Painting door and bumper trim?

[Jand3rson]

Can I use SEM Trim Paint to repaint all my bumper and door trim peices? Some of it is a little faded, like the center impact strip of my rear bumper is a little lighter than the rest.

What will I have to do to prep it before I paint it?

[nando]

is your door trim just oxidized? you could try rubbing compound on it first to see if that will take it out. I actually use cleaner wax to keep mine nice, as long as you don't do it in the sun or let the wax dry on it works great.

as far as the bumper trim, SEM should work fine. it works best on plastic peices, I did the rear plate filler on my car a year and a half ago and it's still like new. just clean them and make sure there aren't any holes or deep scratches. I'd do all of them or none, if you only do one it will stand out.

[Jand3rson]

Yeah, I plan on doing all the bumper trim, not just one part.

I think maybe some of the door trim on what's left of my parts car may be a little darker, maybe I will just swap it over. :D

[///Mtechnik88]

Yeah, I plan on doing all the bumper trim, not just one part.

I think maybe some of the door trim on what's left of my parts car may be a little darker, maybe I will just swap it over. :D

I repainted mine about 1.5 years ago and it still looks very nice. I did the bumpers and black plastic moldings. I used a semi-gloss bumper trim paint w/ flex agent from Pep Boys. Here is a pic of the work I was doing back then...

[Jand3rson]

I have plastic bumpers, so I can just take the trim off easily and do it that way.

I plan to just sand it a little bit, primer, then paint with SEM Trim Paint.

[e304lyfe]

I have plastic bumpers, so I can just take the trim off easily and do it that way.

I plan to just sand it a little bit, primer, then paint with SEM Trim Paint.

i'd suggest just masking off the bumper trim. it is easy enough to get masking tape slightly underneath so as to not get overspray and completely cover the surface.

often times the tabs on the trim break off....

also, don't use primer. SEM should adhere well to plastic. if you use primer, then when you get any rock chips, it will show through.. it also has a tendency to crack the paint when the plastic expands and contracts. (probably dependent to the type of primer you use... so choose carefully if you do decide to use primer)

[bmwsmurf]

Where can I buy SEM in the NE???

THanks.

[spencers]

Yeah, I plan on doing all the bumper trim, not just one part.

I think maybe some of the door trim on what's left of my parts car may be a little darker, maybe I will just swap it over. :D

I repainted mine about 1.5 years ago and it still looks very nice. I did the bumpers and black plastic moldings. I used a semi-gloss bumper trim paint w/ flex agent from Pep Boys. Here is a pic of the work I was doing back then...

Wow, Interesting stuff! I may have to try that. My mouldings are kinda grey.

[royalflush313]

I agree about keeping the trim on and just masking it.
When I took mine off to replace them with Euro trims, I broke off quite a few tabs.

I have plastic bumpers, so I can just take the trim off easily and do it that way.

I plan to just sand it a little bit, primer, then paint with SEM Trim Paint.

i'd suggest just masking off the bumper trim. it is easy enough to get masking tape slightly underneath so as to not get overspray and completely cover the surface.

often times the tabs on the trim break off....

also, don't use primer. SEM should adhere well to plastic. if you use primer, then when you get any rock chips, it will show through.. it also has a tendency to crack the paint when the plastic expands and contracts. (probably dependent to the type of primer you use... so choose carefully if you do decide to use primer)