I was hoping to get some ideas from you that have painted the accesories on your trucks. I have a pair of stainless tail light guards that I want to piant black to match the rest of my accesoris that will be going on the truck. Any input on how to do this where they will stay looking nice would be a great help. I was think of just doing a couple coats of self etching primer and then top coat. will that last? Thanks in advance

 

You might consider plasti-dip. Its not a glossy finish but it holds up pretty well and its very cheap. $6/can and you could easily do both guards.

If you go with actual paint, I'd do a light sand/scuff, wash off residue, wipe with mineral spirits, then prime and paint.

 

Id go get them powdercoated if your looking for longitivity .... shouldnt cost more than $20 if you pay cash and get the shop to throw them in with their next round of black powdercoating.

 

Longevity depends where you live. I Bedliner my stuff for Longevity, Everything rusts here, when you use TONS and TONS of salt in the winter, and then the ocean doesnt help either lol.

Same process as painting, except I use bedliner not paint, still prime it first. (I always use self-etching primer to)

 

Thanks guys. I'll have to see if I can find someone around hear that does powder coating. I didn't realize that could be so cheap. But if I can't, how well does the plasti dip hold up.

 

Plasti dip will hold up pretty well, but won't be shiny or anything. Which may not be bad. It may chip after a while, but it's pretty tough stuff. Otherwise, like you had mentioned, a self etching primer, maybe even after scratching it with some sandpaper. Then a Gloss Black. Maybe 2 coats of that. If you really want to get picky, you can sand it down between coats and do 2-3 coats, and then a clearcoat on top of it. That will be pretty tough and really glossy.

 

I also painted my guards too. But instead of actual paint, i got Rust-oleum bed liner spray. It comes in a standard spray can for about 6-10$. I did two coats on mine and it has held up for over 6 months now. All i did was somewhat sand the chrome, as i was kinda in a hurry. But it has held up perfectly!

 

I use cheap $10 a can bedliner to, I bought more expensive stuff, and it didnt even stick to the primer.

I sand my parts, clean, use self-etching primer then bedliner a few light coats. I do about 4-8 light coats lol then maybe one thicker coat at the end.

 

Yeah i didnt have any etching primer so i just used a can of the bed liner spray that i had. And it has help up and i got in the woods alot. I even painted the from splash guards too! Because i got the aftermarket mopar rear ones, and they only came in black. It was easier to paint the front factory red ones to black than paint the rear ones red to match the front. I live on a gravel road and rocks always hit my truck. There are very few little nicks in the rustoleum bed liner after over 6 months. Prettyyyy good stuff!