Paint or Vinyl ??

swanicyouth

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Ok, I have an 01 Nissan Pathfinder that is Bayshore Blue (light blue). Horizontally across the body are rubber/plastic door ding guards that
run most of the length of the truck around the middle of the door line. Think of the guards that are meant to protect from door dings. I don't have a close up picture of the area, but
Here is a picture of the side the truck do you can get an idea:

a6937b1f-dd21-e259.jpg


... Anyway, the paint on these door trim / door guards is body colored from the factory. The paint is also damaged beyond repair on them. I would like to refinish them to a matte black and am not sure the best way to do so. Two options I came up with are:

1. Remove them from the vehicle, chemically strip them with paint remover, sand them, and re-paint them matte black with a rattle can, and then clear coat with a rattle can. Then, re-glue them to the car with 3M Emblem Adhesive

2. Remove them from the vehicle and cover them with vinyl striping matte black. I would not try this with them on the vehicle, as I'm guessing this long of a strip of vinyl may be hard to work with and I would want to wrap it around the back for best coverage.

3. Remove them and remove the paint. Take them to a body shop and ask them to paint them matte black with an air sprayer professionally. I have no idea if they would do this or what it would cost. This would be the easiest option for me, but also the most costly.

... What are your thoughts? Can rattle can paint hold up and provide professional looking results? Or, is it bound to chip and peel eventually? How hard is vinyl striping to work with? I looked at the 3M vinyl, but can't find where it's available as stripes and I don't want to have to cut sheets into strips. Will a body shop do this type of work? I don't have the tools or experience to paint them myself with an air sprayer. Any feedback comments would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
Sorry I'm no help but I did wanna say I love my 02 pathfinder even though it just word in the garage. I don't think I could ever get rid of it.

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Two options I came up with are:

Well I see three options... (I do that sometimes too), :laughing:


1. Remove them from the vehicle, chemically strip them with paint remover, sand them, and re-paint them matte black with a rattle can, and then clear coat with a rattle can. Then, re-glue them to the car with 3M Emblem Adhesive

That will work. Be careful the paint remover doesn't melt the trim.


2. Remove them from the vehicle and cover them with vinyl striping matte black. I would not try this with them on the vehicle, as I'm guessing this long of a strip of vinyl may be hard to work with and I would want to wrap it around the back for best coverage.

That might work... maybe have a detailer that offers wraps do this for you?


3. Remove them and remove the paint. Take them to a body shop and ask them to paint them matte black with an air sprayer professionally. I have no idea if they would do this or what it would cost. This would be the easiest option for me, but also the most costly.

Before you go this route and remove the trim, first drive the car to body shops and see if you can find a shop that will even mess with them. Keep in mind it's real easy for collision shops just to replace Honda fenders and repaint them.


... What are your thoughts? Can rattle can paint hold up and provide professional looking results?

No, not side by side. Pretty good? sure.

Or, is it bound to chip and peel eventually? How hard is vinyl striping to work with? I looked at the 3M vinyl, but can't find where it's available as stripes and I don't want to have to cut sheets into strips.

Go to your local PBE store and check with them... if you have to walk them out to your car and point to the part.


Will a body shop do this type of work? I don't have the tools or experience to paint them myself with an air sprayer. Any feedback comments would be appreciated. Thanks.

Again, drive to some body shops, don't call, physically drive to them and show them the problem areas and see what they say...

Maybe try, PlastiDip?

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/off-topic/49585-you-gotta-kidding-me.html


How's that?

:)
 
If you would like something Matte finished you could try plastidip. I have done it on my MINI with great success. Has been on now for about 4 months with no signs of chips or coming off. I wash almost every week too and still looks new. Here are some pics of how I did my grille

e098f156.jpg

5bf4fbc4.jpg


Another thing I have had success with especially when taking paint off plastics is soda blasting. It's good to take off paint off soft materials like aluminum and plastics but doesn't damage them like sand blasting.
 
Plasti Dip?... Never thought of that! That's an awesome idea! Thanks Mike! Thats kind of the look Im going for. Not "bright", more "matte", but not completely "flat" something that would match the mud flaps, running boards, door handles, and roof rack. I'm guessing I would get the "spray can" Plasti-Dip, remove them, clean them well (just clean, but not "strip" paint), spray them with Plasti-Dip (a few light coats), then re-install. Ok, just a few questions about this (of course I'll post good before / after pictures when it's done) if anyone knoww:

plasti_dip_198.jpg



1. What is the durability of the finish an externally mounted auto trim component coated with Plasti-Dip? I know it can be peeled off, but If taken care of and not "pressure sprayed" could it be a semi-permanant solution to this?

2. Would I be able to get good results with the spray-can of Plasti-Dip, or would I need an air powered/(or) electric paint sprayer

3. Any special prep work involved?

**** Thanks Mike, and for anyone's input!

Also, to the previous poster, I love the PathFinder too. It's just terrible on gas. Is yopurs stuck in the garage? Is there something wrong with it?
 
***Your Mini grill looks awesome. I love it. Hopefully I can find this stuff locally, I know I've seen it around but don't recall where. Headed out to look for it. Thanks for sharing your work!
 
Oops. Sorry Mike didn't see you had suggested platidip. But yeah what mike said. As for how long it last like mentioned above mine has been on for 4 + months and I pressure was it all the time. You don't even have to remove your trim just mask around it. Even if you get spray on your paint it can come right off. I did 4 coats on my Grille with 30-45 minutes in between.

You can find it at home depot or lowes.
 
It's in my garage. Nothing wrong with it. I just live 40 mins from work and I had been saving up and flipped my 1943 Willy jeep to buy a 2010 Impala for the reason of it being a gas hog. I just couldn't give it up.

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Thanks for the suggestion to use Plast Coat and I finally got it done. I removed the bumper guards from the vehicle, as one was having adhesion issues. This was a mistake. The strip adhesive that hold these moldings on was IMPOSSIBLE to get off the back of the moldings. I ended up using a heat gun, Goo Gone, and a sharp paint scraper. This adhesive strip was on there 10 years and took me close to 5 hours to completely remove. It came off in broken sticky tiny pieces a mm at a time. This is what I used:

445449b6-5f85-fc39.jpg


After I got the adhesive off I coated with about 6 coats of Plasti Dip, because I wanted a thick textured look

Here's the painting process:

445449b6-5fd5-7235.jpg


Before:

445449b6-6221-a664.jpg


And here's the finished result( I don't have any close-up before pics, but the moldings were body colored and faded pretty bad. Polish made the worse, they are a rubbery plastic):

445449b6-603e-d37f.jpg


445449b6-6054-2033.jpg


445449b6-6074-262c.jpg


445449b6-6092-cae6.jpg


The only problem now is the Plasti Dip seems kind of fragile and this job turned out to be a lot of work so I am hoping it lasts. I re-attached them with 3M extra outdoor 2x sided tape, so if they have to come off again for paint it shouldn't be as hard to remove as the factory stuff. Thanks for looking.
 
Plastidip will last you. Like I said I pressure wash my areas and it doesnt even phase it. Looks good. and even if it gets knicked, its super easy to take off old plastidip and re do it. For simplicity I would just suggest leaving the moulding on the car and just mask an area around it.
 
Thanks for chiming in, I love how the grill on your Mini Cooper turned out and moving into the future I'm going to try some doing some Plastidip on some areas of my own truck project.


:xyxthumbs:

Thanks for the compliment. I cant wait to see the project you roll out with using the plastidip.
 
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