F150 DUKE, that's one damn good looking truck, I love black. Don't really have an opinion on a new exhaust. However, in the meantime you should get some steel wool and scuff the heck out of that oem pipe and then polish it. If steel wool won't get it all one color, use some fine sandpaper. Takes 15 minutes and it looks a lot better. Just a lil something to dress it up before you rip it out

 

What do you use to polish? I would imagine steel wool will make rough scratches, not smooth.

 

I used steel wool which didn't take out the bigger imperfections. Then a 150grit sanding pad, it's a fine finishing pad I didn't have any reg paper. The pad made smoothed out the deeper scratches and left real fine scratches. Then I used some old Mother's Mag polish. The wool and the pad scratched it up real good. Put a good amount of polish on there and used a rag about 4" wide wrapped around the pipe. Put on the polish and keep rubbing, most of the scratches are now only visible from a foot away. Soon as it stops raining here I'm going to get some better polish and I'll post up a pic. I found this tip while searching "stainless steel".

 

I hope you meant 1500 grit? 150 is some VERY course stuff.

 

No typo, it actually is marked 150. I'm all out of fine sandpaper and that's all I could find. Not sure where it came from, prob the gf's hobby junk. It's probably equal to a 1500 paper though, not rough at all.

Still raining, so I'll get pics tomorrow.

 

Those look really nice.

 

I think you chould go with a wheel and tire combo something like this



It is 20" rims with 33" mud tires. Super Swamper Iroks to be exact. You will probably need a level kit though.

-stephen

 

You forgot to re-install the Ford Emblem on your billet grille................

 

Thats almost as bad as my 600 experience.

 

IT looks Great! I am really impressed with the mirrors!

 

LOL! Yeah...


Hey Duke... you mention getting rock chips touched up on your mirrors... are you having a lot of problems keeping paint on them? Have you thought about some of the clear 'bra' material on them?

While I love that look, I'm so ultra-**** when it comes to paint that I'm afraid that rock chips will drive me to drink (more) if they're all over my mirrors...

 

If I mentioned that the mirrors have rock chips then I didn't mean it. It's actually the front of the truck that does. I'm going to touch them up and then have the clear bra put on the front above the grill. You can slightly see the lines of the 3M on black but I don't want to have that on the mirrors until I take a direct rock chip damage. So far I've been pelted by a dump truck of rocks and it didn't hurt them. These guys put a lot of coats on. IMO you're more likely to have rock chips on the front of the truck than the mirrors. I've seriously abused the heck out of these mirrors over the past month and they've been fine. I'll clear bra them though when I have my first problem. (which I don't see happening since they've already been pinged a couple times)

 

Well here is decription of painting. Just a reminder I paid someone to do the mirrors and I did the antenna base and mud flaps.

1. Sand, sand and sand some more. Then when you think you're done, sand for another hour or two. I started off with 150 grit and worked on that till most of the bumps were off the plastic. I tried 80 grit but made HUGE gouges that cost me a ton of more sanding work. Save yourself time and don't use 150. Then gradually go up in grit till you have smooth plastic.
2. apply primer in a spray paint can with the instructions on the can. I did two coats. Primer must be made for plastic.
3. apply a flex agent/adhension promoter in a spray paint can. I put two coats and applied via instructions on the can.
4. apply black (or your color) paint from a spray paint can. Follow the instructions on the can, making sure to do thin coats. I did about 5 coats on the mud flaps and antenna base.
5. Inbetween each coat, do a wet sand. It's like 800 or 1000 grit sand paper with running water. This helps give an even dispersion of the paint. Obviously don't wet sand after your final coat of paint.
6. clear coat. I did this but it ended up making the paint *misty* and cloudy, not the mirror finish of OEM. So I wetsanded and put another coat of paint on. Feel free to skip it as it looks better without it. This should only be followed when doing things like the mudd flaps or antenna base. Mirrors obviously need the clear coat. But that's put on by a professional sprayer.
7. I clear bra'd the mudd flaps to protect them from rock chips. Also actually made them glossy and look like the truck even more. Now they're a perfect match.

The paint and primer can be found at your local auto parts store, along with the wet sand sand paper.

I would highly advise against trying your mirrors yourself. The quality won't be as good as a professional. The small stuff isn't a big deal b/c you don't notice them as much as the mirrors. Besides the bigger the surface area, the harder it is to paint.

 

Great instructions bud, really appreciate it.

 

duke... do you have the P/N for the glossy B pillars? And also do you know who has a goob price?

-stephen