Since everyone wanted my smoothed/painted tailgate handle, a few people that did not get mine asked how to do it to theirs. So I thought I would write this up for others.
I ordered the keyless black plastic handle from the dealer but you can do the same process with your stock keyhole plastic handle too. Since I put a "Pop-Lock" in the tailgate to electronically lock/unlock the tailgate in conjunction with the doors using the fob, I did not want the keyhole in the tailgate handle any longer so I ordered the one for it without the keyhole. The new keyhole-less handle cost $33 from the dealer. The handle is ,essentially, a two-part assembly that is held together with two 5/4" long aluminum clevis pins. I removed the clevis pins by simply cutting off one head of each pin with wire cutters and then pulled them out. Once the pins are removed, the two pieces of the handle can be separated and sanded (smoothed) with 220grit. Once the texture of the plastic parts is uniformly removed, I sanded the parts with 400grit wet/dry paper using water. Once smooth and clean, I then wiped the parts using paper towels soaked in isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) to ensure absolute cleaning of the part. I then used a tack cloth to wipe any dust, etc off the part. I set the parts on newspaper and sprayed them with Bulldog brand paint adhesion promoter made specifically for painting plastic parts. The adhesion promoter drys in about 20 minutes. I then sprayed the parts with 3 coats of DSG (CX - color code) lacquer that I had mixed for me at the local WestCo auto paint supplier. Note that it is best NOT to prime plastic parts! The reason is because the less paint that is placed on plastic parts ... the better! ... much less chance of chipping! (the coat of adhesion promoter replaces prime coats). After the color coat dryed, I once again wet sanded the color coat and used the tack cloth on the parts. I then painted the parts with 2 coats of clear enamel "cut-in" clearcoat. When that dried I was able to put the two parts back together using 6/4" (one and a half ") long #6 brass screws, #6 stainless washers on either end of the screws, and #6 - 32 nylon locking nuts. I reinstalled the handle into the tailgate with the new "Pop-Lock" electric locking mechanism and WA-LAH!! ... good to go!
The process for smoothing and painting the tailgate handle can be used for ANY plastic parts (dash, interior pieces, exterior mirrors, bed caps, cowl, etc, etc.) regardless of the color you choose.
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