I. First off you need to buy your materials:
1) Go to
www.paintscratch.com and purchase 2-3 cans of Primer w/ Flex additive, 2 cans of paint w/ flex, 2 cans of clear, rubbing compound, and get sand paper and sanding block (you need more sheets of 600 then 1000). You can get the wet/dry sandpaper from them or O’reilly’s (one pack each is fine) or buy them from PaintScratch. Also, get 320 paper for prepping the surface of the plastic.
2) Now you need to remove the trim. There are three 10mm bolts for the rear piece (the rest are plastic anchors that pop out with a flat blade. You can follow the directions
Here and
Here but I didn’t remove my bumper since I had the tools to get in there. The sides you remove by removing the two screws up front and the plastic anchors underneath, then slide it toward the front of the car.
3) You now need something to mount the pieces to so that they stay rigid while you work them and paint them. Here are some pictures of my solution, but you can do it any way you like:
Below on the bottom right I used a long 10mm bolt to secure the corner down using the OEM anchor (optional).
In this picture I turned around the bottom screw and anchor so it doesn't get in the way.
II. Now you need to sand it down smooth.
1) Getting it smooth is a critical step for prepping it for paint. I used 320 paper, but if you want to cut faster go with a 200 or something. Your job is to get every little spec flat and then follow up with 600 paper to prep for primer. Note: the primer can smooth over minor imperfections, but almost everything you leave undone at this point will come through ever coat after this.
2) The arrows printed on the surface can be sanded flat like I did, but it took forever and it was hard to get perfectly flat. You’ll see what I mean when you take them off.
III. Painting
Follow the directions on the site. They say the same thing, but include warning and precautions that you should know when doing a project like this (i.e. ventilation and safety goggles which I already owned).
1) Use the primer with flex additive (2 coats).
2) Let dry over night.
3) Wet sand surface with 600 grit and let it dry 30min-hour.
4) Color coat paint. Make sure you are spraying it on wet. If it dries as you apply then it isn't going on thick enough (either the metal flakes or pearl will sit on the surface and be too bright).
5) Let dry for a few hours then apply another coat.
6) Let dry overnight.
7) Wet sand any imperfections with wet 1000 grit wet/dry paper.
8) Dry about an hour then put on last coat.
9) Let dry at least one hour, but not more than 24hr before you spray the clear coat.
10) Let clear coat dry a few hours then apply second coat (make sure it goes on wet.
11) At this point you let the clear dry overnight.
12) If the clear surface has any bumpy imperfections, you may want to lightly wet sand with 1000-2000 grit wet paper or if it's OK then proceed with buffing it to a shine with the rubbing compound. Using the sand paper at this point will be scary because it will look milky/dull when you finish. The rubbing compound will shine it up though.
13) Using the rubbing compound is a bit of trial and error and it requires patience to get it glossy like the body surface. It may take the most patience.
...can u do mine
) I recommend sanding by hand especially the painted finish. You can burn the paint and it heats up fast so be careful. Ultimatly, I'd say this project is a win-win thing. Even if you mess up a little you can always have it repainted or ditch them when you can get the OEM kit or WW RS or whatever.
because it may not match so it must be blended. Well..my car is a 2001 and when you by Honda accessories they aren't even color matched to the letter anyways. When I bought my paint they had me specify the code which indicates the plant where my car was assembled. It can change the tint in some cases.
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