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Are bumper endcaps and door moulding paintable on 97+ XJ?

J

JTS97Z28

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Lake Zurich, IL
I might be picking up a mint condition 00 Sienna Pearl Cherokee Sport on monday. I originally wanted a Limited because I like the exterior styling and interior, but this sport I found is flawless condition. My question is, since it has the basic flat black bumper endcaps and door side mouldings, are these parts paintable to match the rest of the car or will they not accept paint since they are textured?
If these are not paintable where and how much can I purchase front/rear bumper endcaps and door side mouldings that I can have painted to match my car?

Thanks much,
JT
 
JTS97Z28 said:
I might be picking up a mint condition 00 Sienna Pearl Cherokee Sport on monday. I originally wanted a Limited because I like the exterior styling and interior, but this sport I found is flawless condition. My question is, since it has the basic flat black bumper endcaps and door side mouldings, are these parts paintable to match the rest of the car or will they not accept paint since they are textured?
If these are not paintable where and how much can I purchase front/rear bumper endcaps and door side mouldings that I can have painted to match my car?

Thanks much,
JT
Click to expand...
You want them to match the jeep? Why not paint the jeep to match them? :D
ANyways, get paint that will cover plastics, treat the end caps (as in clean them and whatever else needs to be done to them) and paint 'em.
 
They have kind of a rough finish plastic so they will never really match the paint sheen, however I did read somewhere a while back about someone who went after the plastic with an abrasive to sand it all smooth. Better solution would be to
A: Find a set that came off a 99 or newer which are smooth and painted
B: Buy a set from the dealer but THATS gonna cost some bucks..

One of the shows on Spike TV covered the issues with painting flex bumpers, I think it was on either the 69 firebird or the GTO Judge they were restoring.
 
cool thanks a lot. I wouldnt be doing the painting either way and I want it to turn out right. I guess I will be buying all new parts.

Does anyone know the best/cheapest place to buy the F/R bumper endcaps and side door mouldings?


Thanks,
JT
 
i've got the black plastic trim. i prepped mine with 000 steel wool and rubbing alcohol, then painted them with krylon fuzion paint. i know they make it in black, because that's what i've used. duplicolor makes plastic bumper and trim paint, but its crap compared to the krylon.
they've gotta have it in other colors.
 
Any reputable body shop can prep and paint your black plastic parts for you. The key is using the right plasticizers mixed into the factory color coded paint. Don't use any of that off the shelf crap, they never match correctly.
If you want to do it yourself, go to a reputable auto body supply shop and have them mix up some rattle cans for you. Tell them what you are painting and they'll set you up with factory matching paint from your paint code under your hood and also get the plasticizers mixed into in for about $12-$15 a can.
I did mine several years back and it looks great.
dsc04792a.jpg

dsc00220s.jpg
 
Wow that turned out awesome thanks for the tips. I will be having a good friend of mine do them at a body shop he owns. He does very good work. After inspecting my black non-painted panels they do look like they can be painted as long as they are prepped right like you said.

Thanks,
JT
 
i was going to do this to my Jeep and bought all the used bumper caps. now i have an arb and TJM bumpers and the painted caps are just sitting around....
 
There is someone on eBay selling paintable end caps for like $25 / side front. The smooth caps will give you better results than the textured which you have already. I am going to pick up a set of 4, then take them, the bumpers and fender flairs to a local body shop to get painted. Anyone have any idea what shops charge to paint some of these things?
 
yeah I'll never use them... make me an offer... I will get pics next weekend. leaving out of town till thursday tonight
 
Dano said:
i was going to do this to my Jeep and bought all the used bumper caps. now i have an arb and TJM bumpers and the painted caps are just sitting around....
Click to expand...
Yep, I had to ditch mine too once I got an aftermarket rear bumper. I used a piece of door molding (painted of course :)) to hide the holes left where the rear bumper end cap brackets used to be.
Here's the only decent pic I have uploaded that you can see the shortened door molding behind the rear wheel.

dsc03089s.jpg
 
JEEPZZ, that's a cool idea using a cut down piece of door molding for the rear area. I hated how 97+ look with an aftermarket bumper and then leaving the holes/clips in the rear corner. I'll remember that one for when I replace my bumper.

thumbs up
 
JTS97Z28 said:
My question is, since it has the basic flat black bumper endcaps and door side mouldings, are these parts paintable to match the rest of the car or will they not accept paint since they are textured?
Click to expand...

the other replies handle the basic "how-tos"... now I'll chime in with my personal opinions... and why I'm planning to likely "revert" my '00 to the unpainted gray plastic....

Here in PA, our fine DOT workers dump a mixture of salt, sand, and gravel on the roads in winter. We call this "traction material". I do a large percentage of highway driving.

Within two winters, the paint was pretty well f*cked on my flares. By the five-year mark, the bottom 6" or so were pretty well sandblasted clean.

I repainted 'em myself... but MY paint job didn't even last ONE season.

Of course, the same road debris has cost me three turn signals, a headlight, and a windshield during the same period... and put numerous pockmarks in the glass and paint.

Den
 
The bottom of my painted rock rails were the same way until I added some "clear bra" type material on the gravel impact areas underneath. Now the clear bra takes the abuse, not the paint.
 
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