Restoring wiper arms, D Pillars

[Spartan]

Hey there everyone. I just wanted to give a heads up on restoring those faded/chipped wiper arms and of course, the b-pillar and "D" pillar trim outside.

We all know that this stuff fades like crazy, and looks like ass after a while. I found the perfect paint to use when you want them back to factory condition: VHT Rollbar and Chassis Paint, Satin black. VHTSP671

I just scuffed the wiper arms (front and back) with a bit of fine sandpaper to knock down the high spots and sprayed it. It dires very quickly, and shoud be resistant to chipping and winsheild washer fluid. I'm planning on using it for restoring the black metal trim on the hatch area as well as the metal B pillar trim by the doors.

I'
ll post pictures up this afternoon of the wiper arms.

 

[skpyle]

Sweet!
Good to know.

Seth K. Pyle

 

[1996BLKBauer]

Nice man, I am interested to see how they turn out and last, I just used some cheap Rustolium Satin Black paint on mine, because I figured it would just happen again.

 

[Paraphoe]

Pics of the finished product? I used duplicolor black trim paint.

 

[koda2000]

i did mine with some cheap Krylon satin black. they still look great and it's been over a year now. Duplicolor VHT is a far more durable product, but i used what i had on-hand. if i find i have to do them again in a couple of years, no big deal. the key to getting a good paint finish on anything is good prep.

 

[deweyville65]

Anybody think about doing the B pillars and the D pillars in body color? FWIW mine is Medium Graphite Metallic. A fancy name for Metallic Gray. The rear pillars especially are faded a dull gray, ugly!

 

[Spartan]

I'll take some pics for everyonen tonite. I'll likely do the Pillar parts this weekend, but for now I can show the finished product on the wiper arms.

Body color would be interesting, I'll have to photoshop something on that.

The VHT should be pretty damn durable. I've used their engine enamle stuff on different builds with great sucess.

 

[delexploder]

i did mine with some cheap Krylon satin black. they still look great and it's been over a year now. Duplicolor VHT is a far more durable product, but i used what i had on-hand. if i find i have to do them again in a couple of years, no big deal. the key to getting a good paint finish on anything is good prep.

I use krylon but I use the fusion for plastics and i have had it on my sport for about 6 or 7 years, I have it on the wipers bumpers pillars fender flares wheel wells the list goes on, I buy it by the case, also they are from the same company Sherman Williams,

 

[koda2000]

I use krylon but I use the fusion for plastics and i have had it on my sport for about 6 or 7 years, I have it on the wipers bumpers pillars fender flares wheel wells the list goes on, I buy it by the case, also they are from the same company Sherman Williams,

yeah, i used to buy Krylon satin black by the case too. these days i don't restore/detail as many cars as i used to. one of the things i like best about Krylon is how fast it drys. by the time over-spray lands on something it's usually to dry to stick, unlike Rustoleum (i hate that stuff). Duplicolor VHT satin black and low-gloss black are much more durable for chassis and underhood painting though.

 

[delexploder]

Yea I use it under the hood ,on the chassis ( which I haven't done on my ex yet) I like tractor paint

 

[rs2k]

Thanks! I just came on the forum to search or ask this question and was surprised to find the answer at the top of the page. I just pulled off my wiper blades and cargo rack two days ago to get ready to paint them.

 

[koda2000]

i just remembered something that i used the VHT on came out really well, the roof rack on one of my 2000 Mountaineers (what's with these stupid plastic racks? they paint them black, which then peels off and under the paint is black plastic...) anyway, i stripped it with a razor blade, sprayed it with adhesion promoter, then the VHT satin black. it came out looking like new and shouldn't peel again. now i need to do the other Mountaineer.

 

[sloop]

i just use mother's back to black - probably lasts a year or more

its not going to fix a chip though

 

[Spartan]

Sorry about no pics yet guys, i'll get them up today.


The Back to Black is useful for unpainted rubber parts like the dew wipes and seals. Not so much for metal parts. I also changed wiper blades. For the record, you CAN upgrade the rear wiper to a larger size. Parts stores and Ford say that a 1996 XLT i ssupposed to have a 12" wiper blade out back. You can fit a 14" wiper blade without issue. a 15" wiper blade hits the pull handle built into the hatch glass, and is a no-go. I also used 20" wiper blades on both sides in the front. Pics will be up today!

 

[koda2000]

Sorry about no pics yet guys, i'll get them up today.


The Back to Black is useful for unpainted rubber parts like the dew wipes and seals. Not so much for metal parts. I also changed wiper blades. For the record, you CAN upgrade the rear wiper to a larger size. Parts stores and Ford say that a 1996 XLT i ssupposed to have a 12" wiper blade out back. You can fit a 14" wiper blade without issue. a 15" wiper blade hits the pull handle built into the hatch glass, and is a no-go. I also used 20" wiper blades on both sides in the front. Pics will be up today!

i've tried Black-to-Black (on plastic trim) and have found it to be pretty much useless. no better than Armorall, or similar protectants. lasts about as long too, which is to say not very long. the best solution i've found for dull/weathered exterior plastic trim is bumper paint.

 

[rs2k]

The local auto parts store was out of VHTSP671. I went ahead with the Rustolium Plastic trim Satin black to see how it would fair. So far it looks absolutely great on the luggage rack, but only "meh" on the wiper blade arms. It's a thick paint and I had trouble getting a good thickness on the tiny wiper blade arms. It was either too thick or too thin. I finally went with too thick and the blades ended up with a bit of texture. They don't look bad, but I was hoping for smooth. I haven't applied it to the d-pillars yet. I expect that to go smoothly.

 

[Spartan]

OK. Picture time!

The fronts are a bit dirty at the moment, but you get the Idea. Sorry, no before pics, but trust me they were actually worn so bad they were shiny in spots:

 

[Spartan]

Turned out pretty good IMHO.

This is a view of the entire truck:

 

[1996BLKBauer]

They do look good, my Satin black Rustolim is way more shiny, I like the way your look a lot more, looks like i'm redoing mine with the VHT stuff.

Also is anybody else surprised how easy it is to remove our front wipers? When I read how to remove them, I thought the person was lying to me, but nope, so easy.

 

[rs2k]

Nice job!

I was surprised the wipers were as easy to remove as they were as well.

I think the rustolium on my wipers came out too shiny. I'm going to wet sand them in a few days and see how that changes the look. I'm going to keep the top rack shiny though. It looks great. I'll take a photo of my truck after I finish waxing the roof and reinstall the rack.

I haven't decided what to do about he D-plliars. I'm leaning towards using Rustolium at the moment. I think shiny would look good there.