Side Moldings Refinishing...

[mysticivics]

1. What is the best process in refurbishing the side moldings, side skirts and mud flaps to their original glory?
2. What is the best coating to use in remaking them black?

I don't intend on color matching them just redoing them in black.

[Raf99]

Curious of this as well. The answers I've seen in the years are...

1. Heat Gun
2. Mothers Black to Black (garbage IMO)
3. Other black polish (crap)


Not crap, just doesn't make our faded trim pieces black for very long. You end up doing it over and over every week. Curious to hear from folks to used a heat gun and how it's holding up.

[accordlove]

just do what one of the previous owners of my car did....
















JK!

[Raf99]

Now that i think of it, plastic dip would work perfect for this fix...

[mysticivics]

I thought of plastidip as well and my curiosity is getting the best of me. I'll post up a few pics of the finished product for ya, bruh. give me a day or so.

[hiptech]

Not sure if this pic from PB is working but I fought this problem for years on both the body side moldings and rocker panel. Every solution I tried (and there were many) only lasted a short time.

Eventually I decided the best fix was to have them repainted. Since yours is all black it should be easier. My suggestion is to locate a professional automotive paint supplier in your town and they can help with advice and supplies so the repair will last...

[Bunta]

SEM Trim black is good if you just want a matte/flat black trim. I'd suggest using an adhesion promoter like Bulldog first.

[deevergote]

The simplest solution is to paint them. It won't have the same finish of the original rubber, but it's the best way to ensure a lasting, uniform appearance. Plastidip would also be a good option, though I'm not sure how well it will age.

[GTRON]

I put rustoleum semi-gloss black on the black accent of my back bumper a year and a half or so. It's held up perfectly! It looks like I just painted it yesterday, it's survived winter summer and everything in between.

[deevergote]

The best way to paint is to wet sand, apply UV resistant clear coat, and wet sand again. I've never been very good at that.

[mysticivics]

Yeah, I'm not very good at it either, I like the plastidip idea because if I screw it up I can atleast peal it off and try again!!!

[Jon]

In a few days I'll be doing a trial run of the Wipe New Trim Restore product on mine... we'll see.

[Fleetw00d]

I guess I cheated, I put new ones on Ruby (4+ years ago).

[mysticivics]

So I'll be attempting to refurbish my side moldings tomorrow using plastidip, I will post pics tomorrow afternoon.

[NH-503P-3]

I used black shoe polish on mine. They look allot better than they did. Not as good as removing them and painting them I'm sure but still pretty decent for a quick fix.