My 99 Expo EB Rebuild

[402 Motoring]

Another small update on my project. Finally got in my DJM rear coils and Bell Tech keys. I really would love to bag the truck but thats not so easy with torsion bars, so for now I just wanted to get it as low as I could for now. Overall I'm happy with the end result. I still have to figure out what shocks to go with and I still have to trim the bump stop frame brackets but I think the truck looks much better then it did before. I also finally began the process of paint edging the engine compartment.

Take a look.

Here is where I started with height wise.



Here is where I ended up after the install.





Here is the start of the process for the color change of the engine compartment. I'm really **** about the little details so not repainting the engine compartment in Pearl would bother me. I have a little surface rust to deal with but overall it won't take much to make all this look new again, More photos when I shoot the color on.

 

[402 Motoring]

Here are a few more photos of the painting process of the engine compartment. With this finally completed I can finally hang the front end sheet metal and finish painting the truck. I do think we're going to end up tu-toning the truck to make it stand out a bit more. Hopefully I'll be able to finish up the paint next week after the Holiday.

 

[402 Motoring]

Finally Getting Painted!

Finally rolled the truck into the booth late yesterday afternoon for paint. Its been a long time coming and I can't wait to finally get the truck finished up and back on the road. I am hoping to get it finished before the show season is done up here, but I'm quickly running out of time.

Here are a few pics of it all taped up. More later.

 

[GAINMOB]

luv da hood and the fender inserts...wish i have da $$$$ to go all out and do my truck all at once and da way i want it...

 

[402 Motoring]

luv da hood and the fender inserts...wish i have da $$$$ to go all out and do my truck all at once and da way i want it...

I wish I did too. It seems I either have the money or the time, never both at the same time. The economy is pretty bad up here so there is no new truck in my future. I have to make the best of what I gots.

 

[402 Motoring]

A few more photos from this morning. I've decided to tu-tone the hood with a dark grey Lexus pearl. To give it a little more character I'm going to cover the dividing line with some candy flames...nothing over the top just a little something. That will be done after the truck is cleared. Its to much of a pita to lay that out on uncleared basecoat. The grey will extend down into the custom deep dish grille I'm building for the truck.

 

[402 Motoring]

And here it is finally clear coated. Can't really see the Pearl in these photos though. Tomorrow I'll wet sand it flat with 1500 and then 3000 girt paper and then buff it to a show quality shine.

 

[tallsville]

wow looking good.

 

[402 Motoring]

Out in the Sun pics......

 

[GAINMOB]

im just jealous...at least you may have the money to get the items you want and put them on later...that looks great!!!

 

[402 Motoring]

im just jealous...at least you may have the money to get the items you want and put them on later...that looks great!!!

Its all a matter of perspective. I've owned this truck since new but I also had a Pearl White 04 Escalade EXT which I loved. Unfortunately I made the mistake of leasing it and by the time the lease was up the economy was bad and I just couldn't afford a $700 payment anymore. I'm in a business where I rely on people having extra money to spend to make their ride look cool. Not many people are doing good these days....at least the people I know. I am lucky that I have the facility to be able to restore the truck. Its still not cheap though and I have to buy parts for it little by little or my wife will have a fit.

 

[GAINMOB]

i hear ya man...

 

[panda24619]

looking good. is that hood real or for show? i know the vents are just wondering about the hood? still looks real good.

 

[402 Motoring]

The hood is also functional. The hood was designed to look like the 04 Mustang GT hood. I'm also going to be adding the top portion of the scoop to give it and even more aggressive look.

 

[03blkstanggt]

i want that hood =) gimme gimme gimme gimme gimme =)

 

[402 Motoring]

Custom Front Bumper Build

Here is a pic of the custom front bumper I am building.

What do you think......?

 

[Expedition]

looks good, that's the street scene bumper, correct?

Also when you did the 03-06 conversion, did you replace the header panel with the 03-06? Did it bolt right up?

 

[402 Motoring]

looks good, that's the street scene bumper, correct?

Also when you did the 03-06 conversion, did you replace the header panel with the 03-06? Did it bolt right up?

No its a Stillen meant for a 07 F150. Its designed to fit over the original metal bumper of the F150. So in addition to all the fab work in order to match it up to the upper cover on the expedition I also have to use the lower metal F150 bumper and cut off the brackets from the frame and weld up new brackets. The conversion requires the use of the 06 header panel. It will bolt up though.

 

[402 Motoring]

Its been a while since I've updated this thread so here are some pics from today. Like my sons truck I color matched the upper dash gauge panel and head unit bezel to the upper color of the truck which is 2010 Lexus Black Pearl.








I"m also building some "one off" rocker moldings to take the place of the stock running boards that came on the truck. Since I've lowered the truck some 7" I didn't need them any longer, plus I wanted to continue the sport truck. The vents will use the same mesh I'm using in the fenders.

 

[panda24619]

looking great! im with you on the **** part for painting. my gf keeps telling me to paint my truck a different color but it would bug me if the door panels and engine compartment were the dark red while everything else is different.