Hey guys, I am new here, and I've had my G37 since 2009 (it's a 2008). The years have slowly settled in, and lately I've been trying to find ways to fix certain things that have been happening.

One of them is the Door Pull Trim / Door Handle Trim inside the car. These are aluminum trims, with a clear coat paint over them. This aluminum is easily, easily scratched (as I am sure some of you have found out).

The aluminum is also a fingerprint and skin oil magnet, you touch it... it gets dirty. It's that simple!

That's why Infiniti has put the clear coat paint over them.

What happens when the paint starts wearing off from use? If you see the attached "Before" pictures, you might see how ugly it looks.

Here is what you will need to fix this issue, if you like how my door pulls ended up looking at the end:

Steel Wool (I chose the least abrasive one, at 0 to avoid any unnecessary scratching)

Clear Coat paint or some nice paint that will stick properly to aluminum and is transparent (I have not applied the paint yet, as I am searching for the proper paint to use). I will update this thread with the paint I use once I find it.

Step 1: Remove the Trim from the door (The "after" picture I took was before I discovered how to take off the trim). To remove the trim, there is a slot for a flat head screwdriver on the right side of the handle.

Step 2: Use the wool to smooth out the trim completely, erasing all scratches and removing any leftover clear coat paint. The paint will come off evenly with the wool, you will have to apply a bit of pressure to take it off.

Extra Steps: This aluminum is very easy to scratch as I mentioned earlier. As such, even with really soft steel wool like the one I used, you can actually "paint" a design on it. Depending on which way you brush, it will leave a mark permanently on the aluminum.

What I am trying to say is this: Do you want to create your own design to your doors? If done right, you could give it a great "brushed" look. I tried making circles, criss crossing lines, horizontal lines, vertical, diagonal... While I did not attach pictures, it just takes a little pressure to give it any look you want.

I am thinking that, with a slightly more abrasive steel wool, you could give these handles an amazing look, and then protect it with clear coat, transparent paint on top.

I have not finished both my handles yet, once I am done, I will be sure to post pictures!

Check out the attached pictures:

Steel Woold I used
Trim Removed from the Door
Trim with paint peeling off (before)
Trim after

**Blue squares denote where the flat head screwdriver slot is.


Sorry if this is a bit messy, I haven't done many instructional posts like this one before! Please let me know what you guys think. Thank you!

 

The ones you have on the 08 model are the plastic ones with a fake aluminum finish on them. Later models are actually aluminum with the same finish as the trim on the dash. They aren't expensive, I think maybe in the $30-40 range. They simply go in place of the cheesy plastic ones that peel and they match the car exactly, no refinishing required.

There's a thread about this from years back, if you care to search for it.

EDIT: Link to info on the OEM solution.
https://www.myg37.com/forums/body-in...oor-pulls.html

 

Basically, it's plastic wrapped in a sheet of aluminum (it's not just aluminum finish). There is a sheet of about a millimeter thick of aluminum wrapped around it.

Of course, another option is to just buy some new ones at the dealership.

 

You are correct about it actually being metal, I had forgotten that part.

 

Haha, yeah Mind you, the 09 and forward part is much better, since its fully made of aluminum.

Either way, I finished doing both of them (minus the clear coat). I personally don't care much for those handles matching up with the Washi pattern in the rest of the car, so this was just fine for me.

They came out pretty polished, and in the direction in which I "brushed" the metal they look like originally brushed-aluminum parts (they look pretty nice, or at least much nicer than the way they used to look).

I haven't applied the clear coat paint yet to protect the finish (I will do that soon), but in all, the cost to get this done is around $13 bucks.

Steel Wool: $3.50
Clear Coat Paint Spray: $8.50

Compared to the cost of replacement (my local dealership wants $43.99 per piece), it would've been almost $88 for both plus tax.

Once I apply the clearcoat I will post a couple of pictures.

 

Did mine last night. Came out great. Steel wool was the best thing I found and it came out nice and Smooth.