Painting wood trim (reply to Limited1)

I could not respond to your PM as I am a new member. I took all trim pieces off and painted them the same color as the door handle pockets. I then ran the body paint below or to the middle of the trim. If I were to do it over I would have gone with a much lighter color on trim as it gives more contrast to the wood grain. I was sick to see those pictures from Mark, I did a lot of work to that wagon. least everyone is ok.

Thanks for the reply! Was the paint an off the shelf color or did you have it mixed up special? I think it looks perfect with the color you used.

It was off a color chart, if you really like it I could find out from my body guy. It was mixed though.

id like to also know, i removed all the good trim, and would like to replaceand paint the missing pieces , i might need these for another roadie, there is one in my future, where it is i dont know

I think I am going to use the rustoleum rattle can paint I saw at home depot -- nutmeg is the color. It is a bit darker than the current trim but I think it will look decent. I have seen a white roady that was done in that color and it didn't look too bad.

There was a 94 caprice wagon on ebay a few weeks ago>The owner had painted all the trim the
same color as the car and it looked great.Didnt think it would work but depending on your wagons
body color it may be something to consider.

The upper trim is aluminum, and you should use a zinc chromate primer (aircraft primer-light olive green) on it, so that the paint will adhere properly.

Hi All:

So I decided to pull off all the peeling wood trim on my new to me 96 to repaint it. What a chore. Spent 2 days stripping with aircraft stripper and cleaning them. Another full day spent cleaning them all with 4 ought steel wool. After the cleaning with the steel wool, I took Fred's suggestion and used Zinc-chromate on all the pieces; found yellow at a marine supply house and that was a better undercaot then the green.

So, after 2 nice coats, I waited 2 days and then decided to spray them with an automotive clearcoat (over the color I painted them) so the sun would not wreck as much havoc on the perfectly painted trim.

Well, after I started spraying them, I just about screamed when I saw that the paint was wrinkling from the clearcoat spray! Holy crap. Now that I have stoped fuming, I ask you all that have painted your narrow trim pieces, what did you do for a long last finish that stayed on?

Any solutions to the wrinkling? I only want to do this one more time. I even found an awesome color; #7771 Sand from Home Depot (rattle can Rust Oleum).

You have to use an "equal" or "less hot" paint for the clearcoat. Check your base for the tinted paint. If you are using a lacquer clearcoat over an enamel, it will cause the paint to react in the manner you have described. If you used an enamel, you may be able to use a urethane over it, but test it on some scrap before you do the entire part. Zinc chromate should be a fairly hot paint, so you can put just about anything directly over it.

Thanks Fred. Great info. I sanded and re- primed and painted the trim that I clear coated that bubbled. I am calling it good with just the topcoat until I find an alternative.

Here is the finished trim on the passenger door showing the close color match. I did not do any wood grain treatment to it, just solid color (rust Oleum #7771 Sand).

Looks great! Any more pictures?

That looks nice just like it is. The woodgrain is not necessarily the only good looking solution.

Per Limited1's request....

The outcome. Looks good and a nice alternative to leaving the peeling denoc on.

I did the exact same thing about 6 yrs ago,.to the exact same color car,.
i used cummins engine paint,. it was so bland and drab it looked factory,. very few people even noticed it,.
the auto equivalant of zinc chromate , is etching primer,.

Nick

Nice work, looks great!

looks like it could be factory

Love the way this looks - i need to do this since mine is peeling all over the place.

Limited1 wrote:

I think I am going to use the rustoleum rattle can paint I saw at home depot -- nutmeg is the color. It is a bit darker than the current trim but I think it will look decent. I have seen a white roady that was done in that color and it didn't look too bad.

The darker Cars look good polished

The pics to the one i did are posted on here somewhere,..??

Wagoninabox wrote:

Per Limited1's request....

The outcome. Looks good and a nice alternative to leaving the peeling denoc on.

That is about what mine looks like after I peeled all the woodgrain off mine.I sort of like the color on mine. But being my Caprice is black I was thinking of doing my trim in black. Any thoughts?

on a black wagon I think stripping the trim then buffing it up would look better than painting it black

I concur.....

Those wheels look great with the polished trim,very very nice look Tim.

I was undecided on stripping to chrome or painting it black so I taped off the trim on the tail gate and drove around for a week. I think it looks nice, but it is only a small area. I think it would be to much black so I will see what I think of the polished look. If I don't like it I can always paint it.

I painted my trim black....

Chris, quit teasing us with that wagon, especially since it hasn't been the wagonfest yet.

Now that looks sharp.

1993 Roady-man wrote:

Chris, quit teasing us with that wagon, especially since it hasn't been the wagonfest yet.

It has not been to Wagonfest so it does not exist!!!

If I had one like that it would be there. Sadly mine is a daily driver so no WagonFest for me in the near future.

Wagon fest is for everyone! No wax criteria.

GraypaHarwick wrote:

If I had one like that it would be there. Sadly mine is a daily driver so no WagonFest for me in the near future.

Noo! That is not what WagonFest is about....the point is you HAVE a wagon Bring it and hang out. NY is a bit too far for me to drive honestly. I should have went to the FL one this year though. Saving my vacation and money for the ISSCA Nats, but now that I took a new position at work...seems like that might be out due to a conflict with my job.

If you have ANY chance in the world to make the NY WagonFest, DO IT!!!

Chris

^ What he said.

I took my car to FL wagon fest with burnt clear coat, dented fenders, and a chalkboard on the hood.

Really. We don't care. lol

brokecello wrote:

GraypaHarwick wrote:

If I had one like that it would be there. Sadly mine is a daily driver so no WagonFest for me in the near future.

Noo! That is not what WagonFest is about....the point is you HAVE a wagon Bring it and hang out. NY is a bit too far for me to drive honestly. I should have went to the FL one this year though. Saving my vacation and money for the ISSCA Nats, but now that I took a new position at work...seems like that might be out due to a conflict with my job.

If you have ANY chance in the world to make the NY WagonFest, DO IT!!!

Chris

In fact others come in cars other than wagons so as not to miss the event...... ummm like Honda's...ahhh.....El Camino's....Caprice sedans.....Impala SS'ss's's's's' etc....

Oldsmobile minivans.... lol

I know that. What I meant was I am not sure if it would make it there. I have not had it long enough to know all the little problems it may have. I bought it just before Daytona show. The furthest I have had it so far is about 60 miles away. Everything seems OK so far.

BigBlackBeaSSt wrote:

1993 Roady-man wrote:

Chris, quit teasing us with that wagon, especially since it hasn't been the wagonfest yet.

It has not been to Wagonfest so it does not exist!!!

That's right,... what was i thinking, i'm getting all bent out of shape over nothing. My bad.

Mr. Wagoninabox....

I have a '95 brigth white woody, and my trim is peeling all over the place, too.

I saw on YouTube where a guy had painted his while it was still on the car - just cut off the old 'stickers' with a razor blade, taped it all off, and painted the trim (after the proper prep work, I assume - there wasn't a film of him doing it... he just mentioned it in his walkaround).

Do you feel I need to remove all the trim, or can this be done with the trim in place ?

How hard is it to remove the trim ? Do I need a special tool ? Will I need to replace any of the plastic reatiners ?

Has anyone else painted the trim while it was on the car ?

Sorry for the rapid-fire questions, and Thank You all in advance....

PSchelly

PSchelly:

I highly recommend taking the trim off to properly prep the pieces (striping, smoothing and painting). I have seen one in a wrecking yard where they painted it while on the wagon and it was very noticeable due to imperfections, overspray and where tape had been, etc. In fact, it was a White woody and they painted the trim black it was just not a good color scheme.

As for removing the trim, search the forum and you will find a couple of excellent “how-to’s” on this upper trim removal. I broke about 8 plastic clips when removing but had extras on hand that I got off a wagon in a wrecking yard. The front “spears” are the trickiest to remove. Take your time and go slow.

I don’t have any of the extra retainers but you may try ebay or Fred Kiehl on this site as he has many great wagon parts available.

Although it sounds simple to score a line and peel the top coat off, I struggled with mine as the film was attached firmly in many areas so it was just a lot safer and easier to do the project off the car. Once it is all painted and put back on, you will be glad you did it!

The best way to get those front spears off is to remove the battery and airbox...take a long socket extension...and tap those pins out from the inside. Thats really the hardest part of removing that upper trim. The other pieces are cake.

Chris

https://gmlongroof.4umer.com/t508-trim-removal-and-polish-from-other-site?highlight=polish+aluminum+trim

This is a post I did some time ago that might be appropriate.