Cheap DIY: Refinish your metal door trim pieces back to their OEM glory!
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Cheap DIY: Refinish your metal door trim pieces back to their OEM glory!
I don't know about you, but my door trim was in pretty bad shape. Here's the "before" pic of the plastic piece that goes right behind the door:
Unfortunately, that piece is plastic so I'll have to use some goo remover to get at that. I used Tarminator which did an okay job but not good enough. I'm gonna get my hands on some something more potent very soon...
here's a sexy wet shot.
However, unlike the other moldings on this particular car the piece that connects to the door is aluminum which means it can be sanded!
Here's my friend Art (some of you in the Bay Area may know him), he's the mastermind behind this whole operation...he sanded them down using various grit sandpaper.
Progress.
After it's all sanded down, just spray a couple coats of primer (no pics sorry). The satin paint we used was something cheap we found at Lowes.
anddddd the result!
well, it was night by the time they got good and dry so I ended up test fitting them in the garage...but I think they look pretty sweet. You can see in this pic the comparison between the older plastic piece and the fresh new painted piece. Like I mentioned I cleaned the plastic piece a little but there is still room for improvement. Also I hope to do something about the moldings in the future (groovy moldings perhaps?)...
The primer and satin were about 3 bucks each...and the sandpaper we already had lying around. So it ended up being pretty cheap for a huge improvement. Definitely worth it if you ask me
If you want to see more pics of my EF, click on any of the pics to check out my Flickr.
Unfortunately, that piece is plastic so I'll have to use some goo remover to get at that. I used Tarminator which did an okay job but not good enough. I'm gonna get my hands on some something more potent very soon...
here's a sexy wet shot.
However, unlike the other moldings on this particular car the piece that connects to the door is aluminum which means it can be sanded!
Here's my friend Art (some of you in the Bay Area may know him), he's the mastermind behind this whole operation...he sanded them down using various grit sandpaper.
Progress.
After it's all sanded down, just spray a couple coats of primer (no pics sorry). The satin paint we used was something cheap we found at Lowes.
anddddd the result!
well, it was night by the time they got good and dry so I ended up test fitting them in the garage...but I think they look pretty sweet. You can see in this pic the comparison between the older plastic piece and the fresh new painted piece. Like I mentioned I cleaned the plastic piece a little but there is still room for improvement. Also I hope to do something about the moldings in the future (groovy moldings perhaps?)...
The primer and satin were about 3 bucks each...and the sandpaper we already had lying around. So it ended up being pretty cheap for a huge improvement. Definitely worth it if you ask me
If you want to see more pics of my EF, click on any of the pics to check out my Flickr.
Last edited by hushypushy; May 7, 2009 at 09:51 PM.
Suit up
Joined: Aug 2006
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Re: Cheap DIY: Refinish your metal door trim pieces back to their OEM glory!
Great results but as you said, their could be more for improvement, nevertheless a job well done. I'm doing a detail tech thread on mouldings hoping it to have it up mid summer.
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From: SF, CA, USA
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