Re-finishing painted black plastic trim

[efiste2]

2014 Focus roof trim is loosing its, Im assuming paint finish, probably to various factors inc cleaning chemicals and jetwashing. As I say im assuming its a painted plastic trim. What would be the best D.I.Y (rattle can)way to refinish it so to speak.
Obviousley its all in the prep, so whats a good medium/method to, not flat it smooth but, remove the flaking or peeling paint finish etc.
And would it require a plastic primer, the plastic paint and then a protecive laquer.

Attachment Deleted

Thanks for any advice

[Rhubarb]

Personally I'd source a new one, and I'm all for make do and mend..

[chippie]

If you are thinking of replacing with new, then obviously it needs removing….

That being the case, if it can be removed without damage, then consider powder coating….much more durable than paint/lacquer etc…


Or just treat it with a gallon of 5 star and a box of swan vestas….🔥🔥🤣

[efiste2]

Thanks for the responses, The trim is actually easily removed via spring clips, probably to fit some roof bars or something,I did intend removing them to repaint them

I havent actually got any prices on new ones yet,no doubt I will have to remortgage the house to buy them from Ford ;-)

[upkeep]

Hot air gun seen that used on plastics before but only on grey brought it back like new.

[Noberator]

Dec 20, 2021 20:01:32 GMT 1 efiste2 said:

Thanks for the responses, The trim is actually easily removed via spring clips, probably to fit some roof bars or something,I did intend removing them to repaint them

I havent actually got any prices on new ones yet,no doubt I will have to remortgage the house to buy them from Ford ;-)

youtube is your friend.

[efiste2]

So I've removed the trims, flatted down with various grades of wet n dry, filler primed, flatted again and painted with a good few coats of Halfords Black Gloss enamel paint,with a fine grade sanding in between coats. with hindsight I dont know why I bought enamel,probably should have used colour coat and a laquer.

Anyway im quite pleased with the finish considering my painting skills. So with the top coat being a gloss enamel.... I did intend to apply a few coats of Halfords clear laquer (compatible with enamel paint), but as the gloss finish looks fine, do I need to?

Obviously the clear coat would enhance the protection of the paint, but I did try a test piece and the clear coat seemed to lessen the gloss effect.

The other trim i need to paint is a bit more involved and requires some detailed (for me) masking, Im hoping to change the silver colour to the bodycolour of red. Masking (for me) will be a challenge, any hints and top tips on which tape would be best, and acheive a good finish, and clean edges where the colour changes.

Attachment Deleted

[oli]

May 6, 2022 22:25:07 GMT 1 efiste2 said:

So I've removed the trims, flatted down with various grades of wet n dry, filler primed, flatted again and painted with a good few coats of Halfords Black Gloss enamel paint,with a fine grade sanding in between coats. with hindsight I dont know why I bought enamel,probably should have used colour coat and a laquer.

Anyway im quite pleased with the finish considering my painting skills. So with the top coat being a gloss enamel.... I did intend to apply a few coats of Halfords clear laquer (compatible with enamel paint), but as the gloss finish looks fine, do I need to?

Obviously the clear coat would enhance the protection of the paint, but I did try a test piece and the clear coat seemed to lessen the gloss effect.

The other trim i need to paint is a bit more involved and requires some detailed (for me) masking, Im hoping to change the silver colour to the bodycolour of red. Masking (for me) will be a challenge, any hints and top tips on which tape would be best, and acheive a good finish, and clean edges where the colour changes.

View Attachment

Good work!

For masking, I’ve found frog tape (from DIY shops) works better than traditional masking tape. Both need to be well pushed down to stop paint creeping underneath, especially on textured surfaces.

Humbrol used to make a masking fluid in tiny little bottles called maskol that you brush painted on and it dried to a rubber compound, which blocked paint and could be peeled off. It was really for model making but might be useful for detailed stuff.

Oli