I have one sitting around 5 speed 4x4 with a crappy 2 door body. Motor and trans are great and the 4x4 works....so do I do a body /chassis swap or take the Ford Ranger (87) auto 4x4 with a bad motor and trans and switch them around? I know they will be some fine engineering to put a clutch pedal in or find another donor? I hate to see them set there and rot away.
Mazda Navajo/Ford Explore
- Thread starter THE PUNISHER
- Start date
- Replies 8
- Views 233
Chop the body, put some rock sliders and go hit the trails.
Ive done far more swaps than I would like to admit but I've never played with the Ford/Mazda trucks. "Usually" manual swaps are not that difficult. The cutouts are most always there on the firewall with rubber plugs filling the void, at worst marked with a dimple making a holesaw cut pretty easy. Electrically, a lot of times it's just a sub harness or at worst a dash harness.
YMMV, and all that other stuff.
YMMV, and all that other stuff.
Last edited:
There is a start to a cult following of the early ‘90’s 1st Gen 2-door Explorer Sports ... If it ain’t to far gone I say rebuild it. I know the 4.0L Cologne engines today have even began to have build and tuner prospects so no telling how the appeal of a 1st Gen 2-doors might grow in a few more years.
Not to thread drift but I gotta ask, what are people seeing in these or modding them into?
ronn47
Where's the Scotch?
2A Bourbon Hound 2024
2A Bourbon Hound OG
Charter Member
Benefactor
Life Member
Multi-Factor Enabled
They are molding them into Mini-Me K5s and Broncos since they can't afford the originals.
Ah ok, gotcha. Gotta admit I’m one of the few that actually likes the 80’s Bronco II.