I'm getting ready to do some body work and paint on my car here soon.
I wanna know if there is a trick to painting the plastic trim on the body. I don't want it to peal off later on

im going to try this stuff out and see how it works on my trim. just because it has a fiero on the logo

well i plan on painting it the same color as my car "a dark red" so i'm not sure if i should put some sort of plastic primer on it or something.

You should prime the entire car with PPG epoxy (DP) primer, including the moldings (since you're painting it all at once).
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

I tried different blacks but the closest I found were the barbeque black by Krylon and SEM Trim Black. The BBQ paint started fading almost immediately since it wasn't designed for automotive use, but the SEM has been holding up well for the last year and also hasn't chipped like the Krylon did. I bought the SEM in the quart can, it activates with lacquer thinner so you don't have to buy their activator (which is hard to find anyway). It also comes in a rattlecan but I don't know how durable it will be sprayed that way.

I did a few marker light moulding with gloss black Krylon work great but PREP is required , All you need is 3m sctoch pads (not sand paper) they are very cheap give the surface of what you are painting a good sanding then cleaning then go ahead and paint with several light coats

Just a few things. I use BBQ black on lots of stuff and dont notice any problem with fading for at least a few years. All the louvers, mirrors, trim, etc on my Ferrari kit were done with it. Biggest thing is PREP...has to be clean for anything to stick well. It IS a protective strip on the sides to keep from getting door scrapes on the paint. Black is fine, but if you put a different color on it, just remember anything that chips it will leave the black showing. No matter what you put on it, someone hitting it with a door will chip it off. SEM product is about the only good plastic paint out there. Old good stuff used to be Mar Hyde....you could even do seats and conv tops with it. Its only avail in the satin black now, used to be any color you wanted.

I have a silver Sebring with matching factory silver moldings. I painted it Corvette Orange along with the mouldings. I ran a strip of 3M clear protector tape down the strip. It keeps anything from chipping off the orange on the molding exposing the silver and you cant tell its there. Only costs a few dollars. Also nice to protect the door edge and front edge of hood to prevent chips

The only thing different between buying cans of paint and spray cans, is the spray can stuff is MUCH THINNER.

[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 03-09-2011).]

quote Originally posted by ethan555: ... trick to painting the plastic trim on the body...

lol all body panels are plastic. whichever trick you use for those, should be used on the rest of the body panels.

quote Originally posted by JazzMan: SEM Trim Black. ... the SEM has been holding up well for the last year and also hasn't chipped like the Krylon did. I bought the SEM in the quart can, it activates with lacquer thinner so you don't have to buy their activator (which is hard to find anyway). It also comes in a rattlecan but I don't know how durable it will be sprayed that way.

I used the SEM rattle can trim paint on my GT's trim when the car was repainted in 2001.
STILL looks great. Maybe it was my prep work.

Product Description
TRIM BLACK restores faded and peeling exterior trim parts.
Offers maximum adhesion on stainless steel and chrome.


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[This message has been edited by fierosound (edited 03-10-2011).]

Actually I think Mar Hyde was bought out by SEM a long time ago and they just market it in different ways. Just like a Sears brand DVD player is made by someone else like Toshiba or Sanyo.

quote Originally posted by americasfuture2k: lol all body panels are plastic. whichever trick you use for those, should be used on the rest of the body panels.

Not quite. The trim and rockers are TPO, one of the hardest plastics to get paint to adhere to because of its low-energy surface. You have to use the appropriate adhesion promoter if you want the paint to stick to it, assuming you sand all the original paint off. If you paint over the existing paint and have very few spots of bare plastic you can get by with just painting it assuming you use a good-quality paint.

[This message has been edited by JazzMan (edited 03-10-2011).]

quote Originally posted by JazzMan: Not quite. The trim and rockers are TPO, one of the hardest plastics to get paint to adhere to because of its low-energy surface. You have to use the appropriate adhesion promoter if you want the paint to stick to it, assuming you sand all the original paint off. If you paint over the existing paint and have very few spots of bare plastic you can get buy with just painting it assuming you use a good-quality paint.

ah really? i never knew that. thanks for the correction. now i know ♪G. I. Joe!♪ lol

quote Originally posted by JazzMan: ...it activates with lacquer thinner so you don't have to buy their activator (which is hard to find anyway). It also comes in a rattlecan but I don't know how durable it will be sprayed that way.

http://www.preval.com/

I rattle can spray 2K activated and other activated paint all the time. In fact there is no excuse to NOT shoot real paint on your car, just buy a few preval cans and go. They have an incredible spray nozzle as well, as good as a Harbor Freight HVLP gun.

quote Originally posted by JazzMan: Not quite. The trim and rockers are TPO, one of the hardest plastics to get paint to adhere to because of its low-energy surface. You have to use the appropriate adhesion promoter if you want the paint to stick to it, assuming you sand all the original paint off. If you paint over the existing paint and have very few spots of bare plastic you can get by with just painting it assuming you use a good-quality paint.

ALWAYS shoot an adhesion promoter on any surface that may have adhesion problem... ALWAYS. Never try to "get by".

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[This message has been edited by timgray (edited 03-10-2011).]

Well the OP hasn't checked back in so I'm not totally sure what he's doing...
If anyone is painting just the plastic moldings (or hard interior pieces), I recommend using a plastic primer. The one I use is a PPG that I get in quarts & is slightly red tinted (part # to come). it softens the plastic so that the paint will melt in. You can then shoot any kind of paint over it.
The SEM black trim paint is a good product to use if you want them to look original (semi-flat or satin black).
HTH,
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

quote Originally posted by timgray: I rattle can spray 2K activated and other activated paint all the time. In fact there is no excuse to NOT shoot real paint on your car, just buy a few preval cans and go. They have an incredible spray nozzle as well, as good as a Harbor Freight HVLP gun.

SEM Trim Black is "real paint", FWIW. Durability, adhesion, etc, are still 10/10 after a year in the weather (no garage).

The reason I chose it was that it had the closest flatness to the OEM finish I could find. If I didn't care about that I would have used a good quality urethane gloss black or satin black sprayed through my HVLP gun, the same gun I used to apply the SEM. Sherwin Williams also sells a rattlecan system that's activated, using a cartridge holding activator inside the can. You bang the can on a hard surface then shake it up, and you're good to go.

Ive tried every kind of 'adhesion promoter' theyve made. Ive done side by side comparisons with parts and found there all only snake oil on car parts. On soft interior parts like padded dashes and door panels it does work. On parts like rockers, noses and bumper covers of any brand car, use of it did nothing that a good prep job wouldnt do. Ive got 1/2 dozen different brands of it on a shelf...free if you pay the shipping. The shops that use it, substitute a coat of adhesion promoter for sanding and 6 months later, I have to take off the rest of the peeling paint to refinish it.

As I said, I used the SEM trim black with great results, without any special preparation.

Most people with paint problems don't prep properly. After removing all the trim, I scuffed them all with Scotchbrite pads, first a medium, then a fine grit. I then thoroughly wiped all the pieces clean with a plastic prep solution. After they were dry, I sprayed them with the SEM rattle can - Done! Did this in 2001 on my GT.

SEM mixed works far better than the rattlecan version.

I also know of places that over use adhesion promoter, but they do it and typically skip a good prep step. I have tried painting a hard abs plastic that refused to keep the paint on it and the only success was with a good adhesion promoter. It's like etching primer, if the base prep is not right for that type of application it will not help. bummer that some have found it to not work well for them. I found the PPG adhesion promoters to work well.

thanks for the help.
i think my best bet is to remove them from the car and paint both them and the car the same color apart. i don't want them sticking to the car.