WahooSteeler Posted April 17, 2018 Share Posted April 17, 2018 What are some tips and tricks to painting fender flares since they are plastic/rubber? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted April 17, 2018 Share Posted April 17, 2018 There's a paint additive that makes it flexible for doing just that. No personal experience with it though. Like everything else to do with paint I imagine it's 98% about the prep work that determines if it comes out well or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WahooSteeler Posted April 17, 2018 Author Share Posted April 17, 2018 1 hour ago, DirtyComanche said: There's a paint additive that makes it flexible for doing just that. No personal experience with it though. Like everything else to do with paint I imagine it's 98% about the prep work that determines if it comes out well or not. Yeah I was familiar with the additive for making it more flexible and also found out there is an pre-treatment just before applying the paint that helps it seep in to the plastic for a better adhesion. Prep is key, as always. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swampy Posted April 17, 2018 Share Posted April 17, 2018 I was going to beline my fender flares. I was just going to cleam them, scuff/sand, clean and paint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParadiseMJ Posted April 18, 2018 Share Posted April 18, 2018 Don't "scuff" too aggressively. Use a very fine sandpaper or you'll tear up the plastic. I have used Fusion...for plastic, and it held up really well (5+ years and still jet black. Now comes in many different colors, finishes and textures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzimm Posted April 18, 2018 Share Posted April 18, 2018 If they are faded and you just want the darker black to come back, use a heat gun. It will darken the flares back up and make them look new. Tim from Bleepinjeep has a video on it from a while back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WahooSteeler Posted April 18, 2018 Author Share Posted April 18, 2018 Mine are grey from the two-tone maroon & grey paint scheme. I'm getting some rust cleaned up on the lower panels and getting the whole lower section primed black to see how it looks since I think I want to go that color combo when I repaint the truck later. So I need to paint the flares too to give me a complete idea of what the maroon & black look like. It will be somewhat of a temporary job until I get the truck and trim professionally painted, but I also don't want to go through the effort of doing something wrong and they start to peel in 3 months LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87MJJeep Posted May 1, 2020 Share Posted May 1, 2020 On 4/18/2018 at 9:58 AM, WahooSteeler said: Mine are grey from the two-tone maroon & grey paint scheme. I'm getting some rust cleaned up on the lower panels and getting the whole lower section primed black to see how it looks since I think I want to go that color combo when I repaint the truck later. So I need to paint the flares too to give me a complete idea of what the maroon & black look like. It will be somewhat of a temporary job until I get the truck and trim professionally painted, but I also don't want to go through the effort of doing something wrong and they start to peel in 3 months LOL! What did you ultimately do with your flares? Keep their plastic surface or paint them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WahooSteeler Posted May 1, 2020 Author Share Posted May 1, 2020 16 minutes ago, 87MJJeep said: What did you ultimately do with your flares? Keep their plastic surface or paint them? I painted the rears, they have held up well with Krylon Fusion. Need to do the fronts to match because I can't afford to do a full on paint job anytime soon, plus my son is still using it as his DD so I don't want to drop that kind of coin and have him ding it up! LOL I'll get some pics and post tomorrow. I think it looks pretty good as black and maroon, but when I ever get to having it painted, I think I might go back to the OEM grey/silver. Black and maroon is so common, I like the contrast of the grey/silver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87MJJeep Posted May 1, 2020 Share Posted May 1, 2020 Thanks! I'd love to see photos. Love your avatar!!! I watched those two last night!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbyluvv Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 I painted the flares on my TJ Unlimited with Krylon Fusion. One trick I have learned is clean your parts with ammonia. It opens the plastic up and the paint sticks better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WahooSteeler Posted May 6, 2020 Author Share Posted May 6, 2020 2 hours ago, shelbyluvv said: One trick I have learned is clean your parts with ammonia. After light sanding with very fine grit I wiped mine down with rubbing alcohol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87MJJeep Posted May 7, 2020 Share Posted May 7, 2020 That's good info to know. The TJ looks sharp! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjy_26 Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 I cleaned and wiped down with alcohol, too. I then used black Krylon Fusion. It's held up OK to the Southwest sun and a few winters worth of salt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WahooSteeler Posted May 14, 2020 Author Share Posted May 14, 2020 Finally got a couple pics........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87MJJeep Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 That paint looks good on there Steeler! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WahooSteeler Posted May 14, 2020 Author Share Posted May 14, 2020 I had hoped to be able to get the rust over the wheel wells repaired and the truck finally repainted this summer, but can't financially justify that right now. Plus my son will be taking it back to school in the fall as his DD so I'll wait until he graduates and I take the truck back to take that plunge. I'm sure it's going to pick up more dings and dents in the next few years. That said, I'm going to go ahead and do the front flares and lower air dam soon to at least get a consistent look. That's black primer on the bottom from when I had rust repaired a while back. I asked the shop to tint the primer black so I could see if I liked that combo better than the factory argent/gray trim. Believe it or not, the hood, a-pillars and roof are also tinted primer. The clear coat was all gone and aside from looking ragged the hood and roof were starting to pit and rust so I wanted to address it before it got worse with not knowing when I'd actually be able to repaint the whole truck. This way it would at least look relatively decent from 20ft LOL. I like the black two-tone, and have even considered a full two-tone with black on the top and bottom and burgundy down the middle. But, when I ever get around to painting it I'm pretty sure I'm going back to the factory color combo with the argent/gray lowers and flares. Lots of black and red trucks out there from the 80s and 90s but not many with burgundy and gray. I think it's a nice contrast and I like the factory look of it. I have the Laredo lower rubber trim stored that I would also reapply to stay as close to the factory look as possible. And I have a set of Turbines just in case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87MJJeep Posted May 15, 2020 Share Posted May 15, 2020 Your MJ has a great stance, and your color plans will be the icing on the cake! I wish I had all the goodies to make mine into a Laredo, but I am rather content with it as-is + fresh paint. I need to do some research on the air dam and adding one to mine. There is some coarse leather-like thing that runs from just behind the bumper back into the suspension. It's torn and sags real bad. I've always wondered if it was factory or something home-crafted by a previous owner. Back to Fender Flares, I have some decisions to be making. I think whatever I do to them, I need to do to the bumper caps/ends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WahooSteeler Posted May 15, 2020 Author Share Posted May 15, 2020 12 minutes ago, 87MJJeep said: There is some coarse leather-like thing that runs from just behind the bumper back into the suspension. It's torn and sags real bad. I've always wondered if it was factory or something home-crafted by a previous owner. Thanks, yours looks great also, love the Turbines. That "diaper" is factory, I took mine off a while ago as it was down to bits and pieces like yours. You can actually still get those, still some out there as NOS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87MJJeep Posted May 15, 2020 Share Posted May 15, 2020 18 minutes ago, WahooSteeler said: Thanks, yours looks great also, love the Turbines. That "diaper" is factory, I took mine off a while ago as it was down to bits and pieces like yours. You can actually still get those, still some out there as NOS. Diaper is quite fitting! That's good to know I can get another. I grew up calling my wheels "10-spokes." My mom sold Jeeps then, and the two most common MJ/XJ wheels were called "10-spokes" and "5-spokes." The Turbines were my favorites back then, so I was quite happy when I found my MJ and that's what was on it. The 5-spokes seemed to be much more common on the XJs. I preferred the Turbines on XJs, too. Thankfully, the owner's manual was still with my MJ despite it being 20 yrs old when I got it and me being the 5th owner. Opened it up, and there was my mom's handwriting where she filled in the original owner's name. She had sold it! It seemed so old when I got it in 2007. It's hard to believe I've now had it going on 13 yrs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WahooSteeler Posted May 15, 2020 Author Share Posted May 15, 2020 5 minutes ago, 87MJJeep said: Opened it up, and there was my mom's handwriting where she filled in the original owner's name. She had sold it! That is crazy cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted May 15, 2020 Share Posted May 15, 2020 rust free junkyard beds are still available. I'm just sayin'. Quote Opened it up, and there was my mom's handwriting where she filled in the original owner's name. She had sold it! dang that's awesome!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87MJJeep Posted May 15, 2020 Share Posted May 15, 2020 Thanks guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now