My intro

[genseeker]

I'm in Roanoke VA and just bought a poor mistreated Explorer thru Ebay about 2 weeks ago. Trixie (yes that's her name) was filthy when I got her and she desperately needed to be saved. She obviously was not given proper care, as we discovered when we decided to do a thorough tuneup.

My dad had a '92 right before he passed away and I was just browsing Ebay looking for any reasonable vehicle and I decided to search for an Explorer. I bought Trixie as soon as I saw her listing. I have already informed hubby that Trixie will be getting a complete overhaul and fixed back up. This will be my first "keeper" vehicle that will be getting major work. She runs great but it was quite obvious the people who used to own her had kids because I pulled loads of old fast food parts under the rear seats.

Currently, I am only driving Trixie around the yard because we are having to repair the driver window system and waiting for a motor to ship to us. But once we get the motor, she will get inspected and we can start to really work with her.

I am planning to repaint her and I am currently searching for just the right color, all I know at this point is I want a metallic paint and not a pearl. I am also going to strip her interior and dye the carpet black with a commercial dye I was able to find. She is blue/blue but I am changing her interior to black because I think it will set off any exterior color I choose. I bought a can of vinyl dye from the parts store and I am going to see how it looks, if it turns out good then I can use the spray dye to update the interior panels and if not I will have to hunt down black panels for the inside.

I am not planning on any body mods or extras, with the possible exception of adding steps to make her easier for my kid to climb inside.

I found this site looking for weatherstripping through google.

 

[Glen4X4]

Welcome to the Forum! Enjoy the site.

 

[Dopler174]

Welcome to Explorer Forum! I'm glad to see your truck has a good home.

 

[Burns]

Welcome to the forum!!!

Have you ever used the dye before. I am wanting to do my interior black but not sure how it would turn out.

 

[genseeker]

I haven't used the dye before but I got a can last night. I've got some errands to run today and tomorrow but figure I should be able to try it out this weekend sometime. My brother said he's used it on his truck and it works good. I plan to post some pixs this weekend, once it quits raining that is. I'll post one showing a dyed panel, my brother did tell me to make sure I scrub the panels down very well, using a brillo pad and then windex or alcohol to make sure I get all soap residue off before applying the dye.

 

[genseeker]

Success

Tried out that dye today. Man does it work great. I will definitely be redoing all my panels using this stuff. I used the panel for the jack storage to try out the dye. I put 3 coats on but I'm not used to spray bombs so if you are experienced spraying, then it should take less. I scrubbed the panel down with a brillo pad to make sure I got into the groove. Then let it air dry and waited a few minutes between coats. I got the gloss black but other colors are available, including flat black. Tomorrow I plan to remove my cargo area carpet and scrub it down very well. I ordered some commercial black carpet dye thru Ebay and plan to use it to give new life to my worn out interior.

First pix is the area where the panel goes, 2nd is the completed panel. The pix are large so I'm just putting the links. I will keep adding photos to photobucket as I work on her.

Jack storage

completed panel

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum!

 

[jims68ragtop]

Vinyl Dye

Genseeker:

I am a technical representative for Parasol Inc. We manufacture and distribute vinyl, leather, rubber, carpet and plastic dyes. Sounds like you are on the right track with your interior project. A quick word of advice about dying...and you may be already doing this. Each coat of dye should be very thin. It is okay to apply three or even more coats. If dye is sprayed on too thick, it "blinds" over all of the indentations that create the texture of the material being dyed. Once the indentations are blinded, a proper bond is not being made.

Also, it is wise to be careful with the types of dyes being used. Many are merely thinned down paints. They tend to flake, peel or crack over time.

For more information, please visit our web site at: www.Parasolinc.com

Jim

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! It's good to see more technical people join this site to answer questions. Could you write an article about different types of dyes for the paint & body work section?

 

[jims68ragtop]

Vinyl Dye

BB:

I sure can. I am traveling at this time, so it may be a few days before I can write the article. Should I just post it as a reply to this conversation, or is there a better way to post that article?

Jim

 

[BrooklynBay]

Start a new thread with an introduction on various dyes, how to appy them, mixing them (if possible), which ones are better or worse for specific applications, etc.