Saved from neglect hell: 98 Explorer mini-resto

[Facimeor]

So I bought this truck with the intention of using it for parts for my 97, but I decided that it was worth saving despite the miles (303K). I have been restoring/detailing some of the worst neglected vehicles you have probably ever seen for a few years now. A full cosmetic restoration usually takes me a week or two depending on several factors but besides the cosmetics I also fix all the little mechanicals that others ignore (Like door locks, dash lights, stereo system issues, etc.)


So without further delay, here are the pictures of what I started with and what Ive done so far...

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this is where I found her, as I found her. She had sat for over a year, but fired right up.

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After I drove her home I took some close ups of what I had in store for me.

severely faded headlight/signal plastics:

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lots of moss, mildew, and lichen growth on the paint:

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Interior smells a little, but mainly its just dirty, some mold. and some bleaching has occured on the carpet. It will need to be replaced for sure.

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The leather is dirty, but intact and salvagable. Check out the sweet ass mobile phone!

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Under the hood. 303K miles and runs like champ. No major leaks, some corrosion on the aluminum parts but mainly just dirty.

Other issues:

• Ford "Mach" Stereo system works but display is dark - Fixed with re-solder
• drivers power door lock not working at all - solenoid replaced
• Passenger power door lock jams in certain conditions - common spring issue, fixed with new springs.
• passenger front door doesnt open from the outside - Same issue as above, fixed
• passenger rear door handle broken, hard to open door from the outside - pending
• most of the dash lights are out - replaced with new bulbs
• armrest torn and latches broken - pending
• drivers power seat doesnt seem to come far enough forward - seatbelt slider was sticky, fixed
• wiper blades all trashed - ordered
• A/C compressor cycles on/off constantly - disconnected for now
• Lumbar pumps in seats dont work - switch issues, one fixed, one pending
• drivers seat recliner lever broken off - replaced with salvage part
• headlights faded - Polished, fixed.
  

 

[Facimeor]

The interior was NOT pretty...in fact it was pretty disgusting. Im thankful the seats are leather because they are fairly easy to clean and restore. The carpet is pretty bad but I thought I had a chance to bring it back


The driver seat wouldnt go all the way forward. As it turns out it was just the seatbelt slider was sticky so I managed to get the seat to move forward and got a look underneath:

I shop vac a little as I go because I dont like working around moldy stuff, but once the driver seat was out this was was left to clean up:

close up:

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so I started to clean up the leather. This is a comparison of just the first step in cleaning the drivers seat, compared to the still dirty passenger seat:

Close up of the difference:

Both seats completely cleaned and ready for conditioning.

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[The Chief]

Nice work so far! I'm having a blast working on mine at the same time. Got a bunch of trim and seat belt parts from the scrap yard today and installing tomorrow!

 

[Facimeor]

Paint has been started on and this wheel has been detailed to show what they should all look like when fnished.

Headlights got polished:

my daily (97 XL) and my project side by side:

So a few days work has left me with the interior basically finished, I have a couple details left to do, like recover the armrest and clean the sunvisors but basically the hard stuff is done. I dont feel dirty sitting in it anymore and I dont feel like it will make me sick breathing inside it.

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Here is the cargo end of it, without the extra cargo mat:

...and with the mat. The mat took the bulk of the abuse in its life, which is a good thing, but it was harder to clean.

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back seats cleaned and protected:

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Interior sans carpet during its cleaning process. I pull the carpet completely out and use a secret ****tail of cleaners and processes to pretty much restroe it to factory clean.

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Carpet back in after letting it fully dry near my woodstove.

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Console cleaned, and reinstalled

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remember this spot? with the moldy french fries and whatever else that was? all gone and sanitary.

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and the seats go back in...

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And thats pretty much it for the interior. I have a few details to sort out, but basically Ive moved on to the full on exterior detail. I will post an update once I start the exterior.

 

[BradR]

Looks like Joe Dirt has some "competition", I think he would have had a heart attack if he tried to clean an Ex like that.

Great work!

 

[Joe Dirt]

Nah- those are the fun projects!

Awesome work, facimeor!

 

[Sogsnakebite]

wow awesome job, need to do my carpet this spring any tips

 

[1AJeremyD]

That is some awesome cleaning! I think joe is envious of how clean that carpet is!

 

[sean99]

Great job! The 2nd gen leather seems to hold up much better than the 3rd gen, and the carpet can even bounce back from Oregon funk!

 

[Keeper0311]

How did the interior end up being so moldy?

 

[GuardianSport]

I've seen that in a Lada Niva Cossack my buddy's family used to haul logs. It's a certain humidity and environment (in the bush).

 

[Joe Dirt]

Not envious in the least! Nothing better for a detailer to see than an extreme makeover- that carpet was hideous- could you see it breathing?

 

[Facimeor]

It was so bad because its wet here in Oregon (in case you hadnt heard that) and it sat untouched closed up for over a year. That combination with something to take hold on (I found french fries and even what looked like a chicken mcnuggget down under the console) is all it takes to get extremely nasty fast. Its also pretty obvious that the woman who drove it was a slob only thought of it as transportation...guh! women!

My secret to cleaning the carpets is really pretty simple: a little Dawn dish soap, a splash of bleach and a dash of Purple Power in a garden sprayer, fill with hot water, and go to town. I pull the carpet out of the vehicle, remove the jute from the back, then go nuts with my mixture and a hose. If I need the big guns I bring out the Makita pressure washer with a rotex head. Then hang dry.

 

[Flounder]

That combination with something to take hold on (I found french fries and even what looked like a chicken mcnuggget down under the console) is all it takes to get extremely nasty fast. Its also pretty obvious that the woman who drove it was a slob only thought of it as transportation...guh! women!

First, fantastic restoration!

Second, in high school I detailed for spare bucks. My last car, after which I stopped out of disgust, was a 4-door sedan owned by a younger woman who ate cookies, pretzels, everything--and the crumbs went on the seats, floors, everywhere. It was absolutely disgusting. We're talking about a layer of food remains covering everything. Sticky steering wheel. Unfinished bags of snacks wedged between the seats. Wrappers everywhere. Unopened packages, too. When I was finished, I said never again. The level of slob was too much.

 

[Joe Dirt]

$10 says that McNugget was still good... I know the fries were, I watched "SuperSize Me"

I like the carpet ****tail... Very similar to the Ardex 5228 that my wash uses. It's pretty much a pre-wash type of degreaser/soap, but it's non caustic and works very fast to release crap from the fibers. I love the stuff. I don't use bleach, however, but only because I have a fear of bleach... With the mold though- it was needed, and I don't think in small doses it would hurt the carpets anyway.

Is that Prairie Tan? If so, I have a set of floor mats for it...

See guys? Pull the carpets and wash them!

 

[Facimeor]

Oh this one wasnt even the worst one Ive done recently. I would say my Mountaineer was worse because not only was there mold but the last owner was a smoker and there was just ashes everywhere mixed in with the "growth"



Here is the before and afters of that one:

the only reason this one doesnt look so bad is it had floor mats:

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and the afters:

 

[Keeper0311]

Great work man! Disgusting how some people treat their vehicles.

 

[Facimeor]

and Joe: My ****tail will vary a little depending on the problem and the color Im working on. I tend to use bleach in smokers cars, and not if its really just not needed. Its only in low dose as you mention. Nylon isnt all that sensitive to bleach anyway. Im mainly using it for odor control and to kill anything living.

 

[Joe Dirt]

I've never, never, never understood how someone can let a car get that bad. I mean, I know people don't get as **** about keeping things clean as I do, but seriously...

Awesome save- at least the armrest pad wasn't blown out!

There HAD to be something living in at least one of those trucks. lol! Do you save the jute, or just can it?



I like your Ex's, they look like my first Gen II, Snowball. I miss her...

 

[Facimeor]

yeah, the 98 looks just like it.

Here are a couple shots of the sport-trac just for fun too. I dont just save interiors

lol, I can spot the flaws in my own work here:

Previous owner used this as a "hunting rig"...lol. Some peoples idea of a hunting rig and mine differ greatly!