Paint advice

[kathnkev]

I scored a used hood and fender and I am going to paint my daughters '90 protege.

I have the equipment (and helped others paint for me) but never taken it on myself - what the heck

What is you advice on the black side door protectors and the black rubber strips on the roof?

Mask around them and leave black?
Paint over - looks more modern that way?
Remove, paint, and put back on? How easy is that?

Also - if painting them have you had any adhesion problems and how did you prep them? The side panel look like they may take paint better than the roof strips.

Thanks for any advice

Kevin

[Suzuka323]

First off, welcome to the club!

Well, I haven't ever removed my roof trim, but it should have little tabs that you can just pop out so you can paint the roof, as for the side moldings, they should be the same way, but I don't have the moldings, but if it's the little tabs, that's an easy task, but if it's glued, you'll have to remove the adhesive residue before you paint, if that's the case, Goo Gone is your friend, just make sure you prep the body for paint or that Goo Gone residue will ruin your day.

If the moldings are held on with adhesive, try pulling on the tops of the moldings slightly and squirting some Goo Gone in behind them, let it set for a couple minutes and then the panel molding should pull right up. I've used this stuff to remove decals and road grime from painted surfaces on several cars and its never damaged the paint, so you're good there.

As for your other question, I would paint the moldings.

Good Luck, I hope this was useful.

[escortkid]

my opinion is remove the side strips all together and shave off the roof rain channels.

[Steel_Knuckles]

I scored a used hood and fender and I am going to paint my daughters '90 protege.

I have the equipment (and helped others paint for me) but never taken it on myself - what the heck

What is you advice on the black side door protectors and the black rubber strips on the roof?

Mask around them and leave black?
Paint over - looks more modern that way?
Remove, paint, and put back on? How easy is that?

Also - if painting them have you had any adhesion problems and how did you prep them? The side panel look like they may take paint better than the roof strips.

Thanks for any advice

Kevin

Welcome.

The side door protectors and rubber strips should NOT BE PAINTED WHATSOEVER WITH REGULAR CAR PAINT.

Reason? It'll chip and fall apart and look like crap. You need to buy a flex agent like bulldog (or bullguard? can't quite remember the name right now) to make the paint flex a litte for rubber or soft plastic pieces.

in regards to painting over, use flex agents. in regards to removing them, the side guards could be put back on but the roof moldings will bend and never be able to be put back in shape because of the metal retainer piece inside. once you take it off, it's not going to get back on properly. plus you'll end up with some from of dirt film deposits, so you'll end up having to sand away that area with a soft block or a 3M rollox kit. btw, expect to pay $30-$60 each from a dealership, and don't bother going to a junkyard. once you remove 'em they're trash (unless brand frickin' new).

the 323 in my sig was taken while i had the roof moldings. i ended up removing them after i realized that they were starting to come apart. so, after i took them off, i didn't want to pay the extra cash of new parts, so i filled the gaps with long strand fiberglass, then short strand kittyhair, then bondo, sanded it smooth, then used metal glaze putty, then sanded it back down, then primered it.

your best bet is to leave them black, but if they look cracked or nasty, just sand 'em down with 180 grit sandpaper, then move to 250, 300, 500 wetsand, then 1000... all the way to 2000 and then use a black plastics paint or wax coating on top.

hope that helped.

but yeah... your best bet is to mix a flexagent with the paint... either way, you still gotta sand the plastic parts down a little with 500 grit so the paint has something to catch on to.

hope that helped.

[Jho]

I can't tell you much about painting your car, but I can wish you luck.

Post some pics when you're finished too!

[purewhitemp5]

There's that dang picture fetish again !!

[kathnkev]

Thanks

Thanks for the advice - I will try and post before ena after pics

Kev

[Steel_Knuckles]

Thanks for the advice - I will try and post before ena after pics

Kev

if you need more info don't hesitate to come back to us. We look out for our fellow 1st genners.