How to remove bumper trim?

[Timp]

I can't seem to find a good write-up on this, or that matter a description. I'm repainting my weathered plastic trim on my car. I'd prefer to take it off completely and sand and spray with the duplicolor trim paint, unless someone can convince me to just mask it. I'd prefer to take it off because I'm less prone to mistakes at that point...



Any ideas?

[poopin04]

You got me, I've been trying to figure it out myself along with removing the left side bolt for the rear bumper.

[klavender1]

If you start removing the trim in the trunk, you'll see the nuts you have to remove. The side trim, you'll see nuts on the sides (inside the trunk).

[klavender1]

BTW, when you sand, try to sand it smooth. And get rid of that "corrosion" look. Don't just sand it enough to hold paint. Because it won't look that much better than before. Ask me how I know.

[Timp]

Ok, what if I wetstanded with 200, then 400, you think that'd be good? that's what I did on my mirrors and I ended up getting a great finish.

[Van Westervelt]

Depending on how bad it is, you might want to go a little more aggressive than 200 so smooth it out. And yes, most of the nuts holding that shroud on are in the trunk itself.

[Timp]

Well, I got it off, but at a price...



Three bolts on the bumper trim are stripped completely clean... It will still go on the car but it will only have support on the two ends + a normal bolt on the passenger side.

This is what it should look like:



This is what happened:



Not cool. What should I do about that?

[poopin04]

where were those bolted to?

[Timp]

Just as they said - inside the trunk. You just take off your brake bulb housing fixtures, shift the fuzzy liner up and out and here you go:



It was incredibly easy. But when you're loosening those nuts on the inside be sure to put your hand under the bumper, and pull as hard as you can where the bolts are on the trim or else you might end up with the same problem as me.

I'm thinking I'll just cut those stripped bolts off, drill a hole an 8mm hex bolt could fit through and call it good. Any other ideas?

[klavender1]

Let me know what you ended of sanding it with to get it smooth. I ended up putting mine back on without doing that.

[Timp]

Yeah I will. I'm thinking I'll put on a high build primer as well, seeing as how some of the edges on this have become almost porous with tiny holes. Then I'll spray with the duplicolor trim paint.

How did yours turn out overall? Have any pictures?

[klavender1]

I'll get pics up. But it looked only slightly better than before I painted it. It was too much work for me not to do it right the first time. Especially since half of that time was spent trying to figure out how to remove it. Haha. And it was really hot that day. Yours looks like you would be better off than mine since yours has that "corroded" look over the whole piece. Mine had lots of high and low spots and you can definitely still see that. And I didn't really plan the project out. So I just used the sandpaper I had laying around. I think it was around 800? Basically just enough to make the paint stick.

[Tha Driver]

Buy some speed nuts to put it back on. They'll cut their own threads on the stripped bolts.
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

[Timp]

BTW, when you sand, try to sand it smooth. And get rid of that "corrosion" look. Don't just sand it enough to hold paint. Because it won't look that much better than before. Ask me how I know.

I ended up making your mistake. I really thought I had sanded it down enough... I'll update with pics later, but basically my prep was not good. I don't even think sanding could fix this sort of thing though. The plastic has taken on a rough texture with porous edges. It's pitted. My driver side trim piece looked great though! The duplicolor really made it nice again, but the middle and passenger side pieces just look darker and a little more glossy. It's presentable, but I'll need to start over again later.

Any ideas on how to bring back the plastic? Could sanding really bring it back? I went at it like crazy with 200 grit for quite some time. I couldn't find a high build primer that would work for plastic anywhere, so I just went ahead with the duplicolor. What has everyone done to replenish their weathered plastic here?

[KVF]

Not sure if it will work on plastic the same way, but wiping the rubber trim with acetone after sanding kind of melts the rubber smooth, making it like new. Try it on a small portion of the plastic trim to test maybe...