I see that some of you have the exterior door trim (the door ding trim or something like that?) painted the same body color as the rest of the car. I think I'm interested in doing this as right now my trim is black.

What do you guys think? Would I go about doing this with an automotive primer/base/clear coat? Or is a specific way of going about this.

Thanks!

 

You're talking about the black moulding down the side of the car? In later years cars came from the factory with thicker body-colored moulding.

 

Ahh didn't know that, thanks for informing me

So maybe I should just leave it the way it is? It seems that lately I have been coming up with things to change just for the sake of changing them.

 

Yours is the first time I've seen the trim NOT body color. Definitely paint it body color.

 

yea, base base birds had it, i've had one only reason i can relate, my 87 looked just like that. Kudos on the trans am hood on that bird, i've never seen it on a plain body like that, it looks really good and i like the color of the car, looks like the front bumper got a shot of color with the hood, but it looks great!!! I agree with stephen, shoot some color, you should be able to get away with primer/paint/clear. Just make sure to use some really good cleaner made for prepping areas so that it adheres, and i would suggest before you use the primer to use some adhesion promoter. Just my

 

i removed my trim on my camaro so i cant paint it. im not to sure if i want to add them back on or not.
man do they leave a mess when you take them off haha
i found some rust under one of them so im in the process of fixing that up.

 

Yeah. If the body paint is good, you can pull those of, clean up the adhesive, and not even need to repaint the doors.

I did it to my black 97 Tahoe. When I was done, there was no hint the trim was ever never there. No paint damage, no dull stripe. Just like it had never even been there.

 

thanks for the opinions guys, i definitely appreciate it!

Do you think something like a dish washer soap would be alright to use on the trim? If it's good enough to degrease a dirty pan, I believe it should be alright, but someone correct me if I'm wrong?

I might also scuff up the trim a bit with some 400 or 600 grit sandpaper to try and get some good adhesion.

As for the trans am hood, I absolutely love it over the base hood, we bought the car like that, so I suppose kudos to the previous owner ha. I would never go back to the base hood though, I love the trans am hood.

Apparently the front bumper and hood were sprayed at a different time than the rest of the car, which explains the different shades of gold, more noticeable on the bumper. The bumper needs to be resprayed anyways, there only seems to be a coat or two of clear on it.

 

It would be a good washer, but I'd get something stronger, like a thinner, to THOROUGHLY degrease it be fore painting.

Any dish soap film, would prevent paint adhesion, and encourage the paint to peel.

No interest in just deleting the strip completely? I didn't keep it on my other cars, and haven't repainted my GTA yet.

 

I've thought about deleting it, but I really like how it accents that body line along the entire side of the car. I just think the black breaks it up too much and would rather have it blend a little more being the same color as the body.

How tough would it be spraying something small like the trim in 30-40 degree weather? Winter sucks.

 

If you don't have a heat gun beg/borrow/steal your girlfriend/wife/sister/neighbors hairdryer, and preheat the strip before painting. Not TOO hot, but certainly warming it up will help.

 

you think he should do one strip at a time with say the same paint can so that he can keep each strip heated?

 

That's a pretty good tip to use, thanks! There's plenty of hair driers around the house so I'll just nab one and use it.

Should I apply some heat between coats also?

 

Absolutely. Prep both sides, mask both sides off, but heat & paint one at a time.

 

cool, sounds like a plan!

I might need to hold off a few days though as the weather is gonna get nasty I believe, and I wouldn't want snow/sleet/rain/ice ruining the paint if it got wet while it was still drying. How long would drying time be in cold weather?

thanks for all the tips/advice/information guys, I really appreciate it!

I def need to take some new pics, I've had new BFG Radial T/A's in 235/60 (old tires are 215/65) put on since the last pics I took.

I'll prob start up a new thread with a bunch of new pics in the upcoming week

 

Heat between coats would be good, but the "wind force" from ahair dryer wouldn't. It might cause "ripples"/sagging, in the paint. I'd be hesitant to use a windy heat source.

 

Yea, I figure I would use the lowest setting and just heat the trim for afar to prevent drips and wrinkles.

Or just heat it up enough to keep it warm as 84redta said, completely missed that

 

yea you may want to keep it maybe a foot and a half away or more so that you don't get any heat affecting it negatively and so that the wind isn't hurting it either

what would be great is if you have one of those heating dishes, it's like a space heater but it lights up like a toaster, and the dish directs the heat.

 

I would warm the pieces up inside before painting them. In fact, I paint some small stuff on some cardboard in the basement. Or maybe a friend with a heated garage?

 

If that moulding is anything like what my old 84 camaro had, paint won't last on it vwry long.
My 84 had a retainer rail riveted to the door/fender/¼. The moulding was a strip of rubber slid into the retainer and the had angled caps to cover the ends. The rubber expanding and contracting made the paint crack in a very short time. The paint started flaking off shortly after that.
Of course, your results may vary.

 

not sure, but i got an '84 berlinetta and i don't remember seeing any railing rivited to my car, but then again my car has been re-painted and probably owned by 4 or 5 people before me, so i'm not sure if mine is original, but i have yet to see that tiny body side molding strip on pre-87 cars painted. I don't know if they had them painted until '88 with the thicker strip. But it's worth a try, maybe he should just try one strip at first. I don't know, it sounds like stephen has done it to his before.

 

I can not say it was the original moulding on my 84 either as it had been repainted as well.
I assumed it was due to a friends neighbour having an all original, 54k mi, '83 berly with similar moulding,
I'm not saying stephen is wrong at all. I was just adding a word of caution if the moulding isn't one solid piece double-taped to the body like the painted style on later years.
The attached image is the best picture I could find of my old p.o.s. moulding..

 

That's the same moulding that was on my 92 and my wife's 90. Both cars had the moulding removed at paint time though.

Most of what I did was aluminum, with only small amounts of urethane or flexible material. And a little steel.

A flex agent isn't a bad idea, for when it contracts & expands with hot & cold weather.

 

hey poppn me and you have the exact same front clip and everything personally i wouldnt paint the trim i think it gives the car character anyway why be like everybody else, and your Bird looks really good anyway