in tire production technology and safety improvements, and also have a much better performance rating. They also aren't recalled.

If you want your kid to drive the vehicle to college, I'd say just use good quality parts and treat it like any other stock vehicle, there's no need to restore it to stock form any more than that, unless perhaps there are modifications you want to undo and replace with stock stuff.

 

[L.A.X]

What I worry about is suspension and steering

 

[cgbier]

What I worry about is suspension and steering

That's what I'm looking into right now.

I'll have to change every piece of rubber, linkage, bushing on my front suspension. Additionally rotors (while I'm at it I mostlikely will also replace the wheel bearings), brake hoses, and will rework the calipers.
Steering seems to be pretty solid on mine***. The softness comes from the tie rods.

Get the wheels off the ground and shake all parts. What ever is loose needs to be replaced.

***94 Navajo with 117k miles.

 

[2stroke]

I wouldn't even worry about suspension or steering. They will literally drive until the part disintegrates. I've had all 4 ball joints bad for over 5 years, yet somehow the tires wear even. The steering gearbox has worn, and the steering has lots of "play". As far as suspension, well, that would be the last thing to fail as far as I'm concerned. Shake your front wheels, if no play your good to go. If not, bearings, tie rod ends, or ball joints and your good to go.

 

[DeRocha]

Check out the TTB restoration thread for some good info and pics.

Body Mount replacement Thread

 

[L.A.X]

Thanks everyone

 

[cgbier]

Actually, on a second thought, the question of restoring vs. preserving should lead to an interesting discussion.

Going back over some thirty some years of my life span, I have been confronted by this question several times. I have restored a 1972 BMW 75/5 to original state, have kept a bunch of Citroen CX as original as possible (was a sucker for the 82 ashtray though), fixed up a lot of Mercedes 114/5 for inspection (was my college time), got plenty of Fords from the junk yard to sell them to Turkey (was my vacation - Turkey is a beautiful country)...

Now I own a Navajo. Wikipedia tells me that there were only 9000 made of them. For me, that seems to be a perfect restoration object. However, I got that thing for 1100 bucks (the tank was full) with plenty of rust, an erratic front suspension and a creative re-wiring/vacuum line run.

Problems: I'm living on a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific (shipping!), I haven't opened the hood of a car for nearly 20 years, original parts are getting scarce, does the Navajo have some status in the automotive history like a Citroen CX or a Mercedes 114/5 (the last Mercedes ever built), should I get Ford cosmetics (grille, headlights, badges,...) on it, etc.?

I'll preserve it, but I would love to restore it, but the question is also, is it worth it?

What, besides becoming the #1 selling SUV, is the importance of the Gen.1 Explorer/Navajo in car history? Would it be worth it to really restore it (I'm an originality purist)?

On the other hand, I wouldn't mind to preserve it as kinda rat truck.

 

[Jason94sport]

does the Navajo have some status in the automotive history

Not to my knowledge. It was the same as a Ford Explorer same everything except some minor exterior trim.

 

[Anime]

Actually, the 2-door Explorer Sport was a Mazda Navajo that Ford slapped the 4-door Explorer trim (without the chrome) on.

I suppose a like-new, all factory original Navajo with all the available options might be a good item for an automotive museum to have. However, the first-gen Explorers and Navajos usually have rust issues with the rockers, since the plastic rocker panel trim holes let water into the rocker panels, where it sits and rusts the rear of the rockers away from the inside, and there are several other spots that rust will eat away.

Ford is also notorious for cheaping out on stuff like exhaust and other parts that get produced from mild steel, rather than stainless, and so they generally fall apart except in the driest of climates.

I would guess that Ford and Mazda and certain other interested automotive collectors / museums already have the Explorers and Navajos they want to keep for preservation.

I seriously doubt it's worth it to restore it, especially one that has been well used and has high miles, but it's still a vehicle worth doing regular maintenance on, or going the "rat truck" route and keeping it mechanically sound and not investing in keeping it pretty.