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:
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.
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:
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.
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:
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.
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:
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.