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Herculiner on my plastics! (not my Hootus)

Kovalchuk

Well-Known Member
Joined
June 1, 2008
Messages
261
Reaction score
1
City, State
OTTAWA, ON
Year, Model & Trim Level
2003 XLT Loaded
Well well...

I was tired of waxing and using Armor All on my grey plastic trim, so I took the plunge and decided to paint them. Many guys on here have used Krylon Fusion with great success, but I was looking for something different. I purchased the Herculiner Truck Bed Painting Kit that came with 2 rollers, one brush, one scotch brite pad and a gallon of black Herculiner. Normally, these kits are useless and you have to go out and buy your own supplies to do the job properly, however Herculiner gives you the real deal in their kit. The only other purchases I made was a drill attachment for mixing paint and a sanding circle attachment for the drill as well and a bottle of pure Acetone (solvent). The Scoth Brite pad is effective... but for such a large surface it would have taken 12-16 hrs to do properly so the drill sander was much more reasonable.

Here is my baby with her old grey plastic trim:
IMG_2722.jpg


Here she is after about 4 hours of prep work. I used the scotch brite bad all along the hard to reach places and everywhere close to my green paint. The drill sanding attachment took care of the rest. I know prep work is 100% crucial to a good long lasting paint job... so I really scuffed the surface until there wasn't a hint of gloss on my trim anywhere! Once it was all sanded I painted on the acetone to prep the surface for the Herculiner coat.
Explorer001.jpg

Explorer002.jpg

Explorer003.jpg

Explorer004.jpg


Then it was on to applying the Herculiner. I thought this would be an extremely difficult process... to put it all on evenly. The kit is great! I dabbed the brush all along the edges and hard to reach places. Then while constantly mixing the paint I rolled on the rest. It went on smoothly and evenly, I was shocked! Keep the paint constantly mixed and you should have zero problems. I put on the first rough coat... waited 45 minutes and then went back and painted all along where my painters tape met the herculiner. This step is crucial or you will never get that polyurethane off... the tape will become part of your car forever! About an hour later I put on the second coat and move some of the little granules around for an even look. This coat went on great and the whole project was coming together. I then immediately peeled off all the tape... while it was still wet. It worked in 95% of the places and I used a razor in a couple spots where the tape bonded to the Herculiner. Four hours later I rolled on the UV Topcoat Protectant (not included in kit) which goes on BLUE(scary) then dries clear. They don't mention on the label it goes on blue!!! Again, it was extremely easy to apply and I have tonnes left over so I can re-coat for a glossy look many more times.

And here is the final product:
Explorer005.jpg

Explorer006.jpg

Explorer007.jpg


I am extremely pleased with the result... it far exceeded my expectations especially when it came to ease of use. It is a project that will take some time... especially prep-work but it is a great result. I definitely recommend Herculiner.
 



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Great stuff!! that looks awesome!

Keep up the good work. :thumbsup:
 






That looks really good and has to be so durable! good job
 






:bsnicker: Hootus

That thread is epic.

:thumbsup: On the Herculiner.
 






Very Cool... A friend of mine with a Sport Trac had the nerf bars done the same way, but in Rhino Liner. The two ideas would match perfect.
 






It looks great man. Once again, good job!

I'm glad you took my adviced and researched the Hootus thread before attempting this. That could have been a disaster!
 


















Nice work- one suggestion- while it's still clean, clearcoat over the herc- it turns grey and dirt sticks to it like crazy. I like the shiny black look myself.

It looks good though :thumbsup:

I used the Herculiner UV Topcoat Protectant.
 


















I like the green tow hook :p
 






Well, da##! That turned out very nice...
 






Looks great, but how easy will it be to clean?

I'd be tempted to do your wheels with it as well.
 






Looks great, but how easy will it be to clean?

I'd be tempted to do your wheels with it as well.

Well it is a bedliner kit... so sweeping out your truck bed and hitting it with some soap and water should do the job.

This stuff is extremely hard when it is dry... harder than plastic... so cleaning should be a breeze. The Protectant is the key... water beads off it like crazy so far.
 






Kovalchuk, do you know if it comes in white? :D
 












Indeed it does. Red, White, Grey and Black!

Hey is your Monster still your daily driver?

That's great, I may sand off my fusion and do it in white Herculiner then. :thumbsup:

Yup, it's still my daily driver. :thumbsup:
 






Herculiner on my plastics (not my hootus)

I just thought I would share some pics with the guys in this area of the site.

Well well...

I was tired of waxing and using Armor All on my grey plastic trim, so I took the plunge and decided to paint them. Many guys on here have used Krylon Fusion with great success, but I was looking for something different. I purchased the Herculiner Truck Bed Painting Kit that came with 2 rollers, one brush, one scotch brite pad and a gallon of black Herculiner. Normally, these kits are useless and you have to go out and buy your own supplies to do the job properly, however Herculiner gives you the real deal in their kit. The only other purchases I made was a drill attachment for mixing paint and a sanding circle attachment for the drill as well and a bottle of pure Acetone (solvent). The Scoth Brite pad is effective... but for such a large surface it would have taken 12-16 hrs to do properly so the drill sander was much more reasonable.

Here is my baby with her old grey plastic trim:
IMG_2722.jpg


Here she is after about 4 hours of prep work. I used the scotch brite bad all along the hard to reach places and everywhere close to my green paint. The drill sanding attachment took care of the rest. I know prep work is 100% crucial to a good long lasting paint job... so I really scuffed the surface until there wasn't a hint of gloss on my trim anywhere! Once it was all sanded I painted on the acetone to prep the surface for the Herculiner coat.
Explorer001.jpg

Explorer002.jpg

Explorer003.jpg

Explorer004.jpg


Then it was on to applying the Herculiner. I thought this would be an extremely difficult process... to put it all on evenly. The kit is great! I dabbed the brush all along the edges and hard to reach places. Then while constantly mixing the paint I rolled on the rest. It went on smoothly and evenly, I was shocked! Keep the paint constantly mixed and you should have zero problems. I put on the first rough coat... waited 45 minutes and then went back and painted all along where my painters tape met the herculiner. This step is crucial or you will never get that polyurethane off... the tape will become part of your car forever! About an hour later I put on the second coat and move some of the little granules around for an even look. This coat went on great and the whole project was coming together. I then immediately peeled off all the tape... while it was still wet. It worked in 95% of the places and I used a razor in a couple spots where the tape bonded to the Herculiner. Four hours later I rolled on the UV Topcoat Protectant (not included in kit) which goes on BLUE(scary) then dries clear. They don't mention on the label it goes on blue!!! Again, it was extremely easy to apply and I have tonnes left over so I can re-coat for a glossy look many more times.

And here is the final product:
Explorer005.jpg

Explorer006.jpg

Explorer007.jpg


I am extremely pleased with the result... it far exceeded my expectations especially when it came to ease of use. It is a project that will take some time... especially prep-work but it is a great result. I definitely recommend Herculiner.
 



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I am very very tempted to do this myself.
Just curious how well it will hold up.

I called the local Line X place and they want $1700.
That includes removing all the plastic and bumpers to apply the Line X. Quite a bit more than I want to spend so I may look into the Herculiner.

Did you just use normal automotive masking tape and remove it immediatly???
 






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