I'm back, with a 97 Mountaineer

[Metal_Marquis]

Thanks for the info guys. I'll see if we have time on Sunday to drop the headliner when we do some other work to it.

 

[Metal_Marquis]

The truck looks really good. Is it actually blue? It still looks black in your pic. I've never seen a Ford/Mercury blue that dark. We have a 2000 Monti Monterrey and a 2001 Explorer Eddie Bauer and I prefer the Monti's exterior trim over the Explorer, mostly because I don't like the Explorer's fender flares.

Thanks. It's Ebony Black. I'm gonna do my best to keep it clean.

 

[koda2000]

I've asked you twice, is it black or dark blue? Ad said blue, but it looks black in all the photos. If it's blue, I've never seen

Thanks. It's Ebony Black. I'm gonna do my best to keep it clean.

Ah, that's what I thought. Black's a bear to keep looking good. Cleaning is of course important, but you have to keep the paint polished and waxed to keep the spiderweb scratches from showing and that's a lot of work. Looks great when it's detailed though.

 

[CDW6212R]

Ditto, and buy some kind of orbital polisher for the black. Use that to put on and remove liquid waxes and polish. That can save a lot of time and thus make it easier to motivate yourself to do it regularly. Hand waxing is no fun for anyone, but a machine can cut the time to under 20 minutes if the surface is like new(well kept, slick, wax/polish on it all the time).

 

[RandomNerd2000]

Orbital Polishers are amazing, I have one I use to detail I gave $5 for on an auction, works great, well worth it, although I'm due to detail both of mine again, it's also worth learning about them and using them so you don't damage your paint with polishes and compounds, I've seen that before and it's worth learning how to prevent.

 

[koda2000]

Ditto, and buy some kind of orbital polisher for the black. Use that to put on and remove liquid waxes and polish. That can save a lot of time and thus make it easier to motivate yourself to do it regularly. Hand waxing is no fun for anyone, but a machine can cut the time to under 20 minutes if the surface is like new(well kept, slick, wax/polish on it all the time).

I don't wax by daily driver's very often (maybe once a year). I had some McGuiars synthetic liquid wax in the garage and tried it on my blue EB. For a liquid applied by hand it was very easy to put on and take off, you can apply it in the sun or shade and doesn't create a lot of dust or residue. Good stuff. After a thorough wash and dry, I'd guess I could wax my entire EB in 45 mins, maybe less. Apply, let haze and wipe off. I have to get another bottle of that stuff. I also like Turtle Wax Ice Blue Spray Wax for quick touch-ups, but it can streak on dark colors. Works great on by silver ST.

 

[RandomNerd2000]

I don't use Turtle Wax, on either of mine when it's left in the hot sun and it has Turtle Wax on it, the entire car has weird white stripes appear on it, doesn't matter how you apply it, I use Mother's now.

 

[Metal_Marquis]

Yesterday we replaced the cruise control switches and fan belt, and tested the LSD.

 

[Metal_Marquis]

Long story short- I got a "free" ScanGauge2 and loosely installed it. Makes me appreciate the UltraGauge in my 06 a lot more

 

[CDW6212R]

What, they've replaced the ScanGauge2 already? I'm still going with the original Scan Gauge, with the big box and stiff buttons.

 

[Metal_Marquis]

What, they've replaced the ScanGauge2 already? I'm still going with the original Scan Gauge, with the big box and stiff buttons.

Wow. I thought this thing was stone age tech lol.
The Ultra Gauge is a far superior gauge product IMO. Check them out.
UltraGauge OBDII Scan tool and Information Center

 

[Metal_Marquis]

Got the rear wiper working again today.

When I first inspected it this is what I found...

All of those bushing/nuts are shot, so I put it back together as best as possible and it works... for now.

 

[Mr. Alligator]

Good work on the wiper motor. Mine went out, then two remanufactured unit died within six months. I gave up on the reman units, and found one at a salvage yard that has worked for about five years.

Well done.

 

[Metal_Marquis]

Good work on the wiper motor. Mine went out, then two remanufactured unit died within six months. I gave up on the reman units, and found one at a salvage yard that has worked for about five years.

Well done.

Thanks. I had a similar experience with a remand window motor on my 85, it lasted almost a couple of hours.


Here's what we managed to do today...

Started with this...

Ended with this...

 

[koda2000]

I have a similar situation on one of our vehicles. It had been repainted after an accident sometime before we purchased it. I think the paint shop must have waited to long for before applying the clear coat, so it didn't bond to the color coat well enough. Now, after 6 years, the clear coat is peeling off the hood and the tops of the front fenders.

How did you manage to get yours looking that good? Total repaint? It looks great.

 

[Mbrooks420]

DAMN! That looks great!

 

[Metal_Marquis]

I have a similar situation on one of our vehicles. It had been repainted after an accident sometime before we purchased it. I think the paint shop must have waited to long for before applying the clear coat, so it didn't bond to the color coat well enough. Now, after 6 years, the clear coat is peeling off the hood and the tops of the front fenders.

How did you manage to get yours looking that good? Total repaint? It looks great.

DAMN! That looks great!

Thanks fellas. Here's how we did it...

 

[CDW6212R]

Excellent, you had enough clear left on it. Mine looks something like that, but I think it's from someone paint-bombing it, it looks like primer. I haven't had time to even think about it.

 

[Metal_Marquis]

Ouch. No saving that hood.

 

[Metal_Marquis]

Gassed up, washed, and worked on the Mountaineer.

Drivers window motor...

Installed the dashcam...

and installed a nice $9 floormat....

I only got a little wet in the wash, but the cargo area wasn't so lucky.