In-Progress Project - 1998 Ford Explorer Limited

[GLOCKer]

I picked up an almost free 1998 Ford Explorer Limited from a coworker in NASTY condition. This will be an ongoing project.















I eventually got this thing home after running it through a drive-through car wash just to knock as much of the crusty grime off.




The hood...
..geez it looked rough! I pulled that front deflector thing off to scrape all of the dirt off the hood. It was actually thick!

[GLOCKer]

Re: In-Progress Project - 1998 Ford Explorer Limited

This week I've started working on parts of the interior. I pulled apart the driver door to access why it isn't working and went ahead and ordered replacement parts for that; an interior door handle, and exterior door handle, and a lock actuator. Since the door panel was off, I installed a new-to-me used driver mirror to replace the broken stock one. Unfortunately, the plugs were different and splicing the replacement mirror to the old mirrors plug did not work and I don't have the power mirror function. That's a little frustrating. I also took out the floor mats and vacuumed the interior in preparation for shampooing the carpet.

Before:






After:








Last night, after work, I tried shampooing the rear passenger area floor mat. Ugh. I spent over an hour on it and I feel the results weren't that awesome.


So the new plan is to pull the entire interior from the car, and use carpet cleaners and a pressure washer on the carpet, dye it a darker color gray, and reinstall it!

[Nick Winn]

Re: In-Progress Project - 1998 Ford Explorer Limited

Love EXTREME Makeovers!!! The dirt under that bug deflector was crazy!

[GLOCKer]

Re: In-Progress Project - 1998 Ford Explorer Limited

Ughhhhhh! Long evening!

[Old Bear]

Re: In-Progress Project - 1998 Ford Explorer Limited

Looks like the floor pans are still in good shape.

[GLOCKer]

Re: In-Progress Project - 1998 Ford Explorer Limited

Today's progress:
I scrubbed and pressure washed the carpet and got a lot of the filth out. Sadly, there is a lot of staining left. I'm hoping the dark gray dye I ordered covers the staining. There is nothing I can do about the red blob of hardened paint...


I also chased all of the wiring (easy with the carpet out) for the "vintage" 90s cell phone technology!

[GLOCKer]

Re: In-Progress Project - 1998 Ford Explorer Limited

My wife is out with friends this evening so I decided to get some more work in on "The Turd". Since the center console is out, I focused on cleaning that up. It too is nasty, like the rest of this thing! LOL I started by taking apart the vehicle info screen housing and cleaning all of that up. I then got to vacuuming out the main body of the center console, after taking off the rear cup-holders to soak in 409. I then wiped down every surface on the center console and all associated pieces before reassembling it.

Tonight's progress:

[ajb39oh]

Re: In-Progress Project - 1998 Ford Explorer Limited

Very cool what you are doing!

[GLOCKer]

Re: In-Progress Project - 1998 Ford Explorer Limited

Very cool what you are doing!

Cool to see another Mustanger here! Love the GT/CS!!!

Here is the progress to date:

I scrubbed and pressure washed the carpeting.


Won 1st place 5th Gen Mustang at a large Mustang show.


Disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled the center console (it was NASTY!!).


Today I dyed the carpet and reinstalled it with the center console.

[Nick Winn]

Re: In-Progress Project - 1998 Ford Explorer Limited

[GLOCKer]

Re: In-Progress Project - 1998 Ford Explorer Limited

Some more good progress today!
My goal is to at least do one thing a day to get this truck back into shape. I have a car-club officer's meeting this evening so I wasn't planning on getting much done. But I got out of work a little earlier than usual and made good progress!

I installed new headlights and a new brake light. I'm happy to report the head lights work now; I was concerned there was a deeper problem with them.

Then I decided to at least start cleaning the driver seat so I can at least drive the truck if I need to.

BEFORE:


AFTER:


BEFORE:


AFTER:

[exploreco]

Re: In-Progress Project - 1998 Ford Explorer Limited

Very cool challenge. How many miles are on this thing? I had a 97 back in the day. Didn't look anything like that though, lol. Can't wait to see the outside.

[GLOCKer]

Re: In-Progress Project - 1998 Ford Explorer Limited

Very cool challenge. How many miles are on this thing? I had a 97 back in the day. Didn't look anything like that though, lol. Can't wait to see the outside.

It has 156,100 miles and the 5.0 motor. I can't wait to get started on the outside. I'm going to delete the pin strip down the side and the faux chrome wheel arches (they are literally stick on!).

[GLOCKer]

Re: In-Progress Project - 1998 Ford Explorer Limited

I found that 409 Lemon works better than the whatever brand leather cleaner I bought awhile back. I also figured out that you have to get aggressive with the leather to get it clean. I'm sure happy with today's progress!

[Nick Winn]

Re: In-Progress Project - 1998 Ford Explorer Limited

Wow I just had to double check that this thread was located in our "Extreme Makeover" Section and it sure is! Looking good you are making quick progress.