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I just bought a 2003 Civic DX Sedan and I want to color match the door handles, side door moldings, and the side mirrors. When I went to an autobody shop, they told me that painting these parts can't be done because the paint will not stick, even if a primer is used. WTF?!? I'm sure plenty of DX owners have had these pieces painted without problems.

My question - is it possible to have these pieces painted? And if so, what is the best prep method to make sure that the paint will adhere strongly? Sanding, primer, paint, clear coat?!?

Please help. Any input will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.

-Joel

 
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go to a different shop or even ask your dealership about it. Dealerships go through outside painting sources most of the time. Or you could look into getting aftermarket mirrors and just shave your handles

 
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Sounds like the body shop you went to hasn't read any Body Tech books since 1983.

 
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That's what I was thinking - the only problem is is that this is the body shop that was recommended to me by the Honda Dealership. I went into Honda and asked them if they did this type of painting and they replied by saying that they use the aforementioned body shop to paint all of their parts.

 
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i would suggest that you buy ex parts from the dealer and install them yourself

 
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Yeah, I went to Honda and asked them how much the side door moldings painted silver would cost - all 4 pieces was $382.00 plus tax.

I figured the "stealership" would charge this much so that's why I wanted to find an alternate route.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

 
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another related question - is there something called a Honda Primer that is used to make paint adhere to these black plastic pieces? I was talking to some guy that told me I would need to buy this in order to have the paint adhere without flaking in the future....anyone heard of this?

Thanks

-Joel

 
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uhhh, ok here's what you do. go to a junk yard. find your model and grab all the stuff you want. you'll prolly pay less than 75 bucks for just about everything you could ever dream of. now here's where it branches off:

you
A. bring the newly acquired parts to a body/paint shop. tell them your year, make, model, and color code. give them the parts, come back later and get the stuff. it shouldn't be outrageous

B. you paint that stuff yourself. this is more difficult, as it requires YOU to take the door handles apart yourself, sand them, prime them, sand again, prime again, sand again, paint, sand, paint, sand, paint, sand, paint, clear coat, sand, clear coat. then reassemble. and put in ur doors.

-DINGALING

 
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ttt

Anyone else?