Like all HR owners, I've suffered the indignity of Nissan's sh!tty interior plastics, especially on the door handles. I've tried several different repaints, the best of which was Duplicolor's "Bumper Coating", but that also eventually chipped off. I was about to try the new Krylon Fusion plastic paint, and this time made my best effort to completely strip the door handle down to its base plastic. The tough part is that shiny gray plastic coating, and I found the best way to get it off is by scraping with a sharp blade held almost vertically against the surface. The coating is brittle and chips off fairly easily. I then sanded with 100 grit, then 150, and finally 600. When I was finished, I liked the look so much, I've decided to leave the plastic as-is. It's very smooth and even, although for the best appearance, one has to be careful and sand in long, straight passes. Here's the finished piece (worse with the flash), which looks great in the car, and there's nothing to ever scratch and peel off:

 

pretty cool idea

 

beats the scratched-to-hell look.

 

??I think this idea has been done before.There was a thread posted on this same
procedure.
At any rate,I like the brushed look.However,what does it match in the other parts of
your interior?If you did your center console and areas around the sound system
with the same finish,you would complete your look.I just don't see how just the door parts blend?
How about a pic in the car?

 

The door handles were the only parts of my '08 interior which were trashed - the waterfall looks fine, except for the cubby release button, which I need to strip. I'll try the Krylon Fusion on that piece, and hopefully it will hold up well. I'll shoot a pic of the door handle installed tomorrow. I was losing the light tonight by the time I was done. I hate these shorted days.

 

Wow how did I not think of that thanks so much

 

has been done before

 

i say strip it, and hydro dip it.

 

Wish I had known, as it would have saved me some time/$ on trying to repaint mine several times. I want a permanent solution, but I'm not a fan of some fake-looking wrap or CF overlay.

 

Here's a pic of the part installed:



I'm happy with the color match, but the texture looks a bit uneven in good light. I need to pick up some finer sandpaper, 1000 & 1600 grit, and do some wet-sanding to even things out. Overall, this is the way to go, at least IMO, and if I do change my mind later, I still have that new can of Matte Black Krylon Fusion to use, which hopefully will bond well to this bare plastic. At least that's how it's advertised.

 

Maybe it looks better in person... Cuz in the pics, it just looks like scuffed up plastic.

 

i agree with Tpete & his sig

 

Nice effort, but I'm not diggin it.

 

Looks better in person, but it still needs some touching up. If you had seen it before, with all the peeling black coating, as I'm sure we all have, this is still an improvement. It's a joke that Nissan got away with such **** on a $30K car. Great motor, worst interior of any car I've ever been in.

 

^ lol.. a 30k car is not a flagship car lol..

And the 2003 models plastic was even worse.

My friends 2007 997 911 Porsche doesnt have such issues.. but his payment is 1300 per month.

Until i decide to have a payment like that.. i dont worry so much about Nissan scr#wing me over on my pretty much affordable car..

Now the stero on the other hand.. lol.

post count +1 lol

 

Yeah, but a $16K base Civic has much better interior plastics. I've been driving since 974, and my '08 Z has the worst interior plastics of any car I've ever owned, not that this is news to any Z owner. The original interior plastics in my '74 (and '87 and '92) Alfa Spider still look like new.

 

I have an 03 and my interior plastics are still in perfect condition.

The plastic is ***** to begin with though.

 

My understanding is that the worst problems are in the '06 and newer Z's, and also that the door handles Nissan is currently selling still have the issue. Why the hell didn't they just make the plastic one color all the way through, like every other car I've ever seen?

 

I also have a 03 and the plastics still look perfect.

 

The plastics on my '04.5 were fine up until I sold it this past year, but that topic has been beat to death. Some people for whatever reason get lots of scratches, whether it's due to fingernails, watches, dumb luck, whatever, it happens.