expo5.0 going to the body shop and paint booth...

[expo5.0]

evil cackle
i have an appointment on the 1st of next month to do a little body work and some painting on my baby. nothing major, so i should have it back by the fourth (important cruise day lol) but its enough that it should totally change the look of the truck. the grey front bumper pad will be painted, the quarter panel grey pads will be gone along with the chrome below them (not telling how i'm doing this yet though), the upper rear bumper pad will be white, the lower one will be black (that way if it gets scratched it won't look like hell), the license plate bracket will be painted, i will put new plates on, and the tailgate will be shaved with the emblem holes filled and repainted to a nice smooth shine. just thought i'd let everyone know 'cause i'm really excited to see how this turns out. it should be a big improvement

 

[Hartman]

Sounds good. Make sure you litter this forum with pics when it is completed.

 

[james t]

how long is it gonna take 'em? ive gotta put mine in the shop soon also. my wife backed the X into my early Bronc in the driveway, and caved in the rear hatch. ive got a friend who does bodywork, so he's gonna straighten it out and fill/shave emblems. while its in there, im finally gonna get off my @ss and paint the bumpers, grill, etc. white to match. maybe then ill have pictures up (finally). good luck, i know im gonna be sick of driving the '75 Bronc every day.

 

[expo5.0]

he wants for three days.

 

[X24]

That should be cool. I had all my trim painted to match and it looks so much better. I'm a little confused on what you want to do with the rear qtr panels. What are you gonna put there instead? I say go with the saleen ones painted white. I saw them for sale on some saleen site for $30 ea. Make sure you post pics when you are done. Check mine out if you havent already.

 

[james t]

98fordX24... please tell me you remember that site... from what i understand Saleen doesnt make any X stuff anymore... if that site has the rear lower splashguard things (maybe they were over-stocked?) then i want some. i want some real bad...

 

[Hartman]

SpeedWorx! Hyperformance

 

[james t]

i guess they dont have 'em anymore. all i could find was the saleen wing.

 

[expo5.0]

i'm just using the pieces off of a limited or mountaineer. those saleen ones would be cool, i guess, but imo they would be far too radical for the style that i'm going for with my truck.

 

[X24]

I found them listed on that site james t. Search for 'saleen explorer'. If those pieces are called "explorer rear qtr. panel trim" then they are listed for $28.64. It says 99-00 but is there a difference?

expo5.0... I understand what you mean. I would get them for my truck painted to match but then I dont think it would look right if I still had chrome bumpers and grille. It should look really nice when its all done... remember to post pics for us.

 

[james t]

well, i guess im just an idiot. i found 'em, but i dont see a picture. it would only let me buy 'em, but i dont know if i want them until i see them...

 

[X24]

email or call them.

 

[expo5.0]

well i'm still gonna have the chrome bumpers and grill. i thought about whiting it all out, but i like my billet grill the way it is and i thought it would look bad if the grill was the only chrome on the truck. i'm hoping that it will look good the way its gonna be, but since no one else that i know of has done this its gonna be a wait and see how it looks kind of deal, both with the chrome being gone and with having the lower (trailer ball surround) pad black and the upper one white to match (but any other way and it would get scratched with my use). anyways, i will post pics when i get it done, in the mean time lets hope it turns out right.

 

[Hartman]

Sorta seems like the black will clash, doesn't it?

 

[X24]

You think scratches wont show up if you paint it black? They might not be quite as noticeable as with white but will still show up. If you would stop backing up over people maybe it wouldnt get scratched. I think it will look really good. When I had mine done the bumper trim pieces and the side trim pieces looked a little weird because of their texture. After a while you get used to it and it actually looks really good (I think).

 

[Hartman]

Drew gets scratches because he tows his boat a lot.

 

[expo5.0]

well i'm not painting it black, i'm replacing it with a new black piece that was intended for a sport. the grey one on their now is really smashed up after just three years of use (i replaced it once before) that way if i scratch it, it will still be black underneath.

i know that the black and white together don't necessarily sound like the best combination, but i think it will come out looking good. there is black up above (the window and side things) which will help make it look like it fits, and since its on the bottom it will kind of fit with the shadow under the truck and the tires. if it doesn't look right i can always paint it later. also, if you look at a newer tahoe or suburban that has the front molding and the rear molding painted body color the lower rear one is black just like i'm going to do and they look good like that. so, like i said we'll see. and a few of you guys may very well be saying i told you so in a few weeks...

 

[X24]

How is the work going, expo5.0? Cant wait to see it.

 

[expo5.0]

well the status is that my wonderful, beautiful, girlfriend visited from michigan this week and the truck hasn't gone in. thus far all thats done is the lower rear bumper pad was removed and the trailer ball piece was sanded and repainted black and then a new black pad was put on. i did that stuff yesterday, but the rest of it is gonna be at least a week before it will be done. we're also in the process of doing some custom paint on another one of our vehicles as well and thats competing for time with mine. i'll be sure to keep everyone updated as soon as something worth mentioning happens.

 

[expo5.0]

well its the fricking twelth and my truck still hasn't gone in. but it will most definitely be dropped off tomorrow night and it should be done by thursday or possibly wednesday. since i've been getting bored waiting to bring it in i've hard wired a power inverter, and painted my interior, also my mom's/brothers escape got all the moldings painted black to match and the chrome billet grilles, a bar, and piaa 520s on last week. i'll post pictures of everything after i pick up my x from the shop...