Painted rear Louvers

[Boss Hoss]

My Hummer is black and i have a nice fiberglass painted tire cover, but those damn plastic rear louvers have drove me nuts since day one. Maybe its just me, but i think it cheapens the look of the vehicle so i wanted them painted. I decided to buy a spare set off of ebay incase i dont like how they come out painted but as of now im happy. I painted them with black krlyon fusion paint and used the whole can so its on there pretty thick. If they start chipping or what not ill just put my old ones back on--the louvers where only $10bucks off ebay and the paint was $4 so worst case i throw away $14.


Heres the comparison:





This is not the best picture as it was taken at night but you get the idea. The left is the factory plastic, the right is the krylon fusion black:





I would like for all of my plastic trim peices to be painted including my bumpers, but i guess it wouldnt be practical offroad--would look nice though. Im very curious how Sewell paints the trim on the trucks and honors the warranty--it just seems impossible to warranty the paint on plastic.

[Boss Hoss]

My Hummer is black and i have a nice fiberglass painted tire cover, but those damn plastic rear louvers have drove me nuts since day one. Maybe its just me, but i think it cheapens the look of the vehicle so i wanted them painted. I decided to buy a spare set off of ebay incase i dont like how they come out painted but as of now im happy. I painted them with black krlyon fusion paint and used the whole can so its on there pretty thick. If they start chipping or what not ill just put my old ones back on--the louvers where only $10bucks off ebay and the paint was $4 so worst case i throw away $14.


Heres the comparison:





This is not the best picture as it was taken at night but you get the idea. The left is the factory plastic, the right is the krylon fusion black:





I would like for all of my plastic trim peices to be painted including my bumpers, but i guess it wouldnt be practical offroad--would look nice though. Im very curious how Sewell paints the trim on the trucks and honors the warranty--it just seems impossible to warranty the paint on plastic.

[HummBob]

Great Idea!! Looks WAAAY better.

I too have hated the look of the plastic louvers since day one.
I was considering the chrome ones but even though I like chrome, the chrome louvers were just a LITTLE TOO MUCH BLING for my taste.

When you painted them, did you scuff the plastic louvers up at all to help adhesion? Did you prime them?

Looks great though. Keep us posted on the longevity.

[Boss Hoss]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by HummBob:
Great Idea!! Looks WAAAY better.

I too have hated the look of the plastic louvers since day one.
I was considering the chrome ones but even though I like chrome, the chrome louvers were just a LITTLE TOO MUCH BLING for my taste.

When you painted them, did you scuff the plastic louvers up at all to help adhesion? Did you prime them?

Looks great though. Keep us posted on the longevity. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>



Im with you on the chrome louvers---they are rediculous....in my book they are right up on the level of rediculousness as the air vent caps in the front.

I didnt prime them or scuff them. I simply cleaned them with windex, let it dry the put lots of paint on them. The krylon fusion is supposed to bond with plastic without primer or prep...time will tell.

[OrangeCrush]

I like the dull/satin finish. The gloss look always looks plasticy to me. However, it's not my truck so it's all cool.

However, the reason GM doesn't make them gloss is because it won't take very long for the sun to make the paint deteriorate.

The plastic is thin and gets hot. It'll trash the paint eventually.

But like you said... it's only 14 bucks... if ya like it, well worth the money.

Mark

[4churchill]

came out pretty nice...curious to see how it stands up

[reggieray]

So, how did they hold up Boss?

[SteveGt]

Always thought about doing this, looks nice im also wondering how did it hold up?

[ttkresurfacing]

Mine have been color matched for over 3 yrs with no issues yet,

[HummBob]

Originally Posted by SteveGt

Always thought about doing this, looks nice im also wondering how did it hold up?

I'm trying to find a cheap set on eBay to do this to!!

IMO, looks LESS like plastic when painted!!!

[Boss Hoss]

Originally Posted by reggieray

So, how did they hold up Boss?

Im glad you brought this up as I need to put a fresh coat on them. They dont look bad but look more like plastic rather than paint. Theyll look 100% with a fresh coat.

[reggieray]

I was bored and reading through some old stuff, thought i would annoy you with an old post Sounds like they held up well though. Ron

[splne1]

Just might have to color match mine!!!!

[HummBob]

It's SOOO EASY to colormatch a Black H2!!

[dej1001]

For anyone who wants to try this, sand them down with some 80 grit then some 120 and 180 them prime them up, base coat,then clear or you can get a good single stage paint from any store that sells automotive paint. sand, prime and paint with single stage and it will hold up as long as the rest of the paint on the truck does.