Painting body-side molding yourself???

[mysweetlx]

I have a red '90 LX, and as you know, the body-side molding is black (it's the only thing, besides my Hurst shifter that bothers me about my car). I was thinking of getting the paint and matching it to the body color myself. Am I insane? Has anyone tried this? Is there anything I need to know to do this correctly?
Thanks.

[jerrys84]

remember your car has had 12+ years for the paint to fade, so the color code (even if exact) won't match..



some paints does'nt stick well to plastic... my paint is only a few years old (bought it newly painted) and now i'm seeing the car used to be red (paint is peeling off the front and rear bumpers)..

[Sonics2042]

I think you can just take off the molding and it should be painted red under.

If you give your car a good polish, especially near the old location of the molding it should look fine. (Never done it, so can't be totally sure.)

I was giong to do this when I got my front and back cobra spoilers.

Thanks,
DoranW

[Sonics2042]

Originally posted by Sonics2042
I think you can just take off the molding and it should be painted red under.

Red = whatever color your car is. My car is red .

[mysweetlx]

Thanks guys. Jerry, actually believe it or not, my paint hasn't faded a bit. It's garage kept, never seen rain, never seen snow and has never "sat out" in the sun. Sonic, is the b/s molding just glued on?

[Bad89stang]

Some of the molding is held on with adhesive tape and some of them use studs/nuts. I took my gas tank lid to a paint store and had them match the paint.

The easiest way to do it is to mask off the area around the molding. Use a wax and grease remover first. Then use a plastic prep product usually found at paint supply stores. PREP the plastic until you are blue in the face. You can sand the molding before all of this if it is scratched up. Then paint the darn things. Use several light coats. If you need more info then just ask.

[mysweetlx]

Originally posted by Bad89stang
The easiest way to do it is to mask off the area around the molding. Use a wax and grease remover first. Then use a plastic prep product usually found at paint supply stores. PREP the plastic until you are blue in the face. You can sand the molding before all of this if it is scratched up. Then paint the darn things. Use several light coats. If you need more info then just ask.

Thank you. VERY helpful. I anticipate the prep work being the hardest and most important step in the process. I will let you guys know how it turns out.