Painting door handles..

[Quick]

My current black door handles are pretty scratched up from wear and tear. How did you guys paint them to match your exterior color?

Did you mask all around the door handle and paint away, or did you somehow take them off?

I'm very interested in doing this, because they look rather crappy.. thanks!

 

[Rhett]

Do you mean re-paint them to match the exterior color of the vehicle, or re-paint them to factory black?

Mine were fading to gray so I taped off on the door and re-shot them with flat black. It looks so good and factory that no one knows they were ever re-done.

Just be sure to tape off a larger area than you think you need to. Overspray must be avoided. Avoid wind, but don't do it indoors. You need decently warm weather imo or else it will take too long to dry and might dry funny. Use very quick passes so you don't get drips and runs. Wait several minutes between coats. I only used about 2-3 light coats to restore the color.

 

[Perry]

Quick,
What I did was sand them down and seal them along with the rest of the truck since we repainted the whole Explorer.
If I was just doing the handles I would sand them down, then seal them with a good sealer which makes the paint stick better. I guess if you don't know much about body work then it would be a little harder to do.
I guess the second thing would be do like Rhett Browning and just use a rattle can. Like he said make sure to mask off plenty. It is easier to paper then buff off overspray.

 

[kilroy]

Just put taking them off out of your mind, since to put them back on requires a $150 pop rivet gun. I had to replace a door handle on an old Grand Marquis that used those damn rivets and I had to search all over just to find one to borrow. The Explorer handles are mounted the same way. Just sand mask and spray, thats the best way.

 

[Perry]

Kilroy is right, you don't want to take them off. You have to take the inside panel off also and the rivits are a pain even though we have the tool.

Quick I checked on that code and it is for silver. Ed said there should be another number by that one. He thought that might be a bumper or two tone color. Maybe it has been repainted or something.
The paint would also run about $25.00 a pint, so you better just get the rattle can and paint them black. Just mask off the area really well.
Good Luck...

 

[Rhett]

Speaking of those door handle rivets, has anyone ever drilled them out, and replaced the rivets with bolts? Maybe this is not possible due to the space constraints?

 

[Perry]

First question is why would you want to take them off and replace them with bolts??
If you replace them the first thing is to knock out the center. Then you take a drill and drill the head off the rivit. As for bolting them on, I know people that have done it, but it is hard to get to the bolt on the back side. There isn't much room in there.

 

[Rhett]

Well, because in most applications, bolts are _much_ simpler to remove than rivets. However, in the case of Explorer door handles, I don't see much advantage in it since one would still have to get behind the panel to loosen the bolts, and like you say, there's not much room to work in there.

Perry, thanks for the info, but I actually _do_ know how to drill out a rivet. I was just curious as to whether or not anyone had done that to their Explorer, and what they thought about it.

 

[Perry]

Rhett Browning
That was info for everyone. I helped someone not to long ago that didn't know how to do that, so I thought it might help someone that didn't know.

I know the spring in the handle is a week point and there are a lot of handles taken off. The new door I put on our Explorer when I fixed it had a bad spring and I forgot to fix it until we were all done and I'm not about to take it apart again. To lazy. he,he!!

 

[Rhett]

Yea, the spring on my driver's side handle is weak too, but the door still works and it doesn't flap in the wind, so I am not going to mess with it for now...

 

[97bignslow]

touch up

In the past, when I needed to touch up a paint job, I have gone to the automobile paint shop, matched the color to spec, and purchased the little CO2 sprayers that they sell. Fill it up and shoot. They little sprayers work great for a single time use and the color matches exact. I tried matching colors from spray cans, but never got it right. The paint is more money, but it's perfect.(unless your truck is faded)

Eric

 

[Stevil]

I've replaced both handles on the right side of my Explorer and I ended up using a nut/bolt combo rather than the rivets. They were mindlessly easy to install though I will admit the back door was a tight squeeze .