Has anybody repainted their windshield trim? What did you do to prep it and get it to stick? Being stainless its a bit different than regular paintwork, and not sure what to do???? Thinking scuff it and hit it with epoxy primer?????

 

Sharpie

 

Yeah, that would look real good, and last about 1 day....

 

Self etching primer is what it takes and what I used. You can get it in a spray bomb. Use a light coat rather than a heavy one and sand lightly. After the paint I clear coated it to help it be more durable.

 

3 years ago I sanded mine with rough paper. Lightly painted them with standard flat black followed by a few coats of satin clear. It's still on there, but there's a few rock chips. I might have to try the self etching primer. I guess $5 was a good investment for 3 years.

 

Thats what I am thinking and what I am gonna do, except i wont be spraybombing, will use true mixed epoxy primer, which will do the same as etch biting in...thanks for the second opinion on what I was thinking,....

 

there is also a paint adhesive by Bulldog

 

I used flat black from a rattle can to do mine. I would be ashamed, but after 3 coats it turned out pretty well and has held up to the Oklahoma sun.

 

powdercoated mine 5 yrs ago. Still looks new....

You'll need to pull the trim to paint (well, you "should" anyway) - beware a lot of little corner plastic and rubber joint pieces that you don't want to lose!! NLA!
You will need to buy a "clip kit" since all/most the clips break when pulling the trim (as they are supposed to...) $12-20 on either ebay or local glass shop should be able to get them. Note 79-83 diff kit than 84-5. Would invest the $10 in a nylon trim-popping tool (looks like a plastic pry bar) so you don't damage trim during removal. TAKE PHOTOS - it only re-assembles ONE WAY.

I am making this sound harder than it actually is...

Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

 

Agreed with Stu. Powdercoating is the only way to go!

 

Have to disagree regarding 'powdercoating is the only way to go'... It's a way to go, and undeniably will get good results, but there are alternatives.

I've had superior results by sanding/steel-wool stripping to bare metal, then using an etching primer & wet-sanding that for a couple layers, and then using DupliColor Trim Paint.

First application lasted about 6 years before accumulated rock hits made me want to re-do them. Re-application was done with parts on the car & careful masking, and just minor sanding prior to application.

Looks spectacular. People looking at it in full sun have refused to believe that it's an afternoon's rattle-can resto work. That particular paint is PFM in my book.

& the advantage of not having to remove the trim, and thus forgoing broken clips, is hard to deny.

Used it to do my side mirrors and the rear hatch hinges and trim strip as well. They look brand new.

 

DD, is there a code for that duplicolor trim paint? I need to do this as mine are getting
shiny and worn.

Ray Green did this and wrote it up somewhere, I'll dig and find it if I can. His looks
pretty good too. He covers it in this thread. I think he used Rustoleum.

https://www.rx7club.com/1st-gen-general-discussion-207/silver-one-gets-her-nails-done-961151/

 

probably this: http://www.duplicolor.com/products/trimPaint/

 

That's the stuff... Dries fast, too. A few days baking in the sun and it gets very, very tough.

 

what works for me is to use sanddown the metal with 200 grit to make it rough, then "prime" with barbeque grill primer, let it dry for a day, go up to 240 grit and then prime again. 2 coats of bumper paint or Low Gloss "high temp" engine paint so it will blend with the side and bumper moldings. kinda a long process but you need to let the paint settle before you sand it down or second coat. Lastly, if you want a good and quality paint, buy it from a auto body shop supplier, not autozone or pepboys (I dont use that **** when it comes to interior panels and such).

Bulldog is a little pricy but good also, I use it alot when it comes to painting old school RX rear tailight panels.

 

I bought my car new and I'm thinking the trim came more of a dark gray with a little metal flake, rather than flat black.

Is my rememberer screwed up again?

 

Good news. Your not that far gone.....yet. 79's did have a metallic grey trim color on the windows and door handles. The mirrors were also a close matching grey plastic (not painted). Thats the way mine came off the lot. In 80 it was more blackish.

 

I bow to DD's technique. I tend to be the remove-it-and-let-a-pro-do-it kinda guy. DD is the DIY King.

I will pass this along: I _did_ re-do my black upper door frame paint and used:
-Klean-Strip Bulldog Adhesion Promoter (referred to above by others), then
-Morton 230-23 Gloss Black (which oddly actually gives a SATIN finish)
These are just rattle cans, but have to say the finish came off as factory IMHO.
I bought both these at a jobber store that catered to the Auto Body biz so these may not be avai at Pep-Boys...
This was 3 yrs ago and they still look absolutely new. Now, bear in mind the door frames are not exactly in the air stream like front moldings are...


Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

I'm all for removal & refinish, Stu, and I expect that powder coat might stand up to rock hits better - - SoCal freeways are notoriously sand-covered due to rare rain, and seems like one heck of a lot of gravel trucks out there.

I just wanted to point out a good alternative for those of us who are too lazy to pull it all off... or as is my case where some of the skinnier trim was bonded down during the last windshield replacement by a jamoke glass installer.

 

Hey guys, awesome thread as everybody's trim is probably getting to that shiny point. Quick question though, DD you posted "Used it to do my side mirrors and the rear hatch hinges and trim strip as well. They look brand new." Did you do the same process you listed for the trim??? I am assuming so, but I want to ask so that I can do this during one of my lazy afternoons next summer

 

Pretty much; with the hatch trim strip, the big trick is to make sure your masking doesn't cover the edge. Otherwise, it's "sand, prime, paint," just like the rest.

The mirrors are tricky only in that the original paint seems to be incompatible, or at least it was on mine, and the trim paint will lift any exposed edges of it. You need to take them down to base material first, then prime-sand-paint to get a really smooth result.

I used the opportunity to clean up the casting ridges on the pedestal parts, too. Mine have no mold lines, now.

 

Awesome DD, thanks! I will be doing this sometime this summer now

 

Hey DD, I'm to lazy to re-do mine can i bring my FB over and you do it for me?

Very informative thread guys, thanks for all the input!

-Bern

 

Tape it off and use Plasti-dip, looks good and if you dont like it just peel it off and start over!