VairKing FINALLY modifies his X: Custom Paint Job! Warning, 12 pics

[VairKing]

Well as a lot of you know, I have always hated the way the fender flairs look on my '97 Eddie Bauer. Well I toyed with a few ideas, and a few months ago took all the flairs/running boards off, and have been driving it like that. I liked the look, but the little holes drove me nuts. Well this weekend I finally got around to doing something about it, and painted all the trim. I think the results speak for themselves and am VERY happy! Ive got a little wetsanding/buffing to do, but it came out well!

Here is a before shot, perfectly clean and stock truck:


Prepped for paint:




Various body trim parts:




Truck painted:








Heres the finished product, again, Im totally excited, the truck looks a million times better!








I plan on losing the pinstrip soon, and possibly do a mountineer front end with a 99+ explorer bumper...Should look pretty sweet! Let me know what you all think!

[jimbo74]

looks good... nice work... what did you use to paint the plastic and what prepwork did you do? plastic is very unforgiving to conventional paint techniques and paint composition as automotive paint doesnt need to flex like plastic... (i dont need t onkow, but others here will want to)

[boominXplorer]

Ok... What painting method did you use? Did you degrain the bumper cover before or was it already smooth?

EDIT: LMAO!! Beat me to the punch!

[X~FACTOR]

Looks good. It just need a good wash!


ummm... grille next?

[jimbo74]

xfactor, he said he was going to swap a mounty front onto it, meaning grill getting changed too

[VairKing]

Basically all I did to prep the plastic was scruffed it down real good with 220 grit sandpaper, then cleaned it real good with a metal prep solvent, then painted it, 2 coats of black DuPont Chromabase, sprayed on with a real good HVLP gun, followed by 2 coats of DuPont chromaclear clear coat. I am hoping it will stick well, I have had good luck with this paint sticking in the past, so it should be all good!

[VairKing]

Easy...a coulple little push clip thingys...

[Robb]

Nice Work Ryan!!


although, I kinda like the tan trim

[88vert]

Great job Rayn

[Hartman]

Looks good! Was it hard to blend in the paint on the doors?

[VairKing]

I have a little bit of wetsanding/buffing to do in order to get the doors to blend well, but the colors are the same, so it should be hardly noticable when its done...This paint is going to take forever to completly cure though, its like 20° out...

[99SportX]

Looks great!!!!!

This is one project that is on the list for my sport. The only problem for me is that I don't have access to a paint gun, so I have to get alot of money and go to a shop.

[ExplorerEB96]

UnBauer the Eddie Bauer ... look at the changes my Ex EB went through

http://www.msnusers.com/FordExplorer...eredition.msnw

Karol

I took off that stupid pinstriping too... uughh

[hydroxy]

Wow - REALLY nice paint job... wanna paint mine? =P
You gotta paint the chrome on the front bumper tho...

Now... my laundry list of questions

Are the side moldings(on doors, not fenders) held on differently on the limiteds (95-97)? I'm going to be painting mine next weekend (weather permitting). I was planning on just leaving the plastic panels on and taping everything else off...
You mentioned it's going to take a long time to cure... how long? (Its going to be like 30-40 outside when I paint probably). Does the long cure time effect it in any negative way?
How come you didn't use a primer?
How did you prep the rear bumper? I was told if you take off the plastic parts on the rear bumper that you have to break clips inorder to do so - is that correct?
lastly... what is this metal prep solvent you speak of?


Sorry for all the questions
-patrick

[X~FACTOR]

Originally posted by jimabena74
xfactor, he said he was going to swap a mounty front onto it, meaning grill getting changed too

Ah yea, missed that. Sorry.

This paint is going to take forever to completly cure though, its like 20° out...

Good luck. I hope the paint stick. It'll be a pain to do that over again in the summer. I can't wait for 70 degree weather to get here so I could get my hatch painted.

[ExplorerEB96]

Originally posted by hydroxy

You gotta paint the chrome on the front bumper tho...


-patrick

He can buy a black front bumper.....I believe Ford has them in black... there are also some aftermarket ones out there too... If you look at mine the chrome one was replaced with a black one when I hit a deer... I had the whole truck repainted, the steps taken off, and the fenderflairs and Eddie Bauer tan primered and repainted black... the holes were covered with plastic divets and the flairs and rocker panels (all the way up to the trim) were then spray coated 5 times with black "rock guard" (a spray on herculiner stuff)... both the chrome front and back bumper can be replaced with a black one...it's probably less of a hassle and will probably run you less $$ to just replace it rather than have it prepped and powdercoated..

Karol

['96explorereddiebauer]

Looks great Ryan!! Time to get rid of the pin stripes other than the "Eddie Bauer" part. This really reminds me of Karol's truck when I saw it last night. It's pretty nice!

Oh oh oh...you should paint the silver part of your grill black too. It'll look sweet!!!

[NOTAJP]

Looks great! I'm not a fan of two-tone either.

I only wish my shop was that clean....

[VairKing]

Originally posted by hydroxy
Now... my laundry list of questions

Are the side moldings(on doors, not fenders) held on differently on the limiteds (95-97)? I'm going to be painting mine next weekend (weather permitting). I was planning on just leaving the plastic panels on and taping everything else off...

They were held on with an adheasive tape, the kind that is kind of like a thin foam. I used the hair dryer and fishing line method (do a search) and it came right off.

You mentioned it's going to take a long time to cure... how long? (Its going to be like 30-40 outside when I paint probably). Does the long cure time effect it in any negative way?

When I painted a different car a couple years ago, I was told not to wax it or anything for 30 days, that the paint needed to cure completly. This was in the middle of the summer, where temps were warm. I really dont know if the cold will effect it at all, body shops send cars out all the time after just drying a bit...

How come you didn't use a primer?

I didnt think I would need to, I just sanded the existing paint real good. The paint store said that if the original paint was adhearing well to the plastic, to just scuff it up real good and the new paint would stick to the old.

How did you prep the rear bumper?

I just scuffed it up real good and made sure it was good and clean.

I was told if you take off the plastic parts on the rear bumper that you have to break clips inorder to do so - is that correct?

Not if you are careful.

lastly... what is this metal prep solvent you speak of?

I used PPG brand DX-330, also simply called Metal Prep, its basically a super strong laquer thinner based (I think) solvent, that will remove any wax, grease, tar, or anything else that might be on the surface your trying to paint. You should wipe everything down with this, the use a tack clothe on everything, then paint.

Sorry for all the questions

No problem, let me know if you have anything more...

[jssong]

my body shop baked it in a uv light treatment room type deal. they said if you dont bake it, you shouldnt wax it for a few weeks, but since they did bake it, i could do wateveri wanted as soon as i wanted. not sure if that is true.