Body Work & Detailing

These pictures are of my '97 Ex. The Wife totaled a brick mail box. My brother and I are going to attempt the repair and would appreciate any advice, suggestions, tricks, etc. that you can offer. Thanks, Ron

We are new to this site and have enjoyed looking at all of the threads. I purchased a 91 EXP Eddie Bauer for my son last weekend (Saturday) and he was in an accident with it on Sunday (24 hours later). The EXP held up well but has damage of course. We have not removed all of the front fenders, bumpers and hood yet to check pit the engine. If it survived we are looking to rebuild this EXP since it is in immaculate shape, not a scratch (until last weekend) on it. NO rattles and the interior looks like it was just replaced or right off the showroom floor, it truly is amazing. Anyway, if the engine is good the most I would need would be a complete front clip and the least would be the front end sheet metal. It looks like I might have a...

I was reading an article on the future of automotive painting that will soon become obsolete. It will be replaced by what they call paintfilm, also known as, filmwrap. It is suppose to help manufactures cut costs up to 35% compared to painting a vehicle at the factory. Check out some of the designs here. http://www.signwarehouse.com I know some of the designs are a bit wild for some folks, but it would be nice to have a cars paint job last up to 15 years and can be easily replaced or repaired and be less expensive at the same time. I had to have the rear fender flare on my explorer painted and the body shop wanted $200.00 just to paint it, nothing else. The vinyl wrap would of only cost me $35.00, not bad at all.

I've seen a couple of X's on here with a wrangler-esque spare tire holder. Unless I'm mistaken, it is part of the back bumper, and has a swing away design? I'll try and find a pic of what I'm talking about. Anyways, I was wondering whether I could buy one of these, of I'd have to custom build it myself. Looking on getting one put on in the future.

I just waxed my explorer for the first time since I've owned it. And wow! It's black! Yeah, I know, I know... Should have done it sooner... Lot's sooner.. About wednesday I decided to pull the pinstriping off (of course I'd seen pics of other people sploders here done that way), and there was a shiny black under it. I said, "Whoa! That's what black is supposed to look like!" People who had never seen it before kept thinking it was dark navy blue or something... Well, not anymore! Just thought I'd share. :)

Amazing what a little polishing can do to a 70$ set of aluminum wheels. I bought these wheels for 70$ shipped, and received them in fair condition, i knew they werent good but it didnt matter to me, they had been neglected and were in major need of polishing. I used Mothers Mag polish when i first bought them and that helped out but they still werent shiny, still dull looking. Finally i got off my lazy a$$ and made them look almost like chrome, only got one done, wounder how many months i'll be driving around on one polished wheel? LOL

Good idea

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Is the 2006 ford explorer XLT Grill PLASTIC ??? Just ordered one and I hate all that chrome Thanx !!! FJB20@aol.com

Wife hit a tree(damn tree) any way insurance won't cover damage.Bumper ,Bumper Cover,DS headlight/corner light,Grill ,header panel,hood ,radiator....All destoryed.*Fenders do not seem bad .Now the part that has me in a Jam.The core support is damaged on the driver side .How critical or should I say precise should this core support be.I mean I think I can get it ball park straight but if it isn't 100% what will be the consequences.I will try to take pictures of this damage asap.I didn't realize the core support was welded in.I will also see if I could get my friend to weld in new support if i have no other choice.

I've got an older Bronco II with worn paint areas, but I don't want to take it to one of those cheap paint shops (I'm a hobbyist, and a glutton for punishment ;) ) How do I repaint these areas to get it better looking (not "pristine", for you bodywork fanatics)? Could someone give me info on what sandpaper, wet/dry (advantages? disadvantages?), etc.? I just want a quickie touch-up so it looks better from more than say, 10-20 feet... Left rear quarter panel: Right rear quarter panel: (lines are gouges in the paint, caused by a bicycle handlebar) thx!

I just wanted to know how hard it is to work with fiberglass. I want to make some custom interior pieces for my X, and I also want to be able to repair the x-spec airdam that I may get in the future. Anyone have experience with fiberglass?

I am interested in buying interior wood trim to replace the black plastic ones that come in my explorer. I am looking at ebay and see some for about $100. Are these quality parts or just garbage? Will they last or will they just peel off?

One Fender has a "Tree induced body mod" and the other one has a big crack from the ugly EB fender flares and is rusting good now.Wanted to know what my options were for flared fenders with my factory hood, willing to change grille.Where from, cost, ETC.

Well, I had to drop my truck off at the body shop today. It looks like some jerk backed into me while it was parked outside my house. The damage wasn't too bad, as you can see. The tail light wasn't damaged, and nor did the gas tank or pipe get damaged. But, still it's going to take this guy 4 days to get my truck back to me. Though, the quote was only $688. That's about half of what everyone else was quoting me, and when they asked who else I've seen, they said he's really good. However it'll be nice to have my baby back to new condition. I plan on spending a whole day on her once I get her back. Washing, claying, waxing, vacuuming, shampooing, and treating the leather. She's gonna be stormin back on the scene. Can't wait!