Finishes and detailing trim


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Old 11-07-12, 07:07 AM
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Finishes and detailing trim

Needed to replace a car door handle because the plastic hinge on it broke, it's common on the Sienna and that's the easy part.

It came black. I prepped and matched the paint using Duplicolor, and have applied a coat of their clearcoat finish. It looks fine, but, curious though, if that's the right thing to have done.

Should I be using something harder on the handle than clearcoat, ie a spray on polyurethane, or what does one use to protect the handle from inevitable scratching?
 
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Old 11-07-12, 04:34 PM
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or just use polyurethane clear coat? With hardener added?
Not sure, what do you mean "it came black"?
 
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Old 11-07-12, 07:40 PM
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answer

"..it came black..." Well, it came black, that's the color of the unfinished plastic.

I don't know if the clearcoat is hard enough, if polyurethane is harder or not, or if I'm concerned about nothing.

How is a door handle typically finished?
 
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Old 11-07-12, 09:04 PM
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I thought you painted it and it came out black. Hence the question.
Match the opposite one? They are either chromed, or painted same paint, or left some sort of a plastic.
If you bought aftermarket plastic and need to paint it, make sure you wash it well. As in degrease. They put some sort of wax on it, and then neither paint nor primer stick. I do several baths in Orange hand cleaner, then metal wool, then denaturate, but that's with rubber gloves on already. Oil from skin, you know.
You can have paint premixed at auto paint store, and then urethane clear coat. Or, you can have paint premixed with clear coat. You will need very little of it and they can put it into spray can for you. That's prolly best bet, as, otherwise, most paint stores will limit you on minimum can size sold.
As it's cold outside, and you do not want to paint inside your garage (furnace! boom!!), you may want to have hardener premixed into everything. So that it goes hard in matter of few minutes.
 
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Old 11-08-12, 04:07 AM
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you may want to have hardener premixed into everything.
Is that feasible? Any paint I've ever used, once the hardener was added - the clock started clicking on the amount of time the paint was useable. If any leftover paint [w/hardener] is poured back into the container it ruins the rest of the paint.
 
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Old 11-08-12, 05:43 AM
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I'm ready to install it. Applied a few coats of Duplicolor paint, and then a few coats of Duplicolor clear coat.

Was asking if that's a suitable final finish, or if something harder needs to be applied.

And, yes, I did get that initial mysterious coating off the plastic and unexpectedly found it came off with Tilex.

So do I need to finish it with something harder before installing? I look at the handles on the car and it looks like they take an unintentional beating with scratches all over.

Thanks.
 
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Old 11-08-12, 08:08 AM
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fingernails and rings. that's what does it. They even came up with deeper handle wells for women, due to very hard acrylic nails.
It's too late now. Your Duplicolor will prolly come off in about year or so. That's why you buy all the ingredients at paint store. You did roughen and prime and sand it before painting, didn't you? And you did it in warm environment?
I'd say, just let it be as it. When it will start coming off, or break again, then do it the right way.
Sorry.
 
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Old 11-08-12, 03:12 PM
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It was cleaned, primed once and done in a warm area... well, as warm as it is here.



I've tried the scratch test on some overspray in a part that doesn't show and it appears to have some decent strength. The handle finish looks flawless.

Should I leave the final coat in Duplicolor (three light finish coats over four light coats of paint done with the handle jammed slightly open from the underside), or cover that with a spray poly or something else?
 
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Old 11-08-12, 06:09 PM
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Well, it's your call. Now that I scared you a little.
Reason being, I used to "DIY paint" with Duplicolor, and it never went well. Until I started paying a bit more and using pro shop paints and ingredients - and many are there!
So, like I said - just let it be. In several weeks of not washing the car, and in several months of elements, it'll look just like the rest. No need to toss more $$ at it. But that's me talking. Your car, your call.
 
 

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