Color matched antenna base and tailgate handle

ramnutt · Jul 25, 2013

Since my truck was in the body shop for a new bumper, I decided to get my antenna base and tailgate handle painted as well. The good...they did not charge me any extra for them. The bad...they had the truck for 4 days when the quoted me two.

Overall, I am pleased with how the tailgate handle came out. As for the antenna base, not sure. The color matches well and it is shiny, but I can still see the texture of the plastic. When I see pictures of others that have it done, they appear to be smooth just like the fender. Is this something that could smooth out with polishing/buffing or did the shop just do a poor prep job?

Reailzed I never really posted a pic of my truck.

ramnutt · Jul 26, 2013

bump for pics

BAILEY1 · Jul 26, 2013

Looks good!

argray90 · Jul 26, 2013

Nice never thought of doing that.

DatacomGuy · Jul 27, 2013

Looks very good.

WhiteExpress · Jul 27, 2013

IMO I wouldn't have paid for that! That looks horrid!
Any paint to match part should have a smooth surface texture to match the surrounding paint!

I'm surprised a shop would let something of such poor quality leave their doors!
Unfortunately, you can't expect much for free.

You can likely take some 2000 grit to it and smooth them out a bit, then polish them back up.
Just make sure you let the paper do the work (aka, very light pressure) and make sure you're sanding with a good lubricant, not dry.

Side Note: Truck looks beautiful! Is that a Sport? I've never seen those wheels on anything short a Laramie

Bully's Performance · Jul 27, 2013

very nice!

TylerB · Jul 27, 2013

That's good they didn't charge you for that because if I were you I wouldn't have paid for it.

Forgot to mention, no matter how much of the clear you sand you're still gonna see the texture. You're best option is sand with 600 till it's smooth then respray the color and clear. Then wetsand with 2000, then buff and polish.

bigbadram1500 · Jul 27, 2013

Nice! the handle looks great, but yeah they should have smoothed that antenna base.

ramnutt · Jul 27, 2013

WhiteExpress said:
IMO I wouldn't have paid for that! That looks horrid!
Any paint to match part should have a smooth surface texture to match the surrounding paint!

You can likely take some 2000 grit to it and smooth them out a bit, then polish them back up.
Just make sure you let the paper do the work (aka, very light pressure) and make sure you're sanding with a good lubricant, not dry.

Side Note: Truck looks beautiful! Is that a Sport? I've never seen those wheels on anything short a Laramie

I thought it should be smooth to match as well. Thanks for the compliments. It is a Limited.

Tylerb said:
That's good they didn't charge you for that because if I were you I wouldn't have paid for it.

Forgot to mention, no matter how much of the clear you sand you're still gonna see the texture. You're best option is sand with 600 till it's smooth then respray the color and clear. Then wetsand with 2000, then buff and polish.

Thanks for the tips. I am debating either buying a new plastic base and starting from scratch by sanding and rattle can paint or just sanding this one down.

Any tips on where to get colormatched spray paint?

TylerB · Jul 27, 2013

I'd use the one they painted, they're paint will make a good primer for new paint to stick to.

You can order 5oz cans of Mopar colormatched paint from your dealer.

audio1der · Jul 28, 2013

You're more clever than I for thinking of that. We just got ours back from having the rear bumper resprayed and I never even thought of color matching some of the crap, black plastic.
Tyler's advice is sound.

ramnutt · Jul 28, 2013

Tylerb said:
I'd use the one they painted, they're paint will make a good primer for new paint to stick to.

You can order 5oz cans of Mopar colormatched paint from your dealer.

Would you recommend a coat of primer anyways after sanding or just straight to the paint and clear?

ramnutt · Jul 28, 2013

audio1der said:
You're more clever than I for thinking of that. We just got ours back from having the rear bumper resprayed and I never even thought of color matching some of the crap, black plastic.
Tyler's advice is sound.

I can't take credit for it either. I would have never thought of it if I had not seen it here on ramfoum.com first.

WhiteExpress · Jul 28, 2013

ramnutt said:
Thanks for the tips. I am debating either buying a new plastic base and starting from scratch by sanding and rattle can paint or just sanding this one down.

Any tips on where to get colormatched spray paint?

I would use what they did as a base.

I think the dealer is likely the best bet for colormatch.

20ram12 · Jul 28, 2013

This is how mine came out. I sanded and sanded until it was smooth as glass.

ramnutt · Jul 28, 2013

What grit paper did you use?

20ram12 · Jul 30, 2013

ramnutt said:
What grit paper did you use?

80/ 160/ 800/ 2000 grit. A little work with the 2000 but it's worth it.

Color matched antenna base and tailgate handle

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Member

Attachments

Senior Member

Member

Similar threads

Forum statistics

Share this page