Scotty J.
Packin
- Joined
- June 21, 2009
- Messages
- 1,263
- Reaction score
- 4
- City, State
- Little Rock, Ar
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '02 Ford Ranger XLT
This weekend I've decided to paint the fender trim on my 02' Ranger. It tends to look almost like a flat grey so I'm going to paint mine gloss black.
I picked up some Krylon Fusion Gloss Black today. Word has it, that's the stuff to use for plastic trim since it has a flex additive.
The first challenge I found was getting the plastic rivets out that hold it inside of the fender. I decided to get a piece of twine to get under the head of them, pulled up enough to get the claw from my hammer under it, to the claw as tight as possible and popped the head off (those fasteners are $5.00/100). Once that was done, there are the clip type connectors. There is enough flex in the trim to use a small flat blade to compress the clips and pop them out without touching the paint.
There were some request for pics of vehicles with the trim removed, so I felt obliged to post some up. IMHO, at least with this Ranger, as opposed to trying to fill the holes (impossible in my book) and moving forward without the trim, the best results will be either to paint and reinstall or go with an aftermarket fiberglass replacement fender. Some of you artistic types may even be able to cut the sheet metal and make it look great, but that option is WAY over my ability. Anyway, on to the pics.
Wide angle then a side shot of what the rear drivers side looks like with it removed:
Closer inside the fender wells:
Apparently these things will scratch the paint. I may have to pick up some touch up paint and repair this, or not, it doesn't appear to be to the metal.
While I'm at it, I'm going to hit the front grill with some of the gloss paint as well, the front trim and grill were actually much easier to remove than the fender trim.
I'll post more pics as it progresses. In fact, hoping to have some finished pics by late tomorrow.
I picked up some Krylon Fusion Gloss Black today. Word has it, that's the stuff to use for plastic trim since it has a flex additive.
The first challenge I found was getting the plastic rivets out that hold it inside of the fender. I decided to get a piece of twine to get under the head of them, pulled up enough to get the claw from my hammer under it, to the claw as tight as possible and popped the head off (those fasteners are $5.00/100). Once that was done, there are the clip type connectors. There is enough flex in the trim to use a small flat blade to compress the clips and pop them out without touching the paint.
There were some request for pics of vehicles with the trim removed, so I felt obliged to post some up. IMHO, at least with this Ranger, as opposed to trying to fill the holes (impossible in my book) and moving forward without the trim, the best results will be either to paint and reinstall or go with an aftermarket fiberglass replacement fender. Some of you artistic types may even be able to cut the sheet metal and make it look great, but that option is WAY over my ability. Anyway, on to the pics.
Wide angle then a side shot of what the rear drivers side looks like with it removed:
Closer inside the fender wells:
Apparently these things will scratch the paint. I may have to pick up some touch up paint and repair this, or not, it doesn't appear to be to the metal.
While I'm at it, I'm going to hit the front grill with some of the gloss paint as well, the front trim and grill were actually much easier to remove than the fender trim.
I'll post more pics as it progresses. In fact, hoping to have some finished pics by late tomorrow.