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Thread: How To: Refurbish side window trim

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    How To: Refurbish side window trim

    So I have searched and asked and gotten many answers on this subject. Not a ton of knowledge out there about how to spruce these things up, and a few different ideas, but no write ups. So here is what I did, and my results.

    Here was my starting point, not sure why these ones looks so bad, but ewe





    Here is the supplies I started with:





    Since I'm starting with sanding, gotta make sure the paint is protected, tape is my friend.





    All this sanding is done wet, use lots of water, other wise the rubber balls up under the sand paper. Start with the heaviest grit, 400 in my case





    Move to the 800 grit





    And now 2000 grit. Used the most water at this point





    At this point the trim was smooth & soft as a babies a$$, so lets try out this Mothers Trim Cleaner



    Squirt a little on there then use the provided brush to scrub away. If you thought the wet sanding was messy, wait till you see this mess





    Now I am going to say that this was a waist of time, as it didn't change anything on the trim once it was done. It looked exactly the same as it did after I finished sanding. In fact I didn't use it on the other side, and it turned out the same in the end. Plus this stuff was a pain to wipe off once it was "cleaned". Save your money and time.

    Here is the post sanding/cleaner aftermath



    Now for the Back to Black Trim Restorer. This stuff came highly recommended by a lot of people, albeit the recommendations came on Facebook, and most of the guys were L owners that don't share the window trim we have. So perhaps it wasn't the best source of advice, but it was all I could get at a store in short order.



    It looks promising at first




    But after 5 minutes...




    It looks exactly the f-ing same as it did after sanding!!

    So lets try some other products I already have.

    Meguirar's Supreme Shine High Gloss Protectant



    Meguiar's Natural Shine Protectant



    Sonüs Trim & Motor Kote



    I was so disappointed with all of the products, I figured I would try some of my secret sauce



    So while I was waiting for the products to dry and cure, I decided to sand and polish my aluminum shorty antenna



    When I finished my antenna I walked back to the trim to see the fruits of my labor




    The moral? Sanding works, but none of these products make it shine.

    I also tried some Trim Restorer that I found at the parts store, it has that Count kook on it from the show "Counting Cars", and it starts out great as the rest do, and it doesn't dull away like the others do, but it stays wet and greasy, and if it gets touched or wiped, then it comes off. So in the end, the only good thing about this stuff is that is smells like cookie dough! Not kidding...

    Next on the list to try is shoe polish, and maybe eventually the "CarPro DLux" that Merlin recommended, or maybe the SEM Trim Black paint that Blind recommended. I will update this thread as I go.

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    Interesting so far. Subscribed.

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    Most things are dressings and don't last. I was highly entertained by the thread though

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    Nice try and well documented. Thanks for the info and your patience.

    What about just painting them with your choice of flat/semi-gloss/gloss black with the flexible additive like they used to use on urethane bumpers similar to what the guys do for the rear window surround plastic and cowl area?

    They also come off pretty easy by sliding a credit card underneath to undo the clips so you don't have to tape up the truck.

    Mods=L&S Oil Sep, Blackwood trim & mirror caps, Navi ant' base, E-brake pedal, CAI, C&L Intake & Plenum, 95mm MAF tube, SBTB, 170 T-Stat, Predator+RWTD custom tune, 8# lower, PG Ti900.7 amp, JLA XR570-CXi & Stealthbox, FTVB, Finned Trans Pan, Line of Fire LED, J-Jent Grille, RotorPro Dimpled & Slotted rotors, LED taillights, chrome door strikes, billet locks & coat hangers, ChickenEars Engine Billet package #1&2+door sills, Metco billet aux idler bracket & pulleys, LFP E-Fan, Xenarc HID heads, clear corners, Roush HID fogs, Bedrug, L' 3rd, Kenwood DDX-7017 DVD+TV+Sirrius+RevCam, Lotek dual pillar pod with AutoMeter boost gauge & DynoJet WBC, fog switch mod, UPR billet window switches and door locks, FAST overlays, LFP 58" bars, Hotchkis TVS, Bilsteins, DblG Panhard, Cervinis Cobra R hood, BFG T/A KDW 2 tires, Hawk Ceramic pads, MGP caliper covers.

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    stop wasting time and move on to sem trim black paint, you'll have to degrease the snot out of them though now after all that dressing has been applied

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    Or buy the blackwood ones that are for sale on here.

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    I'd give CQuartz Dlux Plastic & Rubber Coating a try

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    Quote Originally Posted by Blind View Post
    stop wasting time and move on to sem trim black paint, you'll have to degrease the snot out of them though now after all that dressing has been applied
    Yeah, thats next I think. Just want to find it locally as there is a car show on Sat that we are attending and I want to be done with it by then.

    Quote Originally Posted by BlairTruck View Post
    Or buy the blackwood ones that are for sale on here.
    ewe. Not a fan of them, especially on a black truck.

    Quote Originally Posted by Merlin View Post
    I'd give CQuartz Dlux Plastic & Rubber Coating a try
    It looks like a great product, but I am hesitant to throw another $45 down the tube for something that may or may not do the same as all the other products I've tried so far. I am already over $40 on products tried that have done nothing for my case here. Might just go the paint route.

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    Quote Originally Posted by BlairTruck View Post
    Or buy the blackwood ones that are for sale on here.
    Those are SOOOOOOOOOOO mid 2000's

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    So I went out and got some shoe polish. A few recommended it to me, and I have known it to be used for other things as well. Some guys use it on trim/tires on big trucks. I found a couple different kinds to try out too, so I bought 'em.



    Looks like I found what the previous owner used on these trim pieces.



    Looks familiar??



    But I found this one that is made for shoe heels and soles, thought to myself, "Maybe this would do better, as I'm not treating a fabric or leather, it is actually rubber, like a shoe sole!"



    What you see here is dried on. A layer of hardened shoe polish, that could actually be chipped off.



    Boy was I wrong. Both of these products were a giant PIA to remove! They left sort of a layer of junk on top of the trim, took about 10 minutes to remove with ether (starting fluid) and a paper towel, and I only treated about 5 inches total!

    The moral??



    Looks like the SEM Trim paint is next. I just ordered it from O'reilly's, and should have it this afternoon.

    To be continued....

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    Quote Originally Posted by SoCal Waite View Post
    So I went out and got some shoe polish....
    Shoe polish...what were you thinking???

    Quote Originally Posted by SoCal Waite View Post

    Boy was I wrong. Both of these products were a giant PIA to remove! They left sort of a layer of junk on top of the trim, took about 10 minutes to remove with ether (starting fluid) and a paper towel, and I only treated about 5 inches total!

    To be continued....
    Don't worry about removing it...After a good rain it will come off and bleed down the sides of your doors all by itself.

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    ...


    edit: haha, "good rain" ? We haven't had a good rain in socal since like 2005.
    Last edited by Blind; 11-20-2014 at 03:47 PM.

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    ^^This^^

    Merlin, I was thinking maybe this might just be a secret I could crack....but looks like the joke is on me. But I digress, they are all clean now, and ready for the SEM paint I'll be picking up this afternoon. I really hope that it works, and doesn't make a giant mess.

    Cayman, thanks for the tip on the CC! I tried on one clip and couldn't find anymore clips to pop off, then I couldn't get that clip back in, so I'll just tape it up. Been painting in the house recently so I have a wealth of masking tape and paper, and it only takes a minute to apply.

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    tape up some newspaper around a larger area than you would expect, spray paint likes to find unmasked areas...

    if the trim is like my mustangs, it just slides back towards the rear of the door and you don't need to unclip, sort of like a computer case side panel. I have no idea if the trucks are the same but wouldn't be surprised.

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