I am in the process of restoring an 86 RX7 GXL. Anyway, just bought a new (used) drivers door for it and I am in the process of stripping it down to the bare metal and re-painting it to match the original color. My question is....at the bottom part of the door there is a strip of textured like paint which appears to be protective in nature. Is that painted on or is it applied over the paint and what do I do to replace it so it matches the rest of the car? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

if the paint on the new door is in good condition DONT strip it off

sand it and spray the new color

the texture on the bottom of the door should already match the chip guard on the car now, its a sprayed on product that comes in spray cans

you can just scuff the chip guard if you dont strip the paint off the door and respray color only and it should be close enough to the rest of the car.