Has anyone taken off the brushed aluminum trim and painted it? I think there are some kits out there but they are just covers. I want to paint it a gunmetal color. Just wondering how hard it is to take it off yourself and if there were any special tools needed. Thanks in advance!

 

I'm looking for instructions on how to take off all the interior trim as well.

 

Gunmetal would be really nice.

 

Sorry to resurrect such a dated thread, but I have searched around for a DIY instructions on painting the Aluminum trim, can't find anything.
Anyone point me in the right direction ? Oh and CF is not an option for me.
Thanks !

 

There used to be a sticky to start you in the right direction. Someone genious decided to un-sticky it.

 

Old threads:

https://www.myg37.com/forums/d-i-y-i...ower-dash.html

https://www.myg37.com/forums/d-i-y-i...oor-panel.html

https://www.myg37.com/forums/body-in...rior-trim.html

 

I repainted my door handle trim and now debating on repainting the brushed aluminum on top as well. I work at a cabinet finish shop so paint and spray guns are readily available. I sprayed mine with 2 coats of black primer, scuffing in between coats and and stripping the trim completely prior to the first one. To ensure longevity I hit it with some clear coat.

 

Wow, looks good. I thing that it would be easy to go overkill with this however. I quite like the look of just the door handle's painted.

 

That's kind of what I was thinking, going all black would be overkill. But your post confirms it, going to leave the the brushed aluminum trim alone. One other thing I will repaint though is the steering wheel trim where the stereo/cruise controls are...

 

What do the trim pieces look like after you sanded them down and remove the paint? Is there metal underneath the paint or just plastic? I had the door pull trim replaced 2 weeks ago and it already has a chip on it. I was wondering if I could just sand off the paint with really fine grit sandpaper and just leave it like that.

 

Thanks very much for the links Ivoidwarranties

 

actually all the trim (aluminum) pieces are all plastic, with metal overlayed on top of it, then painted (at least thats how it is in my 08). once you sand the paint off the metal piece down, it actually looks about the same as before, except its alot smoother and no paint on it, just the brushed aluminum look, or rather sanded aluminum.

i think someone on here actually sanded off all the paint from the door handles and left it like that, without painting over it.

 

^ Really? Good to know. I'm gonna give it a try with the door pull trim first...it's cheap to replace in case I don't lie how it looks when the paint is sanded off

 

Why not just vinyl wrap it? It's easier than prep and paint and you get a smoother finish. Just finished doing all of the trim pieces in my coupe this morning. Took about 2 hours total including the time it took to remove and install all the pieces.

Here's a quick shot of the dash.

 

That looks very clean, and now I want to try it for my next project. How vinyl did you need?