This was the first time I've ever painted anything and it was easy as hell, anyone can do it! I plan to paint the emblems and door handles the same color, and gunmetal rims should follow. But for now the front reflectors / side markers look great.

<b>*BEFORE AND AFTER PICTURES</b>(I know the car needs to be washed badly, please do not tell me that)
Before (all stock):


After:





<b>*PROCEDURE</b>
1. Reflector Extraction: Removed buttons/screws on top/bottom of bumper, removed front wheels, removed front inner fender wells, removed screws holding bumper and fender together. Bumper was then pulled off, and reflectors were extracted.
2. Painting reflectors: Washed them off, scuffed them with sandpaper, washed them off again, two coats of primer, three coats of paint, one coat of clear.
3. Put everything back together.




<b>*SUPPLIES</b>


<b>*MY QUESTIONS/COMMENTS</b>
The only complaints I have is that the color turned out very flat even after light clear coat. Should I add more clear, will that give them more gloss? The color was GM's "gunmetal metallic", but maybe it just looks flat no matter how much clear? Also, they feel very rough as well. Another sign of insufficient clear coat? Thanks for any answers!

 

holy fawk you went out of your way to take those reflectors out.

 

Yea it was my first time going in there. Any better way to do it? I'm hoping there is!

 

Looks great but damn that's a lot of work to paint reflectors!

 

You could have just turned your wheel and open your wheel well to get to them. The clear coat takes away from the metallic effect of the paint. I say three coats of paint and no clear will give you the gloss look.

 

Wow that would have cut my time in half haha thanks man! But clear taking away from the gloss? Sounds odd but you probably know more than I do. If that's true then how do our cars have clear coats and look so shiny?

 

Cause good clear coats arent cheap.. unfortunately in my expirience, it cant be found in an arosal can... Especially the krylon... learned that one yesterday!

 

I bought some clear at an actual paint shop. Krylon or anything like it is going to relatively crappy.

Spray max 1k is what I bought. Cost around $10/can.

http://www.spraymax.com/index.php?id=362&L=1

I'd suggest doing some wet-sanding with a very fine grit sandpaper, then use rubbing compound on it. It will definitely bring out more gloss that way.

 

you could of just painters taped the area around the reflector and spray away. just gotta make sure you tape really well. i did that and it was much easier.

 

Thanks guys! TreeFiddyZee, do you mean sanding and wiping should be the final step in the painting process? For example: I sanded, primered, painted, then cleared, but you're saying that I should have skipped the clear (unless it's high quality clear) and instead sanded with super-fine grit sandpaper followed by wiping with rubbing compound?

 

Yes, or find some quality paint and clear coat. Have you thought of just getting black markers? It might save you a headache and cash in the long run.

 

Good suggestion but they don't make black markers for the 06-08 Z's, only the 03-05's as far as I know. But I'm doing all the other little silver accents on the car gunmetal as well so I want it to match anyway. It sounds like I just need some better clear coat unless you guys think painting the reflectors/emblems/door handles and leaving them without a clear coat will be fine. I'm just worried about how it will hold up against weather and debri.

 

So now you have NO front reflectors on your car? Seems like it'd be a bit of a safety issue to me.

 

I'm not too sure about the whole fully painted look, but props on the write up. I'm still kind of partial to the clears.

Oh come on dude...

 

lol

 

on all counts. I would have gone with clear or tinted corners instead, but I have to say that you did a nice job with it.

 

Thanks guys. It looks pretty out of place right now but once I paint the emblems and door handles gunmetal I think it will look great. Does anyone know how long these things will last if I leave the gunmetal paint unprotected? Is it worth buying a top-notch clear coat or some kind of clear overlay or should the paint be fine for at least a couple years without some kind of protective layer on top?

 

Tint spray...

That's like tellin' a kid in a candy store he's gonna get cavaties.

I've did my front and rear emblems without a clear coat and they look just as good as the day I painted them 6 months ago, but it all depends. I've seen some painted door handles all chipped up. Probably from use and that's with a clear. You might wanna go with overlays.

 

Get clears, bake them open, paint the insides. I have a DIY on it in the exterior DIY section...

 

I can appreciate the enthusiasm, thanks for sharing.