Body color trim?

[PowerFocer]

So I hate all the flat black plastic exterior trim crap all over our cars, and am planning on doing something about it. I want some input on what you guys think. Here are the options I am considering:

1. Professional grade (or as close to as I can get in my garage, depending on price) gloss black on all window pillar covers, grilles, door handles, and side view mirror housings.

OR

2. Same as #1, except have some of the items be painted body color (sterling grey). i.e. door handles and maybe front solid grille area.


Also,
How difficult is it to completely remove these items from our vehicle?

I did get the gloss black pillar covers off ebay and had them on for a while, but I dislike how cheap they look up close. (I'm a bit anal with my vehicle)
So then I tore them off and tried my hand at gloss black vinyl on said areas, but it doesn't have that glassy black look that I want.

Also, I vinyl'd the weather stripping at the bottom of the window so that it blended in. Would it be possible to paint these without negative side effects?

Sorry for all the random questions.

Thanks in advance,
PowerFocer

[Justinr666]

if i were you, i would do the pillars gloss black, then handles and mirrors sterling grey. i think that would look slick.

[crice8]

Looks like your in the same situation I was lol But there is a way(= Here is mine when I bought it and then now(= same color as you also so you can actually see the transition.




Now:

[crice8]

For the handles and mirror caps you need to order the primered ones from ford. The quality of painting the ones you have will not be very good at all due to the abs plastic coating. The exterior handles consist of two parts per handle, its the handle and the bezel and you will need both for each handle(8 total pieces).
Ford does not make the handles or mirror caps in any color other than chrome, abs plastic(what you have), and primed and ready to paint.
I paid a local body shop $40 to put them on for me to save me the hassle of getting into the actual door, because it requires more than simply taking off the panel(which I can do easily as I have swapped my speakers several times).

As for painting the grill body color I actually did mine with a rattle can(= I had mixed at the local paint shop and it looks as if I had it professionally done haha. You must sand the chrome down, then prime the grill well, and then paint it with the sterling gray.

It really changes the whole look of the car and I get people checking my car out or saying sweet car all the time now.
If you have any other questions I am happy to help!

[DarderSauce]

Originally Posted by crice8

For the handles and mirror caps you need to order the primered ones from ford. The quality of painting the ones you have will not be very good at all due to the abs plastic coating.

Couldn't you just sand the stock handles, prime (ABS specific), paint (primer specific), clearcoat (paint specific) and polish? Isn't that basically what ordering the primed ones from ford is?

Sure if you use nice paint it would probably be similar (cost wise) to buying the primed ones from Ford but hey, might work.

Crice, where did you buy the primed ones from ford?

I didn't mind that mine looked a bit dull until I saw how nice the gloss black looks.

Originally Posted by crice8

[crice8]

Originally Posted by DarderSauce

Couldn't you just sand the stock handles, prime (ABS specific), paint (primer specific), clearcoat (paint specific) and polish? Isn't that basically what ordering the primed ones from ford is?

Sure if you use nice paint it would probably be similar (cost wise) to buying the primed ones from Ford but hey, might work.

Crice, where did you buy the primed ones from ford?

I didn't mind that mine looked a bit dull until I saw how nice the gloss black looks.

I would not suggest the long process of using the current ones just to "chance" it of turning out well, when you know for a fact that the ones primed from ford will turn out perfect.

I got mine from Tousley Ford Parts from Steve as that is where I get all of my oem parts, best prices around.

Originally Posted by PowerFocer

How much did the primered handles cost you from ford?

The prices for each are as follows at tousleyfordparts.com
Primed mirror cap left $28.77
Primed mirror cap right $30.48
Primed right side door handles $20.86 each
Primed left side door handles $20.86 each
Primed handle bezels left $11.68 each
primed handle bezels right $11.00 each

Like I stated in a previous post, It is pricey to do it the right way but the quality of doing it right shows. If you want a cheaper route then do like I did when mine were gloss black. Order the chrome handle covers on ebay for $30-40 then sand them down and paint them and stick them on over your current handles. You could only tell if you really looked but I wanted to do the whole thing the right way so I took those off and went the way I have explained above.

As keen to detail as you were about your pillar covers, I would suggest doing it the right way even though it is pricier, otherwise you will spend money doing it the cheap way that could have gone towards the right way.

[DarderSauce]

Originally Posted by crice8

The prices for each are as follows at tousleyfordparts.com
Primed mirror cap left $28.77
Primed mirror cap right $30.48
Primed right side door handles $20.86 each
Primed left side door handles $20.86 each
Primed handle bezels left $11.68 each
primed handle bezels right $11.00 each

Damn, that is expensive! It would be $128.80 to do the handles

I am pretty skilled when it comes to painting and I think I could do a good job with the stock handles but I think I am going to leave them as is for now.

Thanks for the insight tho.

[crice8]

And noone would know it but that sterling gray on my wheels is plastidip(= Shhhhh

[crice8]

Oh and I forgot, I had my handles gloss black at one point if you want to see what that looks like also:

[Bogey]

Looks nice man! :-)