Hi,

I need to repaint the trim that goes over the door pillars (between the front and rear door, the black piece). It looks like the door rubbers rub it and they have chipped the paint. Anyone else had this problem?

It looks like they can be removed, then repainted. Anyone done this? Not sure what to repaint them with, they need to be super smooth and glossy. I am thinking of removing them and having them powder coated. Ideas?

 

Not sure what piece you are talking about. Is it on the C-pillar? The one originally a gloss black plastic piece? I don't see how that part can chip seeing the door does not come in direct contact with it, I doubt the rubber could 'chip' it, but perhaps I am wrong?

P.S. You cannot powder coat plastic. If it must be painted, take it to any body shop and have them apply quality automotive primer/paint/clearcoat.

 

No, this piece is definately metal... Its on the door post. The seals from the door hit it when the door is closed and have rubbed/chipped the paint. I suspect in the winter when the rubber is hard thats when it chips it. I know its metal, because on one the galvanizing has worn off and there is some rust there.

I could take it to a body shop, but I suspect that they will look 'orange peely' thats why I thought maybe powder coating them.


P.S. FYI - http://www.pcoating.com/getarticle.c...articleid=1749

 

Hmm, perhaps we are talking about different pieces. Could you take a pic? I would just have the body shop do a thorough repaint - I guess you could powdercoat it but I don't think it would be necessary. Hopefully the rust hasn't progressed through too much.

P.S.
Yes, I've read that article before =) Even reading the short primer you can tell that its not a common procedure - though technically it has been done in some shape way or another - but not a TRUE powder coat. If you wanted to powder coat plastic, I bet that you would be hard pressed to find anyone that could do it (not to mention all the strange looks you would get from experienced professionals). You have to heat the metal between 250-350 to get it to flow into the metal then maintain the temp to cure the coating. Not to mention, the powder in powder coatings are electrostatically attracted to the metals, I think it would be difficult to get a plastic to hold a charge. Most plastics will not withstand that temp (unless of course thermotreated). But the most important question is why? Powder coating is primarily used as a form of protection against corrosion. Plastics do not corrode and are generally chemically inert within the environment (hence lack of biodegradability). Now having said all of this, since you corrected me and said the piece was NOT plastic, there is really no sense in going through all of this..lol

 

lol.. well.. we're off topic , but what they heck.

Yes, you can induce a charge in plastic that attracts the powder (ever rubbed plastic on a wool sweater), then you can use UV to 'melt' the powder to form the coat. Its a relatively new process, been around for about 8 years I would guess. My father-in-law is a plastics expert (oh what fun conversations we have at the dinner table.... ), I remember him showing me samples 8 yrs ago, and talked about how it was a new process. (he was making chrome manequin's) It kinda of a combination of electro plating and pwoder coating.

That being said, I don't think u can rush off and do any old chunk of plastic, and i know a number of places that do metal, but never saw one that does plastic (Never looked either though.)

 

Yes of course it can be done, I'm not arguing that it can't (heck, it has been done plenty of times) or that plastic cannot hold a charge - rather its not just about hooking up two clamps and running a charge through the piece. I was just arguing the case for general forum viewers so that they wouldn't think "hey not a bad idea" and go run of searching for a place to powder coat their plastic pieces...but I digress.

What what the original post about again? =)

Oh yeah...so do you have a pic of the part you're talking about? I'm sure regular autobody paint would work and adequately protect it, no? *shrugs*