Varsity's 2000 Explorer Sport

[Varsity]

Ok boys, finally finished the week-long process of bodywork on the ol' girl. I couldn't take too many pics till these got uploaded, but I'll post em all first then add my comments afterwards.






















Overall, I would rate the results as "fair" or maybe the low end of "good." It definitely isn't perfect but I sort've expected that when attempting bodywork for the first time with fiberglass and bondo. It's got its blemishes but all in all I'm super happy and content with the results. Kinda sucks that I still had to use it to get to and from work everyday too but sometimes there's nothing you can do. It was honestly alot of fun but just as aggravating at times and sometimes made me rethink the project. Only time will tell how well it holds up. I also only have about $50 total in this project so there really isn't room to complain at all.

Also had a little fun with that plastic side step thing. I remember seeing a post somewhere where a guy did the same thing and also touched up a few other spots. Seeing that it was off I figured I would give it a try and when I saw gold metallic paint, I said screw it and gave it a shot. Couldn't be happier.

 

[sport97]

Looks great. Doesn't it feel good to not have to look at rust anymore?

 

[Varsity]

Sport, oh my god it's incredible. Just walking up to it in the parking lot feels so much better. Totally worth all the sweat, dust and cursing.

 

[sport97]

Sport, oh my god it's incredible. Just walking up to it in the parking lot feels so much better. Totally worth all the sweat, dust and cursing.

Absolutely agree! I hate rust.

 

[Keeper0311]

Looks great man! Congrats on the new mats too!

 

[Varsity]

Thanks!! I was pretty surprised when I heard but we'll see what happens next!! I'm still lovin' the rust-free life.

 

[Varsity]

Kind of an exciting update and sort've lame at the same time. Cool part is that I finally did my first "performance" mod I guess you could say. Broke down and got a K&N drop-in filter from AutoAnything and put it in. Can't say I notice a difference just from an air filter, but it's suppose to be waaaaay better than any paper filter and seeing as I would be close to needing to change it, it's cheaper to get the K&N. One less thing to worry about, supposedly more power and gas mileage, who can complain. Only problem is when you talk to people about air filters like this, they're either totally for 'em or totally against. But whatever.

The kinda dumb part is that I had a bit of fun today at the junkyard. It just finished raining, so there were puddles everywhere and being on a dirt/stony road, they were muddy puddles so my buddy and I had a quick bit of fun in the empty side of the lot. I actually got my truck muddy for the first time, but some people would use the word "muddy" loosely. The pictures suck because the dirt dries a tannish color so it ends up blending in with the truck. FAIL...


















I was actually kinda bummed because when I went back to the muddy spots to get really dirty, they were practically dried up so just ended up with some quick tirespins and some very mild offroading in the abandoned rocky lot. It was super fun overall though.

 

[Varsity]

I must be getting bored... I took the paint pen I used for the step-thingy and had some fun under the hood. Obviously nothing major or anything anyone but I would notice, but still kinda fun anyways.

 

[Varsity]

And after another extremely disappointing run to the Pick n Pull yard, I managed to grab some stuff, not exactly what I wanted, but some goodies nonetheless. First thing is already done and installed, and I think we all saw it coming after my installation of the puddle lights...






Yup, the door marker things from the early 2nd gens. It's been on and off the list for a long time, but it was just about all I could find. I actually just grabbed the light/marker and the socket, not the whole door panel or anything. I did plan on grabbing a better door panel, but out of 20 Explorers, only like 3 had tan interiors and they were "oh my god" disgusting. Worse because I know they didn't get that dirty from being in a junkyard. Ew. But, these lights really only took like an hour and a half to install since I had the puddle lights. My truck looks like a christmas tree.


And the 2nd goody I grabbed was a Limited grill from a '95 Limited. It's white so should be easy to paint. I had it outside to dry when I washed it, but it suddenly started to rain and it got moved high in the garage and I didn't feel like getting it down. I know, I know pics or it didn't happen, but I'll have them tomorrow after I scuff 'em up and get a couple coats of paint on it. I'm actually kinda excited about this one..

 

[Varsity]

So finally after two days of patience, swearing, aggravation, wetsanding and sweat (and lots of it) I finally got the Limited grill on. Definitely not bad looking. I think it's incredible looking however some people just think it's nice looking, but "meh." No one really sees the difference between the two grills. After too many cans of paint and a few coats of clearcoat, I'm really happy with the results. A little bit later I may throw some wax on it to try and make it shiny and smooth as the rest of the body. The clay bar will have to wait. I'll shut up and throw a before pic on here too.

Before:



After:

 

[Keeper0311]

That Limited grill looks sweet man!

 

[Varsity]

Thank you very much!! Little bit of work and some trimming but it all worked out in the end

 

[Varsity]

Well I finally got the floormats and cargo liner I won in the AutoAnything contest, so I feel here's a good spot to share the pics as well. And I also forgot the post the sweet sticker I got a few weeks back.







Still new cargo liner...



And sticker hehe....

 

[Varsity]

The Explorer's been getting a lot of attention lately I guess. A buddy of mine took me to a new junkyard which is much bigger and better to any that I usually go to, and being who I am, I couldn't leave with nothing...

So I got a new center bezel since a little silver mounting clip was busted on mine, and this has the original fog light switch. So after some re-wiring nearly identical to original, if not perfect to OEM, I got my "fogs" mounted to the switch. So now it looks great!

Before:


After:




And something else kinda neat I picked out at the yard, what I call a "Explorer for Dummies" book. I'm gonna keep it in the glovebox if it fits just for fun. Kinda nice to have.

 

[Varsity]

No mods per se, but ended up doing my "winterization" for my truck. I changed the fuel filter with a Motorcraft and replaced what was possibly the original spark plugs with some Autolite double platinums. I also undercoated underneath too and since the undercoating was a sound deadener too, its like a two-for-one. I also noticed my wheels were super loose, so I torqued down the wheel bearings and they should be fine now.

Only pic I have. I threw all my stuff in the truck including my phone and camera for safekeeping only to realize they were in there after I lifted it sooo...

 

[GRNMACHINE]

Looking Good Varsity!!

 

[Varsity]

Thanks!!! Really, I just planned on replacing those things because it was time, but when I took out the plugs, there was practically no electrode left!! I doubt it would have been good for much longer. Then when I changed the fuel filter, I let some of the gas pour into a little glass jar and the gas coming out was pitch black! And when you tipped it over, it would sort've hesitate to pour out, so my guess is that it was slightly plugged/blocked too.

I did these things as preventative maintenance, but I guess it turns out that they were much needed... All this and I'm still not at 100k yet. Kinda scary when you realize that the original Ford ad said it could go up to 100k without a tune-up or anything.

 

[GRNMACHINE]

I think it was last year I replaced my plugs with AutoLite Double Platinum and a set of Jacobs wires. Original plugs looked pretty decent. I am the original owner though, and the Ex has been driven pretty easy and sparingly. Did the fuel filter sometime in the last few years. Probably should do it again, Ex usually sees garage time all winter. How is the paint holding up on the modlings? They look really good. Hoping to find a decent set of the wider grey sport moldings and get them Line X'd... One Day...

 

[Varsity]

The paint seems to be holding fine, but to be honest it didn't really make much of a difference like I wanted. And I love those wider flares too but not too sure how well they'd turn out on my truck...

 

[GRNMACHINE]

The wider flares do not look good with stock size 15's (235/75/15). Seen a few, wasnt pretty. They look great with wider tires.