How to: Lower Door Window trim restoration
 

Over time these things wear out due to weather etc. esp with over 10+ years of sun beating on them. Mine look pretty beat to crap/nasty ewwww.
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You have to remove the interior door skin. Remove caps and screws/pull the skin off.
Then roll the windows down so you can access the trim.

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There are a few white clips that hold it on, start from one side and gently rock em back and forth while pulling upward, but be careful they can break.

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Mine where pretty nasty. Usually the original paint/rubber coating will have cracked and peeled off over time. Remove as much as you can. Use a razor blade to scrap remains etc. Make sure not to damage the rubber seal area. You are just going to paint the metal area and thats it.

I used an abrasive powder cleaner like Ajax, a abrasive sponge to clean them up. Dont have to be perfect but make sure they are clean and free of any debris and smooth. A little bit of surface rust should be ok, as long as its smooth, you will be painting over them.
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Time to prep for paint, mask off the rubber window seal area and only leave the metal part exposed for paint.
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I hit them with Rust-oleum automotive primer and then semi gloss black for an OEM look.

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With them masked up, spray a few layers of primer down onto them, allowing a few minutes to dry in between coast. I did about 3 layers of primer.

Then allow more time for the primer to dry before applying the paint. I threw down about 5 coats of semi gloss black.
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Allow them to dry over night , a few days if possible. This is a project to be done when you wont be needing to drive the car for a while.

When all dry, go ahead and put them back on and everything together. Still waiting for mine to dry before i put them on, I placed them in a safe place so they wont be bothered for a while while the paint cures. But they look awesome.

**Instead of using the paints i used, I know there is a black automotive trim paint they sell at auto stores which might also be good. Applying a clear coat would probably be ideal for these as well since these will be taking a beating out in the sun. I used materials/supplies i already had in my garage so it did not really cost me anything.

** You could also possibly polish these for a chrome-like appearance.

good writeup, just one of those things that makes the car look like crap being easily fixed

Ah good idea.

While doing this should also do your headlight surrounds, and wiper blades.

Added to my list :-)

if only there was something for the chipped windshield trim

ahhhh yah thanks good idea cmanns. I need to do those as well as the wiper shroud.

Yah the windshield trim would be good.. my car came with them off and kinda chipped here and there, never really was excited to put them back on because of that.. Maybe some bodyfiller can take care of that..

the little peices around the windsheild i just broke the rest of thme off and painted the trim itself as well as painted my wipers and wiper shroud. all that plus the headlight surounds repainted will give the car a nice new aperiance.

My trim isn't chipped, just feels like it needs to be sanded and repainted, you can fill it with anything and sand it I'm sure.

(High res, click 2 view)
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Heres some pic (Lost my day time pics, ran out there in the dark to snap you this :), Looks the same as day light) to tempt you to do it :) I used brilliant black paint looks straight sexy, also did the wipers.

I suggest to paint the screws, what you can't notice in the pic is I ran out of paint, or maybe you can not sure which side shows it, next round (When I do the door window trim, I'll re-paint the headlight surrounds)

I always hear to sand after painting, we don't got any sandpaper so I haven't. The wipers haven't peel'd or faded and their in the sun A LOT, they are very shiny black, I always see the wiper arms while driving, they were so faded now its much better to look at.

and heres a cat http://pubdelivery.filesend.it/thumb...c695861468.jpg

Good writeup.

Also, nice website.

+1 for a great writeup

This winter my car is going to get painted, new top and going to replace or make pretty the worn trim

I've never found it necessary to remove the inner door trim to remove these parts.
A small flathead screwdriver levered at the end will pop them right off.

Also, 99% of these not only have bad/flaky paint but also dryrotted/cracked rubber wipers- which is the the whole point of the part- so fixing the paint is only a cosmetic, not functional, fix.

the only thing with "restoring" the trim is it does nothing for the worn out rubber that is against the window.
That rubber keeps the window tight and also keeps the water out of the door.

New trim is very inexpensive and one of those "I should have done that earlier" items once you get new ones.

acura integra window trim mounts up but is long and needs to be trimmed.

I agree with rob and clokker, The whole point of these pieces is that the rubber weatherstripping should be supple and soft and create a seal.

Painting old dry hard ones is just a waste of time.

dont get me wrong, it looks better then old rusty stuff, but nothing like new.

dealer list is like $58 so if you have a dealer discount you can get a pair for under $90. Trust me once you see new ones on the car you will agree how awesome they look.

They're about $80 each now, Mazdatrix sells them for just a hair under dealer prices and they go up every year.

Robs $56 is for the hardtops, mills $80 is for the vert (figures)

I agree, that replacement is the ideal option but hell for just a few bux you can make them look good utill you wanna spend $160 for the set. Which is what i'm doing.

I dont know about you guys but my seals where in great condition so just painting the metal part worked great for me.
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now i gotta figure out what to do regarding my carbon mirrors.. the clear coat is flaking off.. if i paint em black, or remove all the clearcoat and hope they have a dry carbon look lol

Hmm nice idea and good thread *3 Thumbs up*

good write up tek

i also agree with hypertek

if your seals are still good and all you have to do is touch ups, then go for it

but if you are a baller and got the $100 plus to spend on new ones then do it too

excuse the fiberglass dust, btw I measured today and vert moldings are almost 5" longer then my coupe's moldings.

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lol this is one of those things when anyone askes me i tell them to sand em down and paint htem with a rubberiezed paint, yet i am to lazy to do this my self lol

good write up mybe il get off my lazy ass and actually do this to mine one of these days

I did the same around a year ago when I took my car to the painshop. Good write-up btw

this is good for alot of cars lol.. i try to convince my friends to do it, its cheap,.. but they are lazy lol

I did this about two weeks ago. Cheap and effective. Mine was a biotch because most was flaking and some was still stuck to the metal. Nothing my B&D Rotary tool couldn't fix though.

Not something I'd expect a writeup on, but as it happens I'll be replacing my trim soon. Thanks.