Painting black moldings...

L

Lords47

Member
Location
Dartmouth, MA
I've seen some amazing pictures on this site of people who've painted all the black plastic moldings on the lower part of the bumpers, below the doors, mud flaps and around the wheel well. I'm REALLY interested in doing this as well. I got a quote yesterday ($2300, almost pi$$ed myself), and a second shop that wouldn't even touch it. They said the paint won't stick to the plastic because its textured, and it'll peel.

To the members who have painted these moldings - do you regret it? Is it peeling or is it holding up well?

What kind of $$ should I expect to dish out if I pursue this?

Thanks all!
 
Tell them to sand it down or something. Turbocad did this himself, so he should be able to steer you in the right direction. A few other people have also had it done.
 
I did mine own gloss black, I own a body shop myself & I couldn't stand the textured lower shadow moldings... just doesn't look rich or finished at all to me, it almost looks cheap... a lot of cars cheaper models come with textured lower gloss black trim like this, reminds me of the laredo, but then theres the limited with everything glossy & it just looks so much richer... you'd never catch a high end luxury car wioth a textured unfinished trim like this, so I didn't want it on my fx either unless it's a utility type vehicle, I want luxury look not utility look personally...


cost, I'd say that my shop would do a job like that in the $1,800-$1,900 range for gloss black, few hundred more for actual body color maybe.... this is doing it right though, everything removed, all rockers & well trim, both bumpers... if you found a guy that was going to do the whole thing for like a grand or so then it'll be sloppy cause at that kind of price there going to be doing much of this on the car... better to spend a little more & do the right job.... guys that are pricing this thing much higher are just afraid of doing it & want to avoid it, so there pricing it higher to cover the headache factor they see in the job, but it should be around 2K or less to do it right, assuming your bumpers are perfect upper & don't need to be done too....


edit, to add, the plastic on the lower is THE EXACT SAME PLASTIC as the upper bumpers, anyone who says they can't be painted run away from... this is not rocket science... anyone who can't do the lowers then they can't do any bumpers... honestly to do the absolute best job I would recomend refinishing the whole complete bumpers & not just the lowers if you really really want it done right.... even if this means doing both the upper color & then the lower black & then clearing anything, this will avoid the slight sem break point issues that could come up with juyst spraying from the seem down, that top edge will be a place it'd be a bit chance of peeling, doing this could bring you to the $2,300 range though, maybe not 100% necissary, but the ultimate best way to do these in most cases, although just doing the lower bumpers withouit touching the uppers has other benifits, like maintaining the factory paint durability of the upper....


as far as durability, these moldings are textured... the textured needs to be all sanded smooth & then primer paint & clear... will it be 100% as durable as the original bumpers & stuff?, no... but it will not be horrible either & if done well will be pretty durable.... maybe every year or 2 you might have to have the lower front bumper touched up or even redone from rock chips... it's a trade off & worth it though, & only the lower front will show the most defects over time in rock chips... a reasonable tradeoff I'd say... mine is 1 1/2 years old about, & maybe 25-30k miles & ithe front still doesn't look bad at all... there are some tiny chips but not even so bad that I have to run out & touch them up really, eventually I'll freshen it & repray the front lower again, but maybe it'll kinda really need it by next year or so...


I'ved seen one orange fx here with the lowers done body color & it looks absolutely beautiful... I think white would also look beautiful in same white body color too, gloss black is a nice option too depending on your color... once you do these moldings the look of the fx changes for the better, no more waxing issues on the semi gloss cheap looking plastic.... I really like this mod for the fx personally...


edit to add, the ultimate way to do this is probably to refinish the complete bumpers & not just the lowers... this will really lock the seem down & no chance of peeling at the seem, trying to sand & butt paint up to the seem can leave these edges slightly more vulnerable to peeling & slightly less flawless looking, doing the complete bumpers though, nowe I can see the $2,300 range... that's the ultimate way of doing them though really...
 
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Wow - thanks so much for the insight, turbocad. The $2300 quote I got (which includes 7% sales tax) was for the complete removal of all the aformentioned pieces. They also said that this included painting the entire front/rear bumpers for the best paint match. I will say, hearing from you, owning a body shop, I don't feel as bad about the quote now, and the work involved. The shop technician said he's done 1 FX and a few 1st gen g35 sedans, so I trust he knows the material, the car, and what he's talking about. This was also to match the factory ivory pearl as well.

I agree - I think the end product will look absolutely amazing. Hmmm... giving me more food for thought.
 
nice.. i also thought of doing this.. but i want to do some engine mods first.. plus knock a bunch of John's mods on my FX.. lol , so its tons of cash.... i will have to sneak on my daughter while she sleeping and get her piggy bank...:tongue:
 
dopie said:
imo just do the chrome parts that part they can sand and then paint over it
plastic parts probably will peel off
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Not true, you can use Bull dog. that works really well on plastics before painting

---------- Post added at 05:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:05 PM ----------

also i wouldn't do the IP or white color trim. i would go Gloss black. so you can have a balance.
 
I talked to the guy who gave me the $2300 quote a little more. He was able to drop the price by just about $200. So i pulled trigger, and made the appointment. I'm incredibly excited. It's going on on the 20th. I'll be sure to post pics of the finished product :)

Thanks again for the helping advice.
 
I painted the front and rear bumpers over mainly to fill in the two holes from the license plate bracket and because there were a few scratches I couldnt look at anymore. I had them paint the flat black plastic as well to match and it look amazing. Couldnt be happier. I have Black Obsidian so it looks great. I left the rocker panels alone and just use Mothers back to black, plus I thought it would look a bit weird if the rocker panels were shiny. Also they take a ton of abuse, so they are better left alone. The body shop I went to repainted both the front and rear bumpers, along with my grill for $800. Came out great!

To all those people that tell you that the paint wont stick... they just dont want to do the work. My guy sanded, primed, and painted the flat black plastic and it is fine. You will just need to find someone who is willing to do the work and knows what they are doing.

---------- Post added at 01:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:56 PM ----------
Lords47 said:
I talked to the guy who gave me the $2300 quote a little more. He was able to drop the price by just about $200. So i pulled trigger, and made the appointment. I'm incredibly excited. It's going on on the 20th. I'll be sure to post pics of the finished product :)

Thanks again for the helping advice.
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Before I read this I was going to tell you to shop around a bit more. Seems a bit high to me, but at least you know you should expect a pristine job. Maybe hit up a few more body shops before the 20th in case you can get it done cheaper. Either way... you will love the end product. Good luck.
 
Thanks stellanti - we're almost neighbors too btw :) The quote I was given entails the following:

Remove Front/Rear Bumpers
Remove rocker panels
Remove trim around the wheels
Remove splash guards
Sand/treat surfaces with some sort of chemical
Primer (up to 3-4 coats)
Paint (tinted to match fading from a 2007 car)/clear coat (entire both bumpers, not just the flat black to ensure paint match)
Re-install pieces
replace all the clips that apparently break when you remove all the moldings.

Should take either 3 or 4 days. After reading turbocad's posts, I'm confident I got a realistic, fair quote considering the amount of work involved, and the fact he owns a body shop :)
 
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yes man, that is the right way....

shopping for bodywork is not like shopping for a tv... the best price is not always the best deal... there is always someone out there that can do it for less... most times it's cause it will cost them less to do it... most times it costs them less because they are using inferior materials or cutting out necissary steps or using inexpensive & inexperienced labor...

I buy a gallon setup of the clearcoat that I use regularly at almost $230 & there are even better, more expensive, but that's rreserved for more of specialty jobs... there are clearcoats that can be had for only $80 a gallon setup too, & the guy who's quoting cheap prices is probably doing everything cheaper across the board... sometimes you actually get what you pay for...
 
scary... its a shame that some people go that route.. if you do a great job people will advertise your bussiness... if you dont well you just got temporary money but no new customers.. its hard to find people around that actually take their time to do a great job..
 
here's an idea that how it might look in comparison:

zinik_brescia_chrm_pw.jpg

TIS_07_chrm_ivorypearl.jpg
 

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Lords47 said:
Thanks stellanti - we're almost neighbors too btw :) The quote I was given entails the following:

Remove Front/Rear Bumpers
Remove rocker panels
Remove trim around the wheels
Remove splash guards
Sand/treat surfaces with some sort of chemical
Primer (up to 3-4 coats)
Paint (tinted to match fading from a 2007 car)/clear coat (entire both bumpers, not just the flat black to ensure paint match)
Re-install pieces
replace all the clips that apparently break when you remove all the moldings.

Should take either 3 or 4 days. After reading turbocad's posts, I'm confident I got a realistic, fair quote considering the amount of work involved, and the fact he owns a body shop :)
Click to expand...

Cool man, good luck! I am sure it will come out great. Problem is upkeep/maintenance through our nasty winters. Oh, and my body shop guy said that primer is usually thick enough (with sanding of course) to fill in the textured surface of the plastics. Mine came out awesome, so I am very happy.

BTW, hope you are down for a meet at the end of this month... I am going to try to organize a small meet in the Boston or Metrowest area. Stay tuned.
 
That was music to my ears to hear of a meet!

Yeah, I am a little weary of our winters and upkeep. I at least have a Jeep I can drive when its real nasty out. Or like when it rains for 6 weeks straight... LOL

Do you claybar your rockers to get any caked in debris off? How do you maintain yours? I think I'd be afraid to put the PC against it in the risk it would peel...
 
Lords47 said:
That was music to my ears to hear of a meet!

Yeah, I am a little weary of our winters and upkeep. I at least have a Jeep I can drive when its real nasty out. Or like when it rains for 6 weeks straight... LOL

Do you claybar your rockers to get any caked in debris off? How do you maintain yours? I think I'd be afraid to put the PC against it in the risk it would peel...
Click to expand...

I only got the front and rear bumpers done, so I left my rockers alone. My FX is black obsidian. I have no info on maintenance yet because I just got the car back from the body shop last week... its all new to me.
 
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