Need some advice from all those who have gone before me.

[joetoyc]

Okay all you experts, here is what I'm working with:

Red 2002 XLT EX with 4.0

Here is what I want to do(for starters):

*3'' coil spring lift in front, 1 or 1.5'' in rear
*possilbe new struts, think mine are bad
*cold air intake
*17'' rims with larger tires
*complete paint job including trim. Going from red to black body and grey to black trim.
*black tail ights
*black headlights and corners
*black billet upper and lower gril
*fog lights, my model doesn' t have them
*tinted windows
*heated mirrors(I live in colorado and am sick of not having them).
*scoop on the hood

So my question to all of you is where to start? I will be doing the majority of the work myself and I was thinking of doing all the painting first. Going from red to black which mean I have to strip all the existing paint. Including the insides of the doors, under the hood, and under the weather stripping and windows. I think this is going to be were the majority of my work will be spent. Should I, however, do all the under the hood stuff first and work my way out? Doing the painting last and maybe the lifting/struts/rims/ tires/cold air first? I've done plenty of small auto projects before but never one of this magnatude. Really conflicted as to where I should start? Any advice would be great. Plus any other mod's.

 

[bigapple]

Okay all you experts, here is what I'm working with:

Red 2002 XLT EX with 4.0

Here is what I want to do(for starters):

*3'' coil spring lift in front, 1 or 1.5'' in rear
*possilbe new struts, think mine are bad
*cold air intake
*17'' rims with larger tires
*complete paint job including trim. Going from red to black body and grey to black trim.
*black tail ights
*black headlights and corners
*black billet upper and lower gril
*fog lights, my model doesn' t have them
*tinted windows
*heated mirrors(I live in colorado and am sick of not having them).
*scoop on the hood

So my question to all of you is where to start? I will be doing the majority of the work myself and I was thinking of doing all the painting first. Going from red to black which mean I have to strip all the existing paint. Including the insides of the doors, under the hood, and under the weather stripping and windows. I think this is going to be were the majority of my work will be spent. Should I, however, do all the under the hood stuff first and work my way out? Doing the painting last and maybe the lifting/struts/rims/ tires/cold air first? I've done plenty of small auto projects before but never one of this magnatude. Really conflicted as to where I should start? Any advice would be great. Plus any other mod's.

if i was u, id do simple things first to give u better gas mileage and performance so id start at intake and exhaust... also, if ur doing ur trim as well, i recommend u use krylon fusion rather than getting the trim painted with the paint that goes on ur body... it doesnt adhere to the surface well like krylon does... ive had my krylon on my trim for about a year and a half and its still going strong... i regret not putting a clearcoat though so i recommend minwax clear gloss polyurethane for that

ive had my coil springs on for about 2 years and theyre still truckin... i recommend u do that next cuz u just cant beat the look... after that hit up the rims and tires for the complete look and u should be ready to go

i also did a bumper swap on my car so i installed the fog lights with the XLT bumper so if u have questions on wiring, let me know

 

[joetoyc]

Thanks, I was thinking the same thing. The body work/painting is probably the last thing I will do (although it is the first thing I really want done. Isn't that how things always are!). I had never thought about doing the exuast. Does it make a huge diff in millage? How much did it cost you to put you FlowMaster 40 in? I have seen how you, as well as others, have done the trim with the Krylon and had planned on doing that, with the clear coat. How much work went into putting the fog lights in, is the wirering very difficult?