To Paint... Or Not To Paint??? Moldings.

[Freak Of Nature]

Well the car's just about ready to goto the shop for a nice new paintjob (original red). One thing about my car I really really dislike is the black molding going around it. It looks ok on darker cars, but I hate it on the bright red. The shop suggested I painted it red also, but I'm having my doubts on how nice it will look. From a distance I think it would look fine, but not sure about up close. Have any of you guys ever done it OR seen it? I'm very curious on the results.

 

[WNH]

Never saw the molding painted.

How would it wear?? Will it fade or flake??

It might look good, but it will no longer be 'stock', if that matters.

 

[unleadedbrew]

An 89 owner I know just had a new blue paint job done with a GS stripe painted on, also. Something just didn't look right and it was because the molding had also been painted blue. I can't say too much about it as my car is black, but in my opinion (note this is IMO only) I didn't think it looked good. I didn't say anything about it as it was a decent paint job otherwise.


Gordon

 

[LT1-MP]

I think if you dislike it that much then you need to change it! Nothing wrong if you change the car to your liking. After all, with a little work you could change it back........right??? I had the chance to change something on mine but didn't, yup I'm regreting now.

 

[unleadedbrew]

Here's a thought, and a cheap one at that...........Get some red vinyl tape and cover the molding on the rear bumper just to get an idea of the look. I'm sure the paint will be shiny on the molding also, if you got it painted.:J

 

[Ken]

I like my black moulding, but then I have a silver car too. :L

I've seen it done on a red Corvette and it didn't look bad. Pretty nice actually. :cool

 

[bill5674]

my 90 has the moulding painted red to match car and I think it looks much better

 

[plumcrazy]

my car is at the painters right now gettin stripped and repainted blk rose again
and the trim is also being painted i think it should be that way but it is all a
matter of personal preference

 

[bill5674]

imho it`s like wearing a belt that doesn`t match your boots ...not that I`m much on fashion ....just don`t look right

 

[KANE]

I would see about using the wide mouldings. I know you can get them for the doors and lower fender, not sure about the nose and tail.

When in doubt- PAINT IT. You can always "krylon" it black again.

 

[BigRed]

Mine is painted red as well.

It's FINE you can do it however I hope you trust your body shop thats all it actually does take a bit of work especially for the first time.

You'll have to sand it then paint but with the earlier C4 thin molding its hard to get into the groove up and down. Also the painter has to spray upward and downward to get into the grooves. It can do done but what can happen is running paint can develop easily.

I actually bought my car with it done already but it was done shotty so I had it redone with a complete paint job from a shop I trust, it looks great now.

 

[Freak Of Nature]

Looks pretty good on your car! I think I'll take unleadedbrew's advice & get some vinyl tape! I gotta friend with a sticker shop who can match my color perfect, and do it for basically nothing. Can't believe I didn't think of that earlier! Thanks for all the input guys!

 

[fast.asleep]

If you go ahead and paint it take BigRed's prepping advice close to heart. I've seen a car with painted mouldings that the shop did not prep correctly and the red paint was flaking off the black molding.
It looked horrible

Will

 

[plumcrazy]

got some early pics of the repaint process of the vette in my yahoo group.
they are in the folder chris's pics in the photo secton.

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/CORVETTE_LOVERS/

 

[plumcrazy]

the best way to have it done is having them revoved.then having them painted then reinstalled. thats what i am doing. they took em off when it was painted last time
but left them black then decided they wanted them the same color when they
already had them installed back on the car and painted em that way and didnt prep
them right now they are gettin done correctly.

 

[unleadedbrew]

got some early pics of the repaint process of the vette in my yahoo group.
they are in the folder chris's pics in the photo secton.

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/CORVETTE_LOVERS/

Lookin' good!!


Gordon

 

[RonJ]

My 85 is white and silver on the bottom.

I rubbed the rubber trim down real good with thinners to clean it and then a rub with a "tire wet" product once in a while. With my colour combo, it doesn't look too shabby.

On an all red car, it just might look good in red!!

Ron ...

 

[Ken]

I almost forgot... I highly recommend a product called Forever Black from The Eastwood Company.

I used this stuff to restore the black finish to the trim moulding and the rubber grommet around the antenna on mine, as well as all of the plastic trim pieces on the inside, when I re-did the interior a few years ago. The interior pieces are still as black as the day I used the Forever Black, although I did have to re-do the belt moulding once since, but that's to be expected on exterior trim.

You must be careful with this stuff, and if you spill any be sure to mop it up immediately. If you catch it right away it'll wipe right off, but if you give it too much time to dry it'll require a paint remover to get it off. This stuff is plainly marked "PERMANENT".

I purposely got it all over my paint when I did the rubber antenna grommet; the applicator wouldn't fit in there so I just squished it all over and wiped it off. :L

 

[87topless]

Just a note for thought, whenever I see a vette other than black(because you can't tell from a distance) with the moldings painted the same color as the car I say to myself, what a cheap paint job. Your spending enough money in the first place, why not go the whole nine yards? On a different note, I replaced all my moldings and only the two rear ones are discontinued. The ones from Ecklers are not even close to original, anybody know of another company to get ones more compareable to original?

 

[plumcrazy]

corvette central has fiberglass center r bumper repos $89 for the pair i think and
$31-32 for the sides a piece. dont have my catalog handy right now but think
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