Gotta start somewhere

[Harley McIntyre]

Slowly doing modifications to my 06 v8 ex, so far I've done led everything including the mirror lights and the license plate lights, I painted the grille myself to get rid of that ugly chrome, thinking about maybe a brush guard next? Or maybe wheels next, can't decide yet

 

[ThunderbirdSport]

Nice! I too want to paint my grille. Probably in the spring when it warms up some...

 

[michael loibl]

That grill looks great, maybe it will inspire me to do something about mine after 13 years of looking at it and not liking it

 

[Harley McIntyre]

Yeah I mean it's pretty easy and way cheaper then spending 250ish for a gloss black one, only cost me about 50 in paint, and about half a day. Has some Orange peel but it was my first time spray painting. I'd definitely recommend getting something to remove all the chrome though, I peeled it off myself and it was a pita, some of it is still on there so I just sanded it a bit lol

 

[Harley McIntyre]

I actually painted mine on a terrible day, temperature was right but it was windy and humid, I didn't really have an option since I'm in Wisconsin so that's basically every day in the summer

 

[ThunderbirdSport]

I'd posted earlier this year about stripping and sanding and painting the grille and someone told me to use oven cleaner to strip it, IIRC.

I also want to do some more badge removal, only leaving the Ford oval front/rear.


I love the full optioned EB, I just wish the white ones (like mine) had a different color of trim...the gold clashes with white. A darker vehicle like yours..looks so much better IMO.

I'll try to find a pic of mine to throw in here...but hate to hijack a thread

Here's mine. I love white vehicles, I just think the EB trim clashes with it LOL

 

[Harley McIntyre]

I'd posted earlier this year about stripping and sanding and painting the grille and someone told me to use oven cleaner to strip it, IIRC.

I also want to do some more badge removal, only leaving the Ford oval front/rear.


I love the full optioned EB, I just wish the white ones (like mine) had a different color of trim...the gold clashes with white. A darker vehicle like yours..looks so much better IMO.

I'll try to find a pic of mine to throw in here...but hate to hijack a thread

Here's mine. I love white vehicles, I just think the EB trim clashes with it LOL

Looks clean! Yeah you can use pretty much anything acidic enough if I remember, I've seen that most people have the best results with some kind of acidic solution in a large tub, then they just put the grille inside and leave it soaking for a day or so, just make sure it's not extremely strong cause it might eat away the plastic also but I don't know for sure, as far as badge removal, I'm not too sure how to go about that one as I've seen people do it before on here and rip their paint off with it, and I would think any kind of adhesive remover would eat away the paint? Maybe I'm wrong. Personally I really wanted an all black limited ex, those are so clean but are extremely hard to find with a v8, I think the tan clashes with every color except for black, part of me wants to paint all the trim pieces too but Idk how it would look with all of them blacked out, so I might just leave it. One thing I've always hated about these explorers is that the wheels are pushed into the fenders too far, it just looks weird especially in the front from a head on view, I'd get wheel spacers but I don't wanna put that extra stress on the suspension and hubs

 

[Greg_DonWindsor]

Looks clean! Yeah you can use pretty much anything acidic enough if I remember, I've seen that most people have the best results with some kind of acidic solution in a large tub, then they just put the grille inside and leave it soaking for a day or so, just make sure it's not extremely strong cause it might eat away the plastic also but I don't know for sure, as far as badge removal, I'm not too sure how to go about that one as I've seen people do it before on here and rip their paint off with it, and I would think any kind of adhesive remover would eat away the paint? Maybe I'm wrong. Personally I really wanted an all black limited ex, those are so clean but are extremely hard to find with a v8, I think the tan clashes with every color except for black, part of me wants to paint all the trim pieces too but Idk how it would look with all of them blacked out, so I might just leave it. One thing I've always hated about these explorers is that the wheels are pushed into the fenders too far, it just looks weird especially in the front from a head on view, I'd get wheel spacers but I don't wanna put that extra stress on the suspension and hubs

I was lucky enough to get a Limited V8, and have a set of gloss black KMC Hoss wheels in 20x9, with a healthy amount of negative offset. They poke out just a bit from the fenders, and improved the handling of the heavy thing. Huge weight difference compared to my old 2nd gen, but I love the more modern amenities. I’d love to strip and paint my grille, and that stupid chrome strip on the hood, and then install a nice polished aftermarket billet grille above and below to clean up the front end a bit. At the moment my intake kit has me hooked on power adding mods, these V8’s seem to have great potential.

 

[Harley McIntyre]

I was lucky enough to get a Limited V8, and have a set of gloss black KMC Hoss wheels in 20x9, with a healthy amount of negative offset. They poke out just a bit from the fenders, and improved the handling of the heavy thing. Huge weight difference compared to my old 2nd gen, but I love the more modern amenities. I’d love to strip and paint my grille, and that stupid chrome strip on the hood, and then install a nice polished aftermarket billet grille above and below to clean up the front end a bit. At the moment my intake kit has me hooked on power adding mods, these V8’s seem to have great potential.

Oh for sure, I've seen videos of people that put blowers on these v8 explorers and make around 450hp, I believe the 6r60 can handle around 600 so it should be safe if you go that route, from my experience mine handles surprising well for 189k but it definitely complains a bit in harder turns, I've been thinking about these wheels I just can't decide though cause I do know how they'll look on my ex, they also have a black version, definitely considering some falken wildpeaks also

 

[06MountaineerPA]

Removing badges.

I seen a vid of someone using fishing line and like sliding it down behind the emblem to separate the adhesive from the two parts. Kinda like flossing. Then just use some sort of adhesive remover on the trucks paint.

 

[Wayne Quinn]

Removing badges.

I seen a vid of someone using fishing line and like sliding it down behind the emblem to separate the adhesive from the two parts. Kinda like flossing. Then just use some sort of adhesive remover on the trucks paint.

I used dental floss and WD40. Worked very well.

 

[Harley McIntyre]

Got some new tires for the Ex. Falken wildpeak at3w's