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First Post - Painted Plastics (flat black)

13K views 49 replies 26 participants last post by  jonp 
#1 ·
Hey everyone, I'm slowly but surely getting things done on my X to get it presentable looking and decided to share. Lots of sweet rides on here and hope one day mine will be close.

I used SEM Trim Black (#39143) and it came out great! Besides the adhesion promoter coming out crappy I'm satisfied. It's a 10 footer at least :)



Now it's finally all one color besides faded!







I couldn't get the dent out of the back completely but I was able to sand down the rough spots some.

I plan on spraying the whole roof rack the same and removing the side steps.

Has anyone painted the stock steely wheels as seen in my second photo (Front After pic)? I'm thinking of going gloss black but not sure if it's worth it.
 
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#6 ·
@Julionix - Thanks!

@davcos - They look great! Crazy how the whole vehicle takes on a different look!

@bac0nfat - Thanks! My first car was a Geo Metro and the interiors fade very badly in those cars. Mine had gone from dark gray to bright white before I resprayed it.

@Roadwarrior - Thanks! I've painted wheels before and I have the procedures down fairly well but what I'm wondering is if anyone has painted the stock, base model wheels. I'm searching around but everyone's wheels are different and nicer than mine.

Take a look at my second picture and see the wheel slightly turned, those are what I am looking for in black, if they exist :)

Thanks for the replies guys!
 
#10 ·
Holy crap AzGen, lol

I never saw a bumper that faded on an X....is that primer? Or just the fact the sun is that much stronger down there?

Turned out really nice
 
#11 ·
@ShiftingSkys - If I decide to paint them I'll update this thread with plenty of pics.

@Dtrock78 - Unfortunately that is not primer, just the faded plastic. The sun chews through plastic body panels pretty bad here in Arizona. Almost any late model Chevy Avalanche looks similar.
 
#12 ·
The sun chews through plastic body panels pretty bad here in Arizona.
Agreed.
My X's plastic is just as faded. It looks awful. My car has been in Phoenix for all of its life and much of that outside. Every time I see one of these posts, I try to convince my parents to let me paint them... but for some reason, they think I'll screw up and make it irreversible.


Yours looks great!
 
#13 ·
@jack5885 - Hey I totally get that. My dad has been painting cars since he was a teen and is a perfectionist so if he isn't doing it himself he doesn't like it. The Only way to get it done is to prove your competent enough to do it.

Go down to whichever pick a part salvage yard is closest to you, buy a mudflap or other small plastic piece from a junked xterra and paint it then show it to them. Then go "See! I told ya so!".

And in my honest opinion you can't irreversibly screw it up unless you choose to sand them first and go too deep and put scratches in the plastic. Even then it's fixable with more sanding lol!

Mine isn't perfect, and if you get close enough you'll see the front is pitted pretty bad but I had a small budget and just wanted it to be all one color.

Also you can go to Space Age paint on Country Club and Southern and ask some questions, they've always been good to me and that's where I buy all my supplies.
 
#14 ·
I painted my wheels. Not sure if pics posted


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#16 · (Edited)
@ Azgen1 the pin stripe and gloss black would look good. Xearth done a silver pinstripe around his w/ bedliner in the center. Just thinkin out loud, but I wonder what the rack would look like painted the same color as the pinstripe w/ the plastics painted black

@jack5885 dude show them some pictures of how much better the truck look afterwards, plus helps resale value (not that I plan on selling mine anytime soon but its a valid arguement lol)
 
#17 ·
I'll have to look, Az. The cans aren't here. I know it was high heat block paint- gloss I think. About 10 coats, and then some clear coat. I could have done a little better job, but I'm happy with the end result. There's a thread in the DIY section by ScoobysX- that's what I did my rims off of. Check it out, follow the instructions, and you can't go wrong


Sent from my Autoguide iPhone app
 
#18 ·
@ibishop - I had planned on painting the whole rack flat black as well and then getting a red "Xterra" replacement decal from Creepy for the sides. I saw the look on another 2000 Aztec Red X and loved it so the credit goes to them (can't remember their handle at the moment). I think the red decal will give the right color accent and help balance out the look.
 
#20 ·
Speaking of painting wheels, some guy on here had an excellent DIY step by step guide on it, but he used that bed liner stuff people spray t hier trucks with, the canned version. It looked great, but I forget his name on here, maybe some of the vets on here knows which thread I'm talking about
 
#21 ·
Speaking of painting wheels, some guy on here had an excellent DIY step by step guide on it, but he used that bed liner stuff people spray t hier trucks with, the canned version. It looked great, but I forget his name on here, maybe some of the vets on here knows which thread I'm talking about
Skoobysx's wheel painting DIY
http://www.clubxterra.org/forums/showthread.php?t=8926

there is another one somewhere... Kuma maybe? who used index cards do paint them.
 
#22 ·
Very welcome, my friend


Sent from my Autoguide iPhone app
 
#23 ·
Speaking of painting wheels, some guy on here had an excellent DIY step by step guide on it, but he used that bed liner stuff people spray t hier trucks with, the canned version. It looked great, but I forget his name on here, maybe some of the vets on here knows which thread I'm talking about
AaronsX used spray on bed liner on his wheels, and some other people have too. I know Aaron is having issues of bubbles, but he may have mentioned it was his prep work?
 
#25 ·
@ Racer

I wondered how that stuff would hold up....but I figured it would def. hold up better than paint. We coated a couple truck beds at work with it and I swear by that stuff, but it's probably thicker than what is typically put on wheels.
 
#26 ·
I don't think I can convince my woman to let me put bed liner on the wheels, she's hesitant at painting them black in the first place, afraid it will look "Ghetto" haha.

I planned on using VHT wheel paint in gloss black so it will put up with the heat coming from the brakes and the road in an Arizona summer. Only problem is they don't have it in red for the pin stripe I want to do unless I use their engine enamel. Not sure how different that will look if any.

Anyone here used VHT paint before?
 
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