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Re: Worth repainting? How to clean/paint body trim? Posted by bryan [Email]  (#542)  [Profile/Gallery]
(more from bryan) on Mon, 27 Aug 2001 01:20:07
In Reply to: Worth repainting? How to clean/paint body trim?, Scott, Mon, 27 Aug 2001 00:19:48 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
Depending on what your budget is, here are some things you can to do address some of the cosmetic issues on your car. Paint and cosmetics are a matter of how anal retentive you are vs. how thick your wallet is.
Cutting to the chase, if you want a good quality basecoat/clearcoat refinish that will approximate the quality of your OEM paint, you're looking at around a two thousand dollar bill. If that doesn't make you flinch, then I say go for it. Pay much less than that and you're probably be going to be paying the price in crummy bodywork and/or cutting corners, and ultimately really hurting the value and appearance of your car.
Hard to tell from the pics, but it doesn't look like the clear is burned or worn thru, so try using a pretty aggressive cleaner/rubbing compound on it, then using a polish, and then a good wax over that. DRX-10 from wPPG ould help too, but be careful, it's a pretty aggressive pro quality finishing compound that will take out a lot of imperfections, but a lot of paint too. Meguiar's or Mothers or Eagle 1 are pretty good brands you can find just about anywhere.
Regarding your faded bumpers, they are not painted, so the fading is in the material. You can take off a lot of oxidation by scrubbing be beejeezus out of them with a stiff brush and some water. Unless you have them painted, the only way to really keep them looking decent is with some of dressing like Back to Black (Mother's, I like the way it makes stuff look but it doesn't last very long). I usually will use that Turtlewax protectant that comes in that obnoxious green bottle, not super great but it's ok for the little bit i use it. They can be painted as well (ching ching)
I've only seen (and want) the 'appearance package' tail on your car, so i can guess on how to get it apart. BUT, assuming you can disassemble it (it comes off the car, it was an option) good ol' Colgate toothpaste works pretty darn well as a plastic polish. :) It's mildly abrasive polishing action that keeps your toofers white also is a perfect cutting compound for clear plastic. (use it on your instrument panel cover if it's looking scratched up too). Also Eagle 1 sells a plastic polish and i'm sure other chemical appearmance companies do as well.
Any reputable body shop can mix and match the paint, all paint manufacturers have the correct color formulas on file and usually will have chips from of the color as well. Be more concerned with who the paint manufacturer is. Of the brands I've used or had work experience with in the past, look for for PPG or DuPont. I've heard Sherwin Williams has made a lot of strides in auto paint over the last ten years, but no direct experience with them.
posted by 209.245....
, Tue, 28 Aug 2001 10:04:34, Mon, 27 Aug 2001 01:20:07 <-- Viewing This Message
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