Restoring the trim

[Legend_master]

The people that had the car before me decided to paint the trim with a brush, and some bucket paint. This has been driving me crazy since I got the car. Decided I would try restoring the trim to the factory look.

I started by removing the trim (i know this can be done on the car, but I like painting off the car), sanded the trim with 1500 grit sandpaper. I used water when sanding due to the fact that the rubber kept building up on the sand paper. It seemed to work much better that way. I purchased some Rust-Oleum rubberized spray paint from autozone.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v667/Legend_Master/5912B164-AB18-4BFC-B29A-EA542091A89D-9073-000004880D28CEB0.jpg

You have to shake this stuff really well, and shake every couple sprays.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v667/Legend_Master/DEE63F87-F9BD-4F13-A638-AB028C5D8CDF-9073-00000487F4F38E1F.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v667/Legend_Master/E11BC696-E048-4F62-BDF7-55856788D8CD-9073-00000487FBF26A1A.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v667/Legend_Master/B321F875-E0C2-4A80-9735-BDB8B5B85397-9073-000004880208550F.jpg

Clumped a little on the corner.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v667/Legend_Master/96CD417D-69BA-43E0-9E84-F7DAD35D3C95-9073-0000048807E8A326.jpg

I have not installed it on the car yet, but I will get some pics up ass soon as I do.

[Rendon LX-i]

looks great bro. I'm going to have to give this a try.

[King Peetis]

Not sure if the Rustoleum undercoating is similar to plastidip but when I plastidip and I want to Remove the roughness I gently make a pass over the freshly coated area with a sponge brush saturated in xylitol. Makes it smooth as a babies bottom...

[Legend_master]

looks great bro. I'm going to have to give this a try.

Thanks, I'm afraid its gonna make my paint look terrible lol.


Not sure if the Rustoleum undercoating is similar to plastidip but when I plastidip and I want to Remove the roughness I gently make a pass over the freshly coated area with a sponge brush saturated in xylitol. Makes it smooth as a babies bottom...

That's good to know, thanks. I was actually going for rough look. It kinda gives what I think the OEM look was. I'm gonna do the bumper trim as well.

[King Peetis]

That's good to know, thanks. I was actually going for rough look. It kinda gives what I think the OEM look was. I'm gonna do the bumper trim as well.

I bought an 86' 3gee back in 1989 in Arizona. I know I'm showing my age, but the trim was smooth. I wonder if it was dependent on regional issues i.e. snow, salt etc? Good luck, can't wait to see it installed.

[Legend_master]

I bought an 86' 3gee back in 1989 in Arizona. I know I'm showing my age, but the trim was smooth. I wonder if it was dependent on regional issues i.e. snow, salt etc? Good luck, can't wait to see it installed.


I've got multiple sets of trim, this is going to be my test trim. I believe this paint is designed for metal underbodies. That's good for weathering, but not sure how well that will work with rubber base I spraid it on.

[Legend_master]

Little update, after a day of drying the paint is still soft. It makes me think this will only work on metal. I'm going to give it a little more time, and see if it will ever harden. Looks like plastidip would be the best choice at this moment. There is also a rust-oleum trim restoration spray, I may check that out as well.

[Dr_Snooz]

Not sure if the Rustoleum undercoating is similar to plastidip but when I plastidip and I want to Remove the roughness I gently make a pass over the freshly coated area with a sponge brush saturated in xylitol. Makes it smooth as a babies bottom...

Just making sure I'm reading this right. Is it Xylitol or Xylene? Xylitol is a sweetener. Xylene is a solvent.


Little update, after a day of drying the paint is still soft. It makes me think this will only work on metal. I'm going to give it a little more time, and see if it will ever harden. Looks like plastidip would be the best choice at this moment. There is also a rust-oleum trim restoration spray, I may check that out as well.

I don't know what your experience is with spray paints, but I won't use them anymore. It doesn't matter how well you prep or how careful you are, the stuff always ends up flaking off. The only paint that has not done that for me was a can of epoxy paint I used a million years ago to paint some sunglass frames. They had good lenses and I got them for free, but the frames had a pastel floral design. That paint was insanely tough. The frames were a softy, flexy plastic. The paint developed hair line cracks from the constant flexing, but it never came off.

[2ndGenGuy]

I love that textured look!

[King Peetis]

Just making sure I'm reading this right. Is it Xylitol or Xylene? Xylitol is a sweetener. Xylene is a solvent.

I just thought maybe you wanted your car to look SWEET! Wah Waaaaaaa :facepalm: Ok let me try that again.., My dumb ass was referring to Xylol which is 'YES' a name brand solvent made from Xylene.

I was hoping that the Rustoleum would work out for you because I never had luck with undercoating, that's why I switched to plastidip. The stuff never dried for me either.

[gp02a0083]

I used the same undercoat for my gold hatch, pained the rocker panel with it. you have to spray this stuff in very light coats waiting about 20 min in between coats. I learned the hard way when i re-did my olds 442 trunk with this stuff. It didn't fully cure for weeks

[Legend_master]

I just thought maybe you wanted your car to look SWEET! Wah Waaaaaaa :facepalm: Ok let me try that again.., My dumb ass was referring to Xylol which is 'YES' a name brand solvent made from Xylene.

I was hoping that the Rustoleum would work out for you because I never had luck with undercoating, that's why I switched to plastidip. The stuff never dried for me either.

I'm going to try plastidip next, I've heard really nice reviews about it.


I used the same undercoat for my gold hatch, pained the rocker panel with it. you have to spray this stuff in very light coats waiting about 20 min in between coats. I learned the hard way when i re-did my olds 442 trunk with this stuff. It didn't fully cure for weeks

Well that would be my mistake the, I did about 3 coast in 30 minutes lol. I'm just gonna let this sit for awhile, and see if it ever dries.

[gp02a0083]

I'm going to try plastidip next, I've heard really nice reviews about it.



Well that would be my mistake the, I did about 3 coast in 30 minutes lol. I'm just gonna let this sit for awhile, and see if it ever dries.

oh it will dry , but you better off grabbing a case of beer waiting for it to dry lol. If its already tacky id say let it sit in your house for a week if its really cold outside. The texture it gave to the trim looks almost like a powder coat. Ive also used on all of my 3rd gens ive had is SEM bumper coat and trim coat. A few light coats and very little sanding can almost make the parts look OEM. The only trim part i cant figure out how to restore is the lower 1/4 window molding on the hatchback. The end of the trim is like a gasket

[2ndGenGuy]

Could you put a little space heater near it and try to dry it out a little quicker by warming it up?

[Legend_master]

Little update, after all these weeks ITS STILL NOT DRY. I would recommend against using this paint on plastic. Part of it might be that its colder here, but I'm leaning away from that.

[King Peetis]

Little update, after all these weeks ITS STILL NOT DRY. I would recommend against using this paint on plastic. Part of it might be that its colder here, but I'm leaning away from that.

I painted PVC with it and it never dried either! I wiped it off and started over...

[Dr_Snooz]

I wonder how wet-sanding would work for removing all the oxidation on these trim pieces.

[Legend_master]

I wonder how wet-sanding would work for removing all the oxidation on these trim pieces.

Or what about the heat gun method?

[derolph]

I purchased some Rust-Oleum rubberized spray paint from autozone.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v667/Legend_Master/5912B164-AB18-4BFC-B29A-EA542091A89D-9073-000004880D28CEB0.jpg

Umm, this product is not "paint"; it is undercoating, the coating used on cars underneath, not on outer surfaces. If I wanted some texture on trim, I think I would apply a thick paint with a roller.

[Legend_master]

Well the underneath is still and outer surface. Problem is that it is designed for metal, not plastic/rubber.

[Dr_Snooz]

Or what about the heat gun method?

I've considered it, but I don't really want to find out what might happen to my Maaco paint job if I go after it with a heat gun. It's pretty soft. I don't think they added enough hardener when they painted it. I can control a piece of sandpaper much better than a heat gun.

[AccordB20A]

cars look so much beter when the side trims are new looking. damn your trims dont even have chrome on them.

[dieselgus]

Find yourself a dealer for SEM automotive paint. The key for good adhesion is always in the prep. Clean it with a good prep solvent (gunwash, xylene, toulene, etc), scuff with 320 grit, clean it again. Then a couple good coats of a proper plastic adhesion promoter. Let the promoter flash off properly. Then paint with light coats of a product called trim black. It is an awesome flexible satin black paint that is, you guessed it, made for trim.

Rubberized undercoat products don't really dry, but they do become less tacky once a bunch of road dust sticks to it.