[Skylo Blu]

Hello, I've tried searching on this site for about an hour on a solid "How To" about painting the exteriors. There is a ton of posts about it but everyone has different recommendations.

Some say to use acetone, some say not to. Some say to use a primer, some don't. Some say let it dry for 24 hours and some say a few hours. Some say rustoleom, some say use kyrlon fushion.

I'm not sure how to weed through the advice and find the best results. I am not very interested in bed liner as I like the clean look a little more than the rugged.

Questions being:

What brand paint should I look at?
Do I need acetone and primer?
How long do I need to let the paint "dry"?
Has anyone painted the plastic on the roof rack without the PITA removal?

 

[cola]

I would wash it with soap and water. Dawn or any dish soap with a degreaser.
After that scuff it lightly with a scotch pad (red pad).

Blow off with an airline and clean with wax and grease remover.

Paint with SEM bumper coat. It has adhesion promoters in it already. Don’t prime the plastic.
You’ll need at least 3 cans just to do the front and rear bumpers.

2 for the roof rack.


You can paint the roof plastic on the car, but you really aren’t saving anytime because of all the masking needed to protect the body. It’s easier to just remove the rack.

For plastic paint I would only use this. Had it on my for a while and it will last as long as you prep the surface properly.
If it’s warm and dry out I’d let it sit overnight to so it’s fully dry.

Amazon.com: SEM 39103 Black Original Flexible Bumper Coater Aerosol - 12 oz. : Automotive

Buy SEM 39103 Black Original Flexible Bumper Coater Aerosol - 12 oz.: Top Coats - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

[cola]

 

[Matt3400]

I used this stuff on the left, the Trim and Bumper Paint. Scuffed the surface with 180 grit sanding sponge then wiped down with the grease and wax remover. 3 coats, 10 minutes apart. Try not to get wet for 24hrs afterwards.

 

[Skylo Blu]

I would wash it with soap and water. Dawn or any dish soap with a degreaser.
After that scuff it lightly with a scotch pad (red pad).

Blow off with an airline and clean with wax and grease remover.

Paint with SEM bumper coat. It has adhesion promoters in it already. Don’t prime the plastic.
You’ll need at least 3 cans just to do the front and rear bumpers.

2 for the roof rack.


You can paint the roof plastic on the car, but you really aren’t saving anytime because of all the masking needed to protect the body. It’s easier to just remove the rack.

For plastic paint I would only use this. Had it on my for a while and it will last as long as you prep the surface properly.
If it’s warm and dry out I’d let it sit overnight to so it’s fully dry.

Amazon.com: SEM 39103 Black Original Flexible Bumper Coater Aerosol - 12 oz. : Automotive

Buy SEM 39103 Black Original Flexible Bumper Coater Aerosol - 12 oz.: Top Coats - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Good Advice! See I have not read anything about the SEM product. Guess everyone has their own preferences. How long ago did you have yours done?

Sweet Looking rig! What a beauty. Plastic looks clean. I was about to get a set of the Level 8s too. Sadly they are on backorder so went with some DX4 Recons.

 

[Skylo Blu]

Matt 3400 plastic looks goods man. The body paint is even better looking. Well done with the tan and black...

 

[AlbatrossCafe]

@Matt3400 & @cola did you end up leaving the plastics on & taping around them or taking everything off to prep & paint?

Also I love that the link cola posted has an Xterra on it lol. They know.

I'm curious if that is more of a paint or a coating. I've used wipe-on restore products before that only lasted a few months or half a year. A paint seems like it would actually hold up over time.

 

[FishCannon]

My plastic trim pieces were pretty oxidized and I'm also not a fan of the bedlined plastics. But I didn't want to paint them and started looking for restoration products. In that process, I ran across a video series by a guy who does the detail work for a bunch of Pebble Beach Concours cars. He uses Griots Garage Ceramic Trim Wipes to restore plastics. The Griots Garage flagship store is 15 minutes away from my house, so I picked up some of the wipes and went to work. Cleaned the plastics per the directions, hit them up with the wipes and they look like new. It took me 2 boxes of the wipes to get all of the exterior plastics. The first pieces I did were the rear bumper tread and rear corner steps as a trial. It's been 2 months and they still look like the day I used the wipes on them. I'd definitely recommend doing this if you don't want to go the paint route.

Ceramic Trim Wipes, 4 Count

A true solution to faded, discolored trim with this easy to use kit. Easily restore damaged and faded trim with durable ceramic protection that will last for more than 200 washes and/or 2+ years.

www.griotsgarage.com

 

[Matt3400]

@Matt3400 & @cola did you end up leaving the plastics on & taping around them or taking everything off to prep & paint?

Also I love that the link cola posted has an Xterra on it lol. They know.

I'm curious if that is more of a paint or a coating. I've used wipe-on restore products before that only lasted a few months or half a year. A paint seems like it would actually hold up over time.

I left them on and taped.

 

[CaptInsane-O]

If your plastics are heavily oxidized, a good step to add before painting is to hit them with a wet Mr. Clean magic eraser. They are good at scrubbing that oxidized layer off.

 

[Jorge_TX]

Hello, I've tried searching on this site for about an hour on a solid "How To" about painting the exteriors. There is a ton of posts about it but everyone has different recommendations.

Some say to use acetone, some say not to. Some say to use a primer, some don't. Some say let it dry for 24 hours and some say a few hours. Some say rustoleom, some say use kyrlon fushion.

I'm not sure how to weed through the advice and find the best results. I am not very interested in bed liner as I like the clean look a little more than the rugged.

Questions being:

What brand paint should I look at?
Do I need acetone and primer?
How long do I need to let the paint "dry"?
Has anyone painted the plastic on the roof rack without the PITA removal?

Personally, I don't like the idea of painting any of the plastic trim on my Xterra for these reasons. 1. I'm not a good rattle can painter. 2. Paint eventually scratches and then, you have to repaint. While this may seem odd, I have found a product that, used about every 6 months, makes that obnoxious gray plastic look new again. I just Maguiars Tire Gel. Yes, tire gel. It's messy, use plastic gloves and use a tire sponge applicator. Works great on all bumper trim, door trim, door handles, mirrors and even the plastic under the wipers. (Best to remove the wipers when applying the gel.) It also works pretty well on the black trim around the windows! Oh, and the interior? I have used Pledge on all my vehicles for years. It's better than AmourAll and isn't greasy afterwards. I've learned these tips after detailing cars for 30 years. Good luck!

 

[Sturmvoik]

This is what I used and this is how it came out in the end.. perhaps not 100% professional but then again I am not good at painting lol but I am very happy with the end result
later I used same paint to paint all my budges

 

[cola]

@Matt3400 & @cola did you end up leaving the plastics on & taping around them or taking everything off to prep & paint?

Also I love that the link cola posted has an Xterra on it lol. They know.

I'm curious if that is more of a paint or a coating. I've used wipe-on restore products before that only lasted a few months or half a year. A paint seems like it would actually hold up over time.

For the bumpers I just masked everything up. It was too much work to pull them.
The SEM bumper coat is a paint not a coating like the label says.

 

[cola]

Good Advice! See I have not read anything about the SEM product. Guess everyone has their own preferences. How long ago did you have yours done?

Sweet Looking rig! What a beauty. Plastic looks clean. I was about to get a set of the Level 8s too. Sadly they are on backorder so went with some DX4 Recons.

Thanks man!

It was about 4 years in between the first and second time I painted the bumpers. The rears still looked great when I redid them. The fronts had a few issues from bug guts. Mainly staining. I painted all 4 again just to have the same finish.

 

[zanethan]

Ah the age old battle of paint, bedliner, or endless coatings.

I’ve done all 3 and coatings are a waste of time IMO. The ones that last any amount of time take almost as much prep to apply correctly and will fade in less than a year. For the effort, I’d rather spend another few hours to coat it once and be done with it for good.

For paint prep, wash with Dawn, scuff with an abrasive pad, then wipe with acetone and paint. Yes acetone eats plastic but you’re not putting enough of it on to make ANY difference. It’ll will cloud the plastic but that doesn’t matter since you’re going to paint over it. Personally I always pull the plastics. It takes like 30 minutes to pull all plastics below the roof. However, I won’t touch my rack unless it starts leaking. I learned my lesson the hard way there.

I’ve used Krylon Fusion with good results. I have also tried the Duplicolor Bumper and Trim paint and it was terrible. Even after a month of cure time it never felt dry. You could touch it but it was tacky/sticky. I do not have any experience with SEM paint but it was on my list as a possibility.

I know you’re not interested in bedliner but I’m just going to note that of all the coatings on plastics I’ve used Raptor liner is hands down the best IMO. I just got back from a camping/wheeling trip and had 0 flaking or chips. Even after 30+ miles of gravel roads and in the left rear where I backed into a decent sized stump. Prep is a bit more involved since you need to sand with 120 grit paper and hit it with a plastic adhesion spray.

Good luck with whatever you choose! The amount of plastic surfaces on the X is one of the major downsides as they age.

 

[Mastermind46]

I need to paint the sides of my x as the rock chips are starting to get surface rust from the wide stance up front just pelting the sides of the truck. I was thinking about going with Raptor Liner and then painting the plastics with Duplicolor bumper and trim paint. I think I might just go with Raptor liner all over. I am not a great painter but bedliner seems to be a bit more forgiving. I will also be doing the roof drain rains as the paint has peeled out of those. Something tells me this is going to be a much more major project then I am expecting.

 

[RobsRide]

Herculiner the Front and rear bumper.

 

[RobsRide]

Herculiner the Front and rear bumper.

Forgot to mention, I did it to mine. I have pics if you like.

 

[lmb2014]

Yep, I got tired of the old greying plastics on my '00', so I decided to do something about it. Went to Walmart and got 2 cans of krylon primer and flat black paint. Waited for a calm non-windy day and temps in the 80's. Rolled the car outside, taped and sprayed away. Waited an hour, went back to Walmart and got two more can for a second coat on the front plastics. Next day went back to Walmart and got 4 cans. Went home and did the back end of the car. I like the flat black better than the original color of the plastics. That was two years ago and I haven't had any problems with it yet.

 

[Bonzer]

Hello, I've tried searching on this site for about an hour on a solid "How To" about painting the exteriors. There is a ton of posts about it but everyone has different recommendations.

Some say to use acetone, some say not to. Some say to use a primer, some don't. Some say let it dry for 24 hours and some say a few hours. Some say rustoleom, some say use kyrlon fushion.

I'm not sure how to weed through the advice and find the best results. I am not very interested in bed liner as I like the clean look a little more than the rugged.

Questions being:

What brand paint should I look at?
Do I need acetone and primer?
How long do I need to let the paint "dry"?
Has anyone painted the plastic on the roof rack without the PITA removal?

Ok guys... I'm here to help. Automotive painter by trade.
First prep the plastic using a gold or gray scotch Brite and water 💧... if u don't have this 1500 grit sandpaper will do also always prep plastic wet. Make sure all areas to be painted are scuffed up. Next blow it dry using compressed air and a brand new clean rag. Do not leave the plastic in the sun as it will weap and the oils in the plastic will come out again. Get yourself some good adhesion promoter before priming. Polyolifin is the ingredient you should be looking for in the adhesion promoter. Allow this to flash off roughly 10 minutes. Then your choice of primer sealer or high build primer. Sealer will allow you a back to back application. High build will require you to let it dry overnight and sand the whole surface again with 800 grit. Next step after sealer has flashed off for 20 minutes or whatever the tech sheet says depending on your chosen product apply your (acrylic urethane basecoat) in medium wet coats. Not closed coats. Your not putting it down like clear. (The basecoat would also be applied after sanding your high build primer, blowing and cleaning with a wax and grease remover, tack then base.) After you have complete coverage with your base it's on to clear. Tack your basecoat lightly, Also use a urethane clear 2k meaning you need to catalyze it for it to harden... apply 2-3 closed coats of clear. Allow to dry overnight 😴... then cut and buff if you want it flawless to remove any rubbish that landed in your clear. When your done have a beer. You just did a professional job.👍🤙✌
Hope this helps