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Grey Trim Area On Explorer

rsxracer192

New Member
Joined
April 16, 2005
Messages
6
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City, State
North Jersey
Year, Model & Trim Level
02' XLT
i have a 02 black xlt like the one below, the trim that runs around the whole truck is a light grey, i want to change it to black. Any way i can do this myself or should i just take it to a body shop? Obviously the body shop will probably do a better job but my uncle who owns a body shop quoted $1000+ because he said to do it right, some of the peices may need to be taken off, and some of them might break during the process, therefore I may have to order all new ones n paint them while there off. what i was gonna do is put index cards in between the trim and the actual body, sand it all down, get the paint from my uncle and use a clear coat after. answers???
thanks


Ford_Explorer2002Black-2_002.jpg
 



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Do you still want the trim on the truck? Under it is just black metal like the rest of the truck. After it is removed look at the truck and decide if you like it off. Mine came from factory with the trim off and I like it better. Then just fill the holes and begin the paint process. This may save you some $$. You would need to paint the front clip and rear bumper cover though. I will try and get pics of mine up ASAP.
 






that doesnt sound like a bad idea. Get those pics if ya can. Thanks
 






well i painted mine here the before and after



Also, when you take the moldings off try your hardest not to break any of those clips. They are a weird shape and ford does not sell them separtly. I had to find out the hard way. Hope your project goes well.
 






Oh yea. Paint your fog light inserts, your mirrors and roof rack. Make sure it comes out shine. it looks great on mine. Also dont paint the spoiler under the front bumber, rocks chip it all the time.
Just my 2 cents.
 






my pics are ready

My pics are ready but I cannot figure out how to attach them, can anyone help? Thanks
 






I just wanted to mention that if you take all those pieces off your explorer and decide to leave them off i would be interested in purchasing them from you if you wanted to sell them. I just bought a 2004 explorer and it does not have those on it, but i want to paint and install some on it. Thanx ;)
 






nerdboy666

hey did you paint the trims or did some one else? If you did please send us the steps you went to make it look that sexy. i got to admit its nice.
 






nerdboy666

I have the same color explorer as rsxracer192. I was thinking about painting the trims as well. I am assuming you took the trim off the wheel well and doors, painted and then reinstalled them. How hard were they to remove? How hard where they to reinstal? If you had them painted, how much did it cost you? Any help will be well appreciated. Thanks.
 






Sorry i haven't been on in a while. First off i own a body shop, so it wasn't hard. But honestly its not that difficult. There is one major problem. The clips on the trim moulding break and the dealer doesn't sell them separately, so you better be very careful taking them off. I took everything off the car including the front and back bumper. its easier to paint the whole damn bumper then tape it off. Any questions I'm more then happy to answer.
 






I want to paint the front & rear bumper covers . They have a texture to them . Do you have to sand first or is there a primer to use to "fill & sand" ? Also what do you have to add to the primer , base coat & top coat to let it flex ?
 






nerdboy666 already had painted trim, just changed the color. The grey plastic trim is not likely something you can try and paint. At least it doesn't seem economical to me. It's very porous and who knows what would need to be done. There are places on the internet where you can buy trim pieces to replace the existing trim, and offer pre-painted or ready to paint trim
 






Hey, if you have that textured bumpers and trim you can paint it normally with primer and paint, but there will be no shine. it might look cheap. i painted the mirrors. its dull but its hard to tell. it is possible to paint the textured trim and make it look shiny. luckily ill tell you how. You need a LOT of primer. Make many coats of primer until it fills the texture. then sand as usual to make it smooth, and paint as usual. Primer is expensive make sure you use the good stuff.
 






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