Originally Posted by Prelude Australia

Well.. after a conversation with Skinnyboy over msn about stuffed rear quarter windows he kindly put me onto a product that I hadn't seen before. The stuff is basically rubber in a can that you can spray to restore damaged rubber trim on cars. So without hesitation I decided it was time to restore my aging old rear quarter windows.

The job will take a few hours.. save yourself at least half a day to take your time with it. Rushing a job like this can be really bad for your car so don't do this if you:

a. have lots of appointments for the day
b. have an impatient gf that you cant offload to some shopping centre for the day
c. little to no degree of confidence in your can spraying ability

You'll need:






* 1x Can of VHT SP27 Hood bumper and trim paint
* 1x Scotchbrite pad (the grey stuff you can get from auto paint stores. You could possibly make do with the green stuff from your local woolies if you cant get it.
* 1x roll of masking tape
* 1x newspaper
* 1x small bottle/can of prepsol otherwise known as wax and grease remover.
* 1x old rag or cloth

Here is the job we're going to repair today. Old crusty quarters.




Step 1

First thing before anything else is to mask up the area your going to work on. Not just for the paint but also because scotchbrite pads can scratch the paintwork. Use your fingernail to make sure the masking tape gets securely into the edges of the rubber so that your tape is hugging the shape of the rear quarter. Then use a razor to cut out the outline of the area you want to work on. The result should look like this.



don't worry about the newspaper yet as the prepsol will eat through it if you put it on now.

Step 2

Use your scotchbrite pad to scrub off all the scaly dried rubber from the rear quarter window. Your finished product will look very very scratched but will feel smooth to the touch. Dont worry about the scratches as the paint is very thick and will fill all the gaps. Once you have the desired finish use some prepsol to wipe down the rubber and clean up all the powder and dirt. Try to not get too much on the tape or paintwork but otherwise feel free to wet up the rag with lots of prepsol as it evaporates quite quickly.



Step 3

Complete the Masking of the car with newspaper. Cover both the glass and paintwork. Be very generous with the amount of area that you cover the car as over spray means extra work. Double check your original masking tape for looseness as the prepsol may have affected the adhesive. Fix if necessary. Here is how much newspaper i used to cover my car.




Step 4

The painting. Everyone has their own technique that they prefer. Paint the black stuff on!..

My preferred way is to start with one very very light coat. Leave it for about 15 mins to become tacky dry. This will give your next coat a tacky surface to hold onto so that you can spray a heavier coat and not get runs in the paint. After that wait about 20 mins between coats. 4 coats should get most of it covered though 5 or 6 if you have deep gaps to fill.




Step 5

Remove the masking tape and newspaper.

This can be done either when wet or dry. The paint will not run. If you do this while wet then be careful not to touch the work. If you do this when dry then try to run over the outline with a razor first. This is because you will be peeling from a piece of hard rubber so you may accidentally peel some off or create a rough edge.

Your end result should look like this!




Thanks to skinnyboy for pointing me in the right direction!