[HokieRacer]

This is my first post to the TCCA website. Everyone has done such great things to their Bulls, I can't wait to try some of these things on mine.

Anyway, I like the look of the Taurus SES Sports, particularly with the body-colored spears in the grille and on the trunk lid. I'd like to replace the chrome spears in my dark shadow grey '03 Taurus SES w/Duratec with body colored spears...Anyone know where I can get them and for how much? Junk yards and E-Bay haven't been useful since there aren't many SES Sports out there it seems...

 

[hoss]

welcome to the club man!

as for the body colored spears, the reason you probably havent found any in a junkyard or on ebay is because they are only on the 04's(the rears at least the front gfrille doesent have any spears, bt you could paint yours if you wanted), which just came out. you could buy them from ford if you wanted to, or you could pop them off and paint them yourself

 

[Guest]

:wave: Welcome! I'd have to go with hoss and say paint them yourself. Do a little digging around in this forum and you'll find that quite a few people (especially people with Gen 3's that have the brown-ish trim stuff between the taillights) have painted some various body parts that Ford decided not to indulge us with.

 

[afi292]

I love my sport

i think yoru best bet is painting it

 

[HokieRacer]

Thanks for the feedback! I know the '03 Tauruses with the SES Sport package have the body colored spear on the trunk and front grille in place of the chrome since I've seen them before. There just aren't many '03 SES Sports out there, and then the '04 grilles have no spear...

Anyway, I'll look for the the posts about painting the things myself...You know, you'd think that with Ford "promoting" the Taurus in NASCAR, it would do a much better job of marketing specialized/customized parts/a**essories beyond the mundane crap that any other car has available. Ford should do a NASCAR edition Taurus, just like when they offered the Centennial edition models. :chili:

 

[mike]

Originally posted by HokieRacer@Jun 22 2004, 08:42 PM
Ford should do a NASCAR edition Taurus, just like when they offered the Centennial edition models. :chili:

I like that idea, I wonder how much the optional race engine and suspension will add to the price?

Seriously though, I would definitely like to see a NASCAR edition Taurus. I especially liked the look of the F-150 NASCAR edition. Just imagine an all black Taurus with yellow writing on the tires and black wheels.

 

[SpeedyGreeny]

I feel dumb- does anyone have a picture of one of these emblem things?

 

[TrueBlue]

Originally posted by mike@Jun 22 2004, 08:50 PM
Just imagine an all black Taurus with yellow writing on the tires and black wheels.

HOT!!!! imp:

 

[TaurusRacerZ9]

Any nascar driver who drives a ford is drivin a taurus, read on the front bumper between the headlights....or almost any ford racing shirt for stock cars....but i'll admit the bodys are a little different, not to mention any of them could smoke any car on this site in 2nd gear...

 

[00TaurusSEL]

Ford did do a NASCAR edition F-150. I forget the exact year, but it was the late 90's. I'd say between 97-99. When I used to work at a Ford Dealer, they had a couple NASCAR editions. They weren't that popular. The one's we had were white. All that said NASCAR was the pinstripes, and the seats. I believe they came with black wheels too.

 

[garyjc]

Hokie,
Try this link:
http://www.fordfactoryaccessories.com/tr_motion.html

I used these guys to buy factory Mach tweeter pods for my 01SES when I installed my audio system, and they discount all parts and accessories. You can search by your year, etc. and find the body components you are looking for. My car is black, so I will probably get the body-colored grill spear and trunk shield from them.
Grill spear $47 (most dealer prices @ $63)
Trunk shield $102 (orig. $135)

If you call them, ask for Bobby in parts. Very nice guy to deal with.(I believe they are located in Georgia)

HTH,
Gary

 

[HokieRacer]

Speedy - The "emblem" or "spear" is the chrome strip (with the Ford oval in the middle) in the grille and on the trunk lid above the license plate holder of the '00-'03 Tauruses, at least, those are the names I've seen in the factory manual I have and on some of the parts sites I've looked at the past couple of days...Those fortunate enough to have the '03 Taurus SES Sport have body colored spears/emblems in place of the chrome, which makes the car look awesome, especially in black or dark grey (in my opinion, for whatever it's worth)...

 

[HokieRacer]

Thanks for the link Gary! They've got a lot of great stuff. I guess the chrome on the trunk is called a "shield"...All these crazy terms for a little piece of chrome...Anyway, does anyone else think it's worth $150 to get rid of the only two large pieces of chrome on the whole car? I'm thinking it is, but just wondered what others think...

 

[detroit_raver]

HI!! welcome to the club! first off, do not spend that much money on those. for that price you can do a lot more stuff to your car. i would just paint them if i were you. i painted the entire light bar and tail lights on my 97GL last year and it only cost me a couple dollars.

 

[sfblacksel]

If you paint them, make sure you use primer, the correct matching color paint, and the clear coat. If you skip the clear coat it will never match. For primer I recommen "Bullfrog". Check out the autoparts store and they have it next to all the body fillers and resins. It is specifically made for plastics on automobles. Take your time and to a lot of light coats on the color. The clear coat, I get the best results with one or two heavier coats, but don't let it drip.

 

[TrueBlue]

Originally posted by sfblacksel@Jun 27 2004, 10:36 PM
If you paint them, make sure you use primer, the correct matching color paint, and the clear coat. If you skip the clear coat it will never match. For primer I recommen "Bullfrog". Check out the autoparts store and they have it next to all the body fillers and resins. It is specifically made for plastics on automobles. Take your time and to a lot of light coats on the color. The clear coat, I get the best results with one or two heavier coats, but don't let it drip.

Make sure you lightly etch the surface of the chrome by wetsanding it with 400 - 500 grit. Light, even coats of color, then a few coats of clear. Some people can wetsand the color coats, I'd recommend you wait until you have a few shots of clear on there. Remember, if you are wetsanding the clear, and you start seeing colored water, you're going too deep. Stop, clean the part off with a clean cloth, shoot some more clear.

Definetly paint them.

 

[kodak_jack]

I don't like any emblem that tends to dominate an area. GMC has their ugly three letters on the grille of all their vehicles. I think the Taurus would look better without the spears, like the 04, but even better than that if it just had the black egg crate grille without the blue oval. Naturally, if you removed the spear and emblem, the grille is probably molded with mounting surfaces that would look ugly without something attached, right? I haven't taken mine off yet to see.

 

[qwertz9586]

Why not fill in the grille since you aren't getting any cooling there anyways? Ever see that one oil commercial where they're testing the two Taurus sedans on the dyno(?) and one of them just quits? The grilles were filled in and it didn't look that bad.

 

[HokieRacer]

At some point in the next few weeks, I'll try the painting routine...If it doesn't work, I can always get the new ones. fordpartsdirect.net has "good" prices for these things, but no harm in trying the do-it-yourself route first...Waiting will give me a chance to build up the patience to actually let each coat of paint dry first before the next coat...