Got a couple of requests to see how I had my Silver Explorer HVAC installed so I snapped a few pictures for everybody.

First start by removing the radio bezel and unbolting the HVAC control and removing the control *****, then use a small screw driver the loosen the clips holding the stock black gauge overlay onto the white control unit. Also remove the silver overlay from the expo controls in the same fashion.

When your done it should look like this



Now press the silver overlay into the stock ranger controls.



Nice snug fit



Reinstall the *****



Put everything back together and this is what you end up with.



I also installed a set of T5 led to replace the stock bulbs at the same time.





Tiny little suckers.

Hope this helps

 

can you get some iluminated shots of the leds?

 

As soon as its dark...

 

that looks really sharp!...did you just get that from a jy

 

What the heck. I had one of those and none of plugs even matched.

 

Thanks man, it was a cheap one off ebay it was like 18 shipped.

The controls themselves are from the ranger the only thing I used from the set of explorer controls was the silver face plate.

 

Even if I would have thought of that, the green paint on the plate wasn't coming off very well

 

gotcha, I'm keeping my dash green so it works great for me.

 

looks good. do you have matching gauges?

 

i think thatll look really sharp with my silver radio/HVAC bezel

 

Yep, sure do.

 

Night pics as promised

 

Unevenly lit like mine too, though I'm running stock incandescants. I've got those tiny bastard bulbs and not 194's like yours too Along with having the cable blend door. I ended up shaving the "triangle clips" that are on the Expo face, slid in the face, and it's fit snug enough where the ***** actually hold it in. I plan on adding strip led's to it and those nifty plug-in 194's in the cluster to make everything match. Thanks for the info Mikey....I'm jealous of your radio bezel.

 

Ya its a little uneven the pics make it look worse then it is but it was worse with the stock incandescents. darn little bulbs... I am gonna do another LED or 2 in the bottom of the HVAC and that will fix it but works well for now.

The plug in SMD 194's in the gauges on the other hand work and look awesome.



Thanks for the props on the bezel it took a lot of sanding!

 

Sweet, my truck has one too but came with it when I bought it lol

 

I know this is old but I'm going to ask.

I just picked up the same silver cluster and also picked up a silver heater controller like you have... Does your heater controller match the cluster? I am looking at mine and the heater controller is a darker silver than the speedo silver?

I head that silver came on the one ford rangers but it appears that my heater controller is perhaps from a ford explorer?

Thanks,
-Nigel

 

The silver of my cluster matches the HVAC from the explorer very closely, the radio bezel is custom painted and is a close match but different enough to look good.

 

I just tried doing this to the silver HVAC controller to my stock black one, The mounting tabs don't line up at all.

The one I have is manual bender door where the silver one was electronic. They don't line up... is there any way to get that to work with the silver face onto my stock one?


Thanks,
-Nigel

 

You should be able to press the silver face inside the white housing once he black ranger face is off. The ***** were enough to hold mine in place. You could put a drop or 2 of epoxy on the edge if your worried. The clips will not line up and are not needed

 

Are you swapping just the overlays ?

 

Post #13. Shave those 7 or 8 triangle tabs on the silver hvac faceplate. Then slide it inside the white "frame" that's still connected to your truck. The ***** will keep the faceplate in place.

The tabs are all located in different spots between the two styles of faceplates and the way they attach is different.

From what I've gathered over the years, the cable actuated blend door models got #74(or whatever those little bastard bulbs are) and the black face snaps OVER the frame. Models with electric blend doors got 194 bulbs and the silver(or black) face snaps INSIDE the frame.

I don't recall any silver face on a manual blend door model from the factory.

Wouldn't advise. The silver face is glued to it's frame...peeling it up leads to removal of silver paint material off the overlay. It's a whole different animal compared to gauge cluster overlays. I found this out the hard way. This also means no color changing.