My '99 Z came with the unpainted outer door handles, and I asked around at a few shops about getting them painted black to match the car. They all told me that it wouldn't be cheap, and they couldn't guarantee that the paint would last a long time because of the texture & all the oil buildup on them from over time.
I've heard that some people just went ahead & bought the smooth handles(no texture to them) that come on newer J-bodies from GM & had them painted & installed. Does anyone know the Part # for the newer smooth handles?
I did some searching on GM Parts Direct, and they have several different part #'s for handles. They even list colors(black, red, white, silver, etc.) with some of them. They don't come prepainted, do they? Here are some of the part #'s that I found, and the different prices. There were several other numbers listed as well, and some were labeled as sedan handles. Do the sedans have different handles than the coupes?
-22620527 Black 2001-03 Handle L $24.69
-22620526 Black 2001-03 Handle R $24.69
-22620530 Paint to Match Coupe 2003 Handle R $33.31
-22620531 Paint to Match Coupe 2003 Handle L $33.88
well i just took 100 grit sand paper to mine, then 400, then primed them, wetsand with 1000, 2 coats of base, 3 coats of clear, wetsand again with 2000, then buff em out
they've held up for about a year now and they look great, i didnt even know they sold smooth handles
I was thinking about trying to paint them myself, but I didn't think it would hold up very well since the handles are being touched so much. I'm getting my kit painted soon so I figured I would have both my mirrors & handles painted with everything else so it wouldn't cost much extra since the mirrors & handles are small.
I have had 2 sets of unpainted door handles done and both lasted fine, no cracks or chipping.... body shop sands them down, applies proper plastic adhesion primer paints them with base then clear.
Don't buy from MANTAPART!!
Maybe I need to find a shop that really knows what they're doing. The ones that I've asked so far acted like it was a big deal because of the texture of the plastic & the oil buildup from people's hands.
As long as the handles are sanded down, wiped down with cleaner, and a adhesion promoter is used, the paint sticks just fine, not fisheyeing or bubbling..however, if you have ever applied ARMORAL to your door handles, this is a problem because even sanding down plastic that has been covered by that product still bubbles up paint...only solution is to apply fisheye remover to the base which is what I had to do when I had my dash painted.
Don't buy from MANTAPART!!
I just sanded mine, primed it, shot it with duplicolor and polished it. Looks like factory
