So my windshield trim and the black piece above the drivers side and passenger side window has paint chipping away. I'm thinking about sanding these pieces down and painting them black again. Anybody ever do this and have experience on the best paint/ clearcoat? I'm not really into automotive painting and what to use. Need some tips from you guys.

 

just clean really well, mask it off and paint with a semi gloss spray paint.

 

Would 400 grit sand paper do the trick?

 

Sand it down with at least 200 grit, 400 should be fine. Mask it off. Hit it with an etching primer
because that stainless doesn't like to take paint. Then paint your favorite black. I painted mine
with the gloss black hitemp engine paint. My reasoning is it will survive the heat from the sun
better and if it fades (we know it will) it will be a nice semigloss black over time.

The original color for most 1st gens is a semigloss black. Early 79 were a semigloss grey.

 

Thanks I appreciate it a lot!

 

Related question:
How do you remove all the metal trim? Including the side "rain gutters"... Do they just pop off or special tool?
Thanks

 

Special body trim removal tools and experience. I've heard of folks bending or ruining them, even
using the right tools because of lack of experience working with the way the trim is fastened.

 

I'm leaving mine on that sounds like a big mess to do that lol

 

I'm about to repaint all the trim around the doors, windshield and the hinges on the hatchback myself.. I've done it before on another RX I had. That one turned out really good and lasted the four years I had it after that without a flaw.

I used a compressor to blow all the years of dirt and leaves out of the little places first.. wet sanded with 1000 grit.. used a lint free cloth with rubbing alcohol to get any oils off.. used Krylon primer first.. light sand with 2000 grit and hit it with high temp Krylon flat black. Took some time, but I didn't want to have to do it again a year later.

 

Forget the paint and go get them powdercoated. Get them done in satin black/semi gloss to match the original look. Will last longer than any spray paint and so much more durable.

 

This is on my to do list, might do my windshield trimming this evening. It's dull & has a bunch of chipped pieces as well... Thx for the info

 

Did you remove the rain gutters as well? How hard was that? I've heard horror
stories where people have ruined the trim doing that.

I agree the powder coating is the way to go. Maybe next time.

 

the rain gutters go over a piece of roof that is already there, and getting them off is easy, you just pull, or twist down. however getting them back on is the hard part, it takes a lot of force, and its easy to dent them.

 

I did the rain gutters with the windshield trim. I had no issues. My clips were still in good shape so I reused them.

It was a little tougher to get them back on cause of the powdercoating on the inside. I just used my palm and firmly pressed them back on like j9fd3s stated. Mine never dented. Still look great!

 

Does anyone know where to get new clips? I hear the are easy to break

 

Mazda. Where I got mine couple years ago.

 

I'm afraid to remove the metal trim for fear of tearing all the plastic that is embedded behind the metal. How hard ro find are new metal pieces. Anybody sell them?

 

Oh sweet. Do you remember how much they cost at all? Haha