Color matched door handles?

[DavesMav]

I bought the chromed bronco sport handle covers. I am planning to scuff these down, and epoxy primer them, then base coat, clear coat them in iconic silver. I also bought the chrome mirror covers and plan to do the same with them. The slotted hole in the center of the door handle covers I plan on putting white reflective tape on the handles before fitting the covers on over it.

I may tape these and the mirror covers in place and see how they look in chrome first before painting them. The prices were pretty inexpensive, and the chrome looks nice. They may look good as is instead of painting body color to look like every other maverick out there with the lux pak.

Tuffskinz makes these handle inserts in Iconic Silver, you may be able to apply these and then attach your painted handle cover over top. Although the reflective tape is a pretty cool idea too actually.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1187431866/tufskinz-exterior-door-handle-accent

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[Barracuda340]

You can get reflective tape in a multitude of colors as well. My plan was always the reflective tape for visibility at night

 

[Mach 1]

340, you going to shoot silver, that is the hardest color to match(you already know this).

I use the SPI epoxy, however i dont think it works well on plastic/polyurethane parts?

The painters usually use a special primer/adhesive for base?

Ford sells these already painted FWIW.

 

[Barracuda340]

Mach 1,

If I decide I dont like em as chrome, then I'm going to scuff up the chrome well and leave it and epoxy right over it, since the chrome plating is adhered well to the plastic like the chrome on a chromed plastic truck grille. At this point your not really painting the plastic anyways. Then I will use Kirker enduroprime white epoxy primer. That sticks to everything.

Yes silver is hard to shoot and match. The color will be close. I will scuff and primer over the epoxy with the same shade of gray primer that will be under the silver. The rectangular inset on the mirrors will get painted black on them regardless if I leave em chrome or paint silver

I use a Sata Jet HVLP for everything. By getting the chrome parts which happened to be cheaper on evilbay over the fake carbon fiber which I detest, they gave me two options. Chrome or painted.

If I go chrome on this stuff, then I will probably get the center grille bar chrome wrapped to match. Truck is currently on a train between Illinois and Kansas City Mo. Hoping it gets unloaded before this railroad strike, and heads to Granger. It's one of the $3000 off MSRP trucks. Was gonna temp tape them in place with masking tape, then step back for a look see first.

 

[Barracuda340]

Mach 1,

Years ago working at a body shop doing exotic cars we had a wrecked 1980s Porsche 911 Targa turbo. The headlight rings were body color. The parts people could only get a chrome headlight ring like would be on a 1970s 911. I sanded the crap outta the chrome to dull it out, then sprayed an epoxy primer on it. I cant remember the brand epoxy we used, but the shop used the Sikkens paint system. I scuffed the epoxy, and sprayed Sikkens primer over it. Car never came back for peeling paint. We had a Lamborghini Countach 500S in there as well at one time. They suck to move around the shop. Tiny assed steering wheel with no power steering, and wide assed front tires. They dont sound very cool at idle either.

 

[Mach 1]

340 you know what you are doing, the guys were saying to shoot plastic or urethane, there needed to be an adhesion promoter? I have never shot plastic except interior plastics for add on gauge clusters, I use adhesive promoter then rattle can paint. Maybe they were talking about urethane, because it flexs and moves so much. Scratching the chrome will secure a mechical bond.

I have primed the stang parts with SPI epoxy, with an Eastwood gun, wish I had a Sata.

 

[Barracuda340]

Mach 1,

Yes, for flexible plastics like bumper covers, you typically scuff, and spray an adhesion promoter, and add a flex agent into the paint so it doesnt flake off or crack. I recently redid the front end on the family truckster 2013 grand caravan. This was a backyard DIY.

With hard exterior plastics I actually will use a Dupont lacquer primer. Normally the laquer primer will react with the plastics and try to melt and craze them if you apply it too thickly. I use a small Mac Econocoat syphon cup touch up gun, and spray it on in very light coats letting it thoroughly dry between coats. This allows it to bite into the plastic as a good paint base without trying to melt the plastic.

On the grand caravan, I got lucky. Hood and fenders were not damaged. Everything else was though lol. My Taiwanese bumper cover was pre primered. All I needed to do was scuff it with scotchbrite, blow it off, wipe it with pre kleen and tack it down. I set it on saw horses, hooked up the exhaust fan and sprayed it. The rest of the van needs to be buffed to make it match. White van. Rest of the paint is dirty.

This was a quick n dirty job in and out in less than 24 hours. Took longer for the paint to dry than it took to put it back together lol. It's a used van. Wife don't care. Shes happy with it. That's all that matters.

Years ago my brother had a white 1984 monte carlo SS. Damn thing was full of purple berry bird poop stains. Car was original paint, single stage enamel. Looked terrible. I offered to detail it for some cash. Told him when it's done, tell me what you think its worth.

I washed it with comet and a sponge. It removed the poop stains and bleached it bright white. Then I did a cut and buff with liquid ebony, and polished it up with carnauba wax. When I brought it back to his house, he thought I repainted it. Lol

 

[Dad]

I love this post! Some great and inexpensive touch ups for the exterior parts most of us just take for granted. I like the mirror covers as a way to either spiff up your mirrors or cover up damage.

 

[Mach 1]

340, you got it, i have done some color sanding on new vehicles to planerize the surface, have to be very careful, CC is real thin. Question for the pro, metal that is covered with that e coating, does it need to be removed before epoxy? Or can it just be shot?

 

[Barracuda340]

340, you got it, i have done some color sanding on new vehicles to planerize the surface, have to be very careful, CC is real thin. Question for the pro, metal that is covered with that e coating, does it need to be removed before epoxy? Or can it just be shot?

I have read multiple schools of thought on Ecoat primers. I do not completely remove it. I sand it with a DA to rough it up and dull it out, and in areas where I cannot use my sander like when prepping floor pans, I use red scotchbrite and dull the shine as well as I can, then I spray epoxy primer over it. Here is about as far as I went on the sanding with the topside of a new trunk pan after installing it. I scuffed and epoxy primered the underside of the pan before installing it. It's a little more metal showing than normal, but it's pretty hard to just scuff a trunk pan.

Heres a treat for ya. Goodmark quarter skins kinda suck. They dont fit well at the top, front, or back which is why the splicing, but they were pretty inexpensive. I had to reuse the tops of the original skins. Everything was rotted around the trunk opening. Required me to splice in rust free sections from a donor 69 barracuda back half. I used steel tubing to hold everything in alignment when I cut the car back end apart.

 

[Mach 1]

Damn dude, thats frigging awesome, I am doing a 1969 Mach 1 S code. I am doing the convertible inner rockers and h beam seat pedestals. I have mine on a rotisserie, doing a 3 link rear, double A arm, all coil overs, 4 wheel discs, restromod.

Scuffing is work. Thx for tips, love Cuda, thats a real one.

 

[Mach 1]

Heres mine, hope others dont mind, yeah the dealer sells handles already painted to match color.

 

[Mach 1]

I think i counted no less then 30+ sheet metal panels to be replaced, i only had to replace drivers side floor, and toe board.
The frame rails are the convertible inner rockers.
I have X frame that welds to subframe connectors. Still going back and forth if i need a roll cage?
Its fun, but a lot of time and dedication.

 

[Barracuda340]

Mach 1

I love those!! My co worker has a 69 mach 1 with a 4 speed I love that body style. Thanks for the kudos. This type of work is time consuming to do it right especially when these cars are over 50 years old.

This cuda is a 69 340-S that somebody butchered into a drag car in the 1980s. By the time I got it, it was stripped and left for dead. It had a spring relocation done to it that was horrible, and the rear wheel houses hacked out with a sawsall and a torch to pop rivet in aluminum tubs. I have reversed all that.

It had some horrible welded in 2" square tube sub frame connectors. I removed all that, and made nicer ones out of 2x3 boxed steel tube. I payed $300 for it as a roller. Heres some more pix of how far I drilled it apart because of butchery, and rust. I temporarily left the horrible connectors in place to hold whats left of the unibody together as I drilled everything off. I also temp braced the framerails so I could remove the relocated spring boxes. Then I fabricated new framerail sections and welded them in.

Since the data plate under the hood was missing I cannot restore it since nothing on it can be verified as such. The only thing that can verify it is the Vin#. I mean I could restore it, but again no data plate to verify any options. As such it was a nicely equipped car when new.

What I can verify

Barracuda 340 sport coupe
Scorch red
Black interior
Black 340 stripe
Automatic
Floor shift with console
bucket seats with head restraint
A01 light package
AM radio
Manual brakes

What I cannot verify because of missing data plate

Rear end axle ratio
Rims or wheel covers it had
Fast ratio manual steering
Optional power steering

What I know it would have had as a 340 car

8.75 rear axle
Front sway bar
150 mph speedometer
7,000 rpm tachometer
Front disc brakes
340-S badging
340-S stripe
340 engine
Dual exhaust
Black painted grille surrounds
Blacked out trunk panel
Formula S trunk badge
Fast ratio steering box
340 torsion bars
Performance rallye steering wheel

 

[Mach 1]

Matt, you are going to paint your door handles, shot get a sticky done on a short little write up.

Nice roller, i am going that way with, not as extreme with alot better quality work. You are undoing some very questionable work, i think you have it rougher then i. Alot of my big mods are kit form, i want to do rear wheel wells, however i bought factory OEM, panels and will use them, the fit is already there. You are doing seam to seam butt, i am doing more over lap, as it has better strength quality, now on the body, butt is only way to go.

Its good to talk with someone who is right in the same stages of restoration, plus now i have a paint tech service, as this is my rookie play.

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