Painted Pillar Trim

[BigRondo]

My rears are also riveted. Masking them off is real easy!

 

[FordExplorer2002]

i just removed mine today to start preping for paint. now my question is were anyone elses broken where the screws go in? my passenger side was the worst had only one screw actually doing any good lol the others had a few broken spots.

 

[FordExplorer2002]

o and mine has rivets also i felt like an idiot after i posted that considering all i had to do is go look at it. and ill mask them off soon and do em no biggie.ty guys

 

[BigRondo]

i just removed mine today to start preping for paint. now my question is were anyone elses broken where the screws go in? my passenger side was the worst had only one screw actually doing any good lol the others had a few broken spots.

Maybe you can instal some small washers when you put the screws back in.

 

[PDXplore]

Yeah, some of mine were broken too. I just picked up some small plastic/PVC washers from the local hardware store and used those when I reinstalled.

 

[FordExplorer2002]

yea thats what i was thinking wanted to just make sure it wasnt just my ex doing it. thats just my luck. tomorrow if its nice im gonna be working on my rear trim.was a pain in the A to get the sides done because of the rain on and off today and of course i have no garage,. did in the last place me and my fiance lived at tho wish we still had it .

 

[Mario81587]

i heard on the 02's u are able to remove the rear trim.is this true or is this revited like the later models?

Mine is an 02 and they are attached with screws to the lift gate. I learned this when my brother got rear-ended in the Mountaineer. The guy told me that Ford no longer made a replacement lift gate for the Mountaineer/Explorer built up to 3/3/2002. I'm assuming they started riveting them to the D-pillar after this date... but I could be wrong. I've seen three in the junkyard that were screwed onto the lift gate and one where they were riveted onto the D-pillar. Here are some pics. I'm redoing the pillars soon as well.

 

[FordExplorer2002]

ooo nice lucky u wish mine were screwed in there like that

 

[tgrfly]

Glad I found came across this. Definitely need to do this to mine. Has anyone entertained the idea of doing color match on them?

 

[HiImBrian]

Glad I found came across this. Definitely need to do this to mine. Has anyone entertained the idea of doing color match on them?

I saw a "DUB" Explorer downtown a couple weeks ago. It had its pillars color-matched bright yellow. It looked terrible. I see Explorers with chrome pillars all the time and in my opinion they just look better black.

 

[FordExplorer2002]

yea i agree i like the black better than chrome or color matching

 

[BigRondo]

X3 ^^^^^^

 

[tgrfly]

That's what i'm thinking too. I may try and photoshop it for ***** and giggles, but they will probably stay black.

 

[HiImBrian]

The user KSE_rules used Herculiner on his and from the looks of the pictures it turned out really good. I'd have to see it in person before I'd do it, but that's always another option.

 

[piercesean]

so i decided to go another route and went with boat grade vinyl. its not the sticker vinyl. came out great!!

 

[BigRondo]

Looks great!!

What is the texture like?

 

[piercesean]

thanks, it feels weaved but is smooth.

 

[wheelin'explorer]

so i decided to go another route and went with boat grade vinyl. its not the sticker vinyl. came out great!!

Where did you get that vinyl?

On another note I did this to my Ex two nights ago. used a 160 grit sand paper first real lightly, Then sprayed away with some Krylon Fusion satin black. I am very happy with how it came out, matches all the grey trim that was on my truck that I painted black.

 

[wheelin'explorer]

i just removed mine today to start preping for paint. now my question is were anyone elses broken where the screws go in? my passenger side was the worst had only one screw actually doing any good lol the others had a few broken spots.

Out of both sides on my Ex every single tab out of the four on each pillar was busted but one. I'm sure this has to be from the factory type thing. Looked like the tightened the screws to busting point on them all of mine. I did not even have enough plastic left to try and get a washer to grib. Mine crumbled apart. So I just put them back on, hoping that lip they have and the rubber at the bottom is enough to keep them on. So far so good with no screws holding them on, been about a week since I did it.

 

[BigRondo]

I need some help from you guys that have experience with the clear coat.

I decided yesterday that I was going to tackle my side pillars. All went well or so I thought.

I did the sanding, painting, & clear coating. I used Krylon Fusion Gloss Black & Fusion Clear. I followed the instructions on the can of clear. I let them sit over night and this morning it looks like a 3 year old did the painting.

The instructions say that the clear may look milky, but will clear up in 24 hours. My results looked like trash. I am starting over and now I am applying the black again and need some advise for applying the clear.

I think I may have put the clear on too thick.

What do you guys think?

Edit: just got done with the respray. I put the clear on a lot lighter this time. Something tells me it's not going to be shiny.