Painting exterior chrome parts

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nader

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Jul 28, 2010
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296
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The car goes into the body shop this week to fix a scratch on the rear bumper so I thought this would be an opportune time to paint some other parts. I started by pulling the door handles and having them gently media blasted with aluminum oxide. The handles come off quickly wiht the backs being a little easier becuase ther eis no wiring or lock mechanism involved. Just open a door and pop the black cap off the side and you'll see a T27 screw. Don't worry it wont fall out as it has a self retaining mechanism built in. ONce the screw is loose you can pull out the small fixed part of the door handle. No just grab the handle and pull back swiftly and it will pop loose. THe front requires a little more patience and has an extra phillips crew you must remove as the fronts are just a chrome skin for the handle mechanism. There is also a small clip that you need to remove at the rear of the handle and then the chrome part will slide off. Take your time and study how it works so you don't break anything.

I also pulled off the front chrome strip on the bumper this evening. It's held on by 3 screws (L,C R) and snaps in place. Remove the radiator shroud and with a 1/4", 10mm deep socket, 3: extension and ratchet find each nut located just on top of the aluminum crash bar. It's a tight fit but have patience and you'll get it. Stick your hand in their first to feel how deep you'll have to reach. I'm not sure what to do with this piece yet. Paint it body color? Black? Some other color like a Hyper Black? Either way this chrome plating is tough so it'll need to be media blasted so the the primer will bite. I tired sanding the chrome with 320 grit and just barely scuffed the surface. $10 for media blasting was well worth it IMO.

Pardon the crappy stich on the last pic. More pics later this week when it'll have some new shoes and painted bits.

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