The guy that painted my car did an unbelievable job. Everyone asks me who did it. They also notice, “Hey, he didn’t paint the lock cylinders?

I looked back at pictures he sent me from the paint booth and he did take everything apart and he had those locks out... After having my car for almost a year I was putting pressure on him to get it back and it’s one of those little details that was missed...

I took the doors apart and got it done... Wasn’t looking forward to this at all, but trying to make little improvements for show season... I was glad to see the condition of the doors and I’ve never owned a Thirdgen where the door sills weren’t cracked and they were still riveted to the door panels... I made an attempt to deaden the squeaks on the passeger door too... we shall see!

I used SEM Trim Black Satin Finish 49143. Matched the door handles perfectly! I’m very happy with it! Not to flat, not too glossy...

Started the project Saturday and finished Wednesday... after the first time I sprayed them I had a fisheye on one and the other was splotchy... Sanded back all the way down with 1000grit and cleaned them up better... I did thinner coats and 10 min in between. The 3-5 minute flash time didn’t seem to work for me. Took 4 coats... You can still see scratches underneath from old key marks, but it’s a lot better!

The guy at the parts store I got the paint from said he used to work for a Chevy dealer and they had tons of GM caps and door handles... He called to see if I could just get a brand new cap to press on the lock and he said they threw all the door handles and locks away! That’s unbelievable!

 

Nice job!
I used to have a stash of new caps, I'll have to look and see if I can find them for my car now... LOL!

 

The original caps are crimped all the way around the lock cylinders. The replacements have retaining tabs that are bent around in a few spots. Personally, I prefer getting new door locks and having a locksmith key the rest of the locks to match, or just repaint the caps.

 

Nice job. I ended up just buying new locks and handles when I had my 82 painted. On the armrest mount, I've always assumed the plant guys just walked out back behind the plant to find the rustiest pieces of metal they could find to stamp those out of.

 

Seriously I can’t believe the dealers would just throw out parts...

You’d think someone would sell them online or offer them to somebody next time they do a “cars and coffee” at the dealership...

 

Yeah, the guy was telling me they could take off the cap and the spring-loaded part and replace them back in the day so the lock would be the same... He said you can pry off the cap with a screwdriver and press the new one on...

I wanted to keep my original keys at least since they are the ones that came with the car... I didn’t want to deal with a locksmith and have to deal with my trunk lock cylinder too.

I remember my parents had a 1984 Cutlass and ended up with two different door lock keys for some reason when they had to get a driver side lock cylinder fixed.

I’m happy with the SEM satin... I was worried about it matching the door handles but it really matches great!

It was a weird shaped part to paint, but I got it on the second try...

 

Great job. We literally just did the same thing last night.

We taped around the lock and bought a flat black paint marker and painted it by hand(well, my GF did)


Looks 100 times better

 

I was almost going to try that first, but I decided to torture myself and take everything apart... Ha ha!

I wanted to do some sound deadening too, so it was two birds with one stone...

What marker did you use?

 

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/...485/11443516-P

 

I’d say it looks great! And did you have your snowblower out running all the gas out as well? 😂

 

That looks really cool! Could’ve saved a lot of time!

 

The snowblower goes in front of the IROC in winter and behind in the summer... to get the IROC out for now I have to push the blower out....

I haven’t given up that we’ll get one more storm in March... anything can happen!

 

I used the same paint on the Trans Am door handles and lock cylinders when I painted the car last fall. I had to paint them with several light coats. I masked off the center part of the lock cylinder.

I need to paint them on my IROC, too, but I've been dragging my feet at getting it done because I am scared to take my door panel apart..... I dont want to break or crack anything lol. I don't like to be the guy to take something fragile apart for the first time in 30 years hehe

 

Its actually not that bad once you figure it out... It’s easier on a car where the whole panel is still riveted and there’s no cracks...

carefully pop the retainers around the bottom and sides with a putty knife at first, but then you can feel them and hold them while popping them to release the door panel.. The sill comes loose easily by the door handle, but gets stuck by the mirror... just slide it away from the mirror and the whole thing comes off...

The handle/lock trim is easy and the armrest is no big deal...

Not sure how the Firebird was, but I’m assuming your IROC would come apart nicely like mine did... Slow and steady!

 

Dealers throw out stuff all the time. Once it gets old and goes Discontinued, dealers get a list of stuff every quarter that they can pitch and get a credit for. At least we did back in the '90s. I remember throwing away engine gaskets for Vegas and Monza stuff that wasn't worth a dime if you kept it and waited for a swap meet..

 

You are right that it is not that bad taking the door panel off. After doing each door twice from my own cheapness (I bought cheap handles the first time) and having to repair some broken tabs on the upper plastic piece while changing my inner window sweeps I just did not have it in me to remove them again to paint the cylinder locks. Of course should have done it while I had the door apart but just slipped my mind. I did not want to tape and spray. What you see is just vinyl. I wrapped them. I did it in 2 pieces, the outer ring and the front face, so I did not have to trim on the car, just had to cut the key slot.


The Handles are painted with regular Rustoleum Sunrise Red from a can, once you learn the trick to lay it down you truly get a "professional" finish just as the can states.

 

do you have any pictures of the lock cylinder using this? How is it still holding up?