Old Explorer gets new paint | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

Old Explorer gets new paint

We have repainted my 91 X this past weekend. The original clear coat had bubbled up and was in very poor condition. I used the original color and clear coat. I has and experinced body man working with me. If anyone is interested I can do a write up with pictures.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





Definitely. With lots of pictures. :)
 






I am working on the pictures, I have to resize them to fit. Step one was to get the materials. I bought the paint from Virginia Paint Company, Automotive Division. As I mentioned we used the stock color. By retaining the stock color we did not have to paint the inside of the doors and the door jams, a large labor savings. The door panel contains the factory reference number for the paint color. We used Dupont and paint and clear coat and Nason primer.

Nason 2K primer 1 gallon @ $43.92/gal $ 43.92
Nason catalyst 1 quart @ $21.87/qt $ 21.87
Chromabase B 2 quarts @ $65.23/qt $130.44
Chromabase midtemp 2 quarts @ $15.22/qt $ 30.44
Chromaclear 1 gallon @ $102.89/gal $102.89
Chromaclear activator 2 pints @ $23.46/pt $46.92
Masking paper 18"x1000' 1 roll @ $14.39/ea $ 14.39
Mixing cups 4 cups @ $0.59/ea $ 2.36
SalesTax $17.70

Total $ 410.95

Additional items included Tyvec suits, 2 rolls 2" and 3/4" masking tape, dust filter masks, latex gloves, and 4 rattle cans black spray paints, apoproximate cost
$ 20.00.

We used about 2/3 of the gallons of the primer and the clear coat. If you were trying to save money you could get by with 2-quarts. However, with left over extra paint touch ups are a simple operation.
 






maybe you could do a small step by step writeup =P
 






Unclemeats thank you for what you did when you came by you didn't have too . it was fun working with you on the job!! the truck truely looks great, I was you many stares of envy an dwhen are you going to lift the pick up and do a flame paint job on it? Keep it running and the wheels facing the ground
 






PICTURES :)

I need paint, again
 












These are the chemicals in question, primer (left), clear coat (center) and base coat ( left). Each paint is a two part combination and require mixing.
 

Attachments

  • dsc00141.jpg
    dsc00141.jpg
    21.8 KB · Views: 2,271






This is the before shot. It was a rainy day, but you can see that the condition of the paint has degraded.
 

Attachments

  • dsc00144.jpg
    dsc00144.jpg
    38.7 KB · Views: 2,248






This photo illustrates the first real step. The fenders flairs and trim, including rubber around the windshield is taped with 3/4" masking tape to protect it during sanding. Most of the sanding was done with 220 grit paper. The bad areas on the roof required 150 grit paper. Everything that could be reached with a pneumatic ossilating obital sander. The the others areas were hand sanded with 220 grit paper or scotch bright pad. These areas include next to the trim and any other irregular surfaces. The purpose of the sanding was to remove the damaged clear coat and base paint and to create a rough surface for the primer to adhere. You can tell when you stop sanded ehen the originial gray primer appeared. The tail lights, windshield wipers and roof rack were removed. Following sanding the entire body was blow clean with compressed air. A tack wrag was then used to remove particle still stuck to the body. We did not have any body damage to repair. This would have been the time to do any body filler work if necessary.
 






Here is the photo for the above step. Sorry my first time posting photos, if a moderater wants to help simplify it that is OK.
 

Attachments

  • dsc00146.jpg
    dsc00146.jpg
    33.4 KB · Views: 2,239






The next step is to tape and paper. The prep work on this project was 90% of the work. We taped the light bulbs in the rear, all windows and anything that we did not want to paint. The tires were covered with protective covers for this specific use. A large plastic bag would have also worked. When taping it is important to be careful because if it is not covered with tape it will be covered with paint and vise versa.
 

Attachments

  • dsc00149.jpg
    dsc00149.jpg
    33.9 KB · Views: 2,216






This is the application of the primer. We sprayed 3 coats. Each coat was followed by approximately 15-minutes to allow some drying. When spraying the primer the gun was 6 to 8-inches from the surface. A 50% overlap method was employed. A realitively light coat was applied to ensure a smooth coverage. Following the application of the primer the entire surface was oversprayed with a very light application of rattle can black paint. The purpose of this step was to help with sanding the primer. It provided a reference point for how much to sand and what parts had been sanded. When no black paint was visible sanding was complete. The primer was alowed to dry overnight.

The following day all paint and tape was removed. The prep process was repeated. The sanding of the primer coat was accomplished with a 400 grit sandpaper. The removal of the first layer of tape could have been skiped, but was done to ensure additional quality.
 

Attachments

  • dsc00151.jpg
    dsc00151.jpg
    22.5 KB · Views: 2,239






The next step was the application of the base coat. Application was similar to the primer coat for the first two coats. The final step of application was to overspray the entire body. The overspray required the spray gun to be 12 to 18-inches from the surface. A different application direction. The purpose of the overspray is to remove any tiger stripping from paint gun motion. A smooth surface is required to give a good consistant. It is also supposed to help bring out the metal flake and give a deeper finish. I did not take any photos of this step because it was inimpressive. The finish at this stage looked similar to the before photo. We alowed about 30-minutes drying time before beginning the clear coat application.
 

Attachments

  • dsc00154.jpg
    dsc00154.jpg
    30.6 KB · Views: 2,212






Looks great man!! Time to wetsand it with 2000 to 2500 grit sandpaper to take the orange peel out.
 






so..... when are you coming by my place?:D

Looks good, just wait till the first bird drops a present on it :shoot:
Edit: I just noticed you're in Richmond........ *opens up mapquest*

we'll have to talk =P
 






Looks awsome man! I might have to follow your write up when I (hopefully someday) replace my rockers, instead of herculiner/bondo fix i have now.

Good job!
CP :D
 






The clear coat was applied in three coats. It takes about 20 minutes from mixing the activator to spraying. We sprayed 3 coats. We allowed about 15-minutes drying time between coats. Dust is a problem when appling the clear coat. We ran a HEPA filter prior to spraying. We did not wet the floor but that is an option to keep the dust down. After the paint is is allowed to cure for thirty days then we will wet sand the and buff probabily just the hood, I am lazy, and yes with a 3000 grit paper to remove the orange peel texture that the clear coat gets when it is sprayed There will be no hand washing or waxing until after the initial 30 days.
 

Attachments

  • dsc00156.jpg
    dsc00156.jpg
    80.2 KB · Views: 2,212






Overall it was not at all difficult. Of coarse I had an experienced body man BUBBATRUCK78 doing all the important things. I was kinda the goffer. The advantage to base coat and clear coat is in future maintanence. Scratchs can be buffed out. Also the clear coat over base is more forgiving for the inexperienced painter, wet sanded and buffed. I believe that we spent about 20 man hours and about $450 in materials. I would expect a body shop to charge about $1,500. We did not need to do any bodywork. I had previously sanded and rattle can sprayed primer on spots whenever any rust appeared, and that saved a lot of work. I am sure I have forgotten or misstated some things, it was my first time, but some will correct me if that is the case. If you have questions post them and I will try to answer them or get BUBBATRUCK 78 to answer them.
 

Attachments

  • dsc00158.jpg
    dsc00158.jpg
    54.7 KB · Views: 2,216



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





Looks like bubba knows how to lay down the shine. Looks great!
 






Back
Top