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How I painted my side and rear hatch trim...

1K views 15 replies 12 participants last post by  SilverZX3Bullet 
#1 ·
I just recently painted my rear hatch and side trim and a few people showed some interest... So, here's how I did it:

1. First and foremost you'll want to gather all the stuff you'll need.

a. Find your paint code and go buy some color matched paint and clear coat if necessary. I used Plasti-kote (FM8140 for Silver) as opposed to Duplicolor. I bought 4 cans of color (6OZ.) and 2 bigger cans of clear (11OZ.).

b. Get yourself some sand paper of varying grits from 100 to 1200.

c. The rest: 3M Adhesive Remover,Alcohol, dental floss (didn't work for me but has for others), razor blade, phillips/flathead screwdrivers, a 10mm socket, rags, and 3M trim tape (about 4 rolls). A heat gun and power sander would be handy but not absolutely necessary.

2. Remove your trim and get off the left over sticky residue. How you go about doing this is up to you. Here's how I did it:

a. Side trim. I've heard of people using dental floss and then simply rolling the left over adhesive off with their fingers. Wasn't nearly that easy for me. I got a long flat head screwdriver and put a rag over the top and used that to get started. I then pride it back a little at a time and used a razor to slice through the adhesive. There are two strips of adhesive tape holding the trim in place along the top and bottom of the trim.

b. Rear hatch trim. Youll need to remove the plastic cover on the interior of the hatch using a phillips screwdriver and then popping out the the clips around the outside edge to be able to get to the nuts that hold the trim in place. Once you've got that out of the way you'll need to remove those 10mm nuts (there are 5) with a socket set. It may help to remove your rear license plate before you wiggle the hatch piece off. Note that there are also two very small pieces of adhesive behind the two outer most tips of the trim. Pull the trim out and disconect the wires to your plate lamps and your done. I removed the Ford emblem to make sanding and painting easier, its held on with the same adhesive tape as the rest of the trim.

c. I got the left over trim tape off, first with a razor blade to get off the big chunks, and then went back over it with the adhesive remover on a rag. I tried using a heat gun first but it didn't really help, might for you though if you've got one.

3. Sand it using the various grits starting out with the 100 and work your way up to a 1200 grit wet sand to get the trim pieces nice and smooth.

4. Prep the area you'll be painting in. I spaced some nails on a wall covered with newspaper in a garage to set the trim on. I also placed some thumb-tacks a little bit higher than the nails to keep the trim off of the wall while its being painted.

5. Prep and paint your trim.

a. I prepped the pieces I was about to paint using a rag with some rubbing alcohol. I then placed them on the wall and dryed them with a heat gun. Like I said the heat gun is not necessary but definately helpful during the painting process.

b. I applied 3 coats of paint to each piece. Drying in between each coat with the heat gun made this really quick. Be sure to get those edges.

c. I let the 3rd coat dry for about an hour and a half and then wet sanded it with some 1200 grit sand paper.

d. I went over the pieces again with some rubbing alcohol and put on another coat of color. Dryed with the heat gun.

e. I then put on three coats of clear drying between each with the heat gun. From here reapet steps c. and e. until your satisfied with the look. I put on about 10 coats of clear coat total.

6. Reapply the trim.

a. Wipe off the back of the trim and your car with some rubbing alcohol.

b. Put the double sided trim tape on the back of your trim peel off the backing and then put it on your car.

c. For the rear hatch trim reapply the Ford emblem if you took it off. Put two small pieces of the trim tape on the outer most sides of the trim and then reinstall.

I think that pretty much covers it... I didn't rush through any thing so I actually drove my car around for a day and a half with out any trim on it. If your going to do it take your time.

Here are a few pics I took:

Rear Hatch Trim Before:

Trimless Rear Hatch:

Rear Hatch After:

Left Side Trimless:

Right Side After:

Left Side After:
 
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#4 ·
Originally posted by iamgod:
looks really nice....did i get you right on d when you wet sanded after painting? ...doesn't that remove the paint?

also painting noob question...what is wet sanding?
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Wet sanding is when you take really fine sandpaper and water and sand down a part that you have painted. What it does is it removes any imperfections and uneven spots that appear on the part like orange peel which makes the paint look like the surface of an orange. Since its such a fine grit and your using water it wont remove the paint and it gives the clearcloat a good surface to bond on.
 
#8 ·
I love you!!! haha, thanks man, I was just about to order the S2 peices, but after seeing your Post... well, I have a new weekend project.
 
#10 ·
stupid question of the day....

is the plasticoat put on like spray paint or do you have a paint gun/air brush?

If I remember correctly, is the plasticoat in a spray paint can and if so, I assume they do match the color just like a paint shop right?

oh yeah, some of you may want to wait. I know the 2003 svt's are coming painted so you can order the parts from ford already prepped. So all you should have to do is very minor sanding. I think you can get them primed as well.

[ 02-08-2003, 08:53 AM: Message edited by: SonicBluSVT 02' ]
 
#13 ·
The Plasti-Kote is in a spray can... I bought an extra attachment for around $2.00 that enables you to use the spray can as if your using a gun. I think the key to using the spray can paint is to constantly shake the can and take your time to ensure that your spray is applied evenly.

As far as color matching goes... There were some books next to the Plasti-Kote that allowed me to cross reference my Ford paint code to the corresponding Plasti-Kote code.
 
#15 ·
Excellent post! I have a '01 Sedan and I'm guessing that I could do the same for my rear hatch/trunk piece. My side trim came painted. For the rear trunk piece is there a way I could get it to have a shiny polished silver look? Thanks.
 
#16 ·
Originally posted by shane_wilson:
Excellent post! I have a '01 Sedan and I'm guessing that I could do the same for my rear hatch/trunk piece. My side trim came painted. For the rear trunk piece is there a way I could get it to have a shiny polished silver look? Thanks.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">If polished silver is what your looking for I'd just say go the chrome trunk trim route. I see them come and go on eBay every now and then. I'm sure there may be a way to do this with paint but I'd be cautious. Sorry that wasn't very helpful. I do know that there is one more bolt in the sedan rear trim piece.
 
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