I just found THIS thread...
HERE
and it's really got me interested. I was just wondering if anyone here has just simply sanded, primed, and painted over the filler rather than fiberglassing. I've never fiberglassed before but I can learn if it's necessary for me to accomplish this... I really want to. I'm sure most would recommend the fiberglass but if you've taken another route, let me know how you did it, and the result if you can, thanks!
A lot of people here have painted their filler panels body color.
Thanks for the response... anyone else?
wow, that's really nice! thanks for those... when you painted it black, did you wet sand it or anything after it cured?
Hey Tony, is that an aftermarket sunroof cuz i dont see anything in the early pics? Wherd'ya get it?
oh... and how much did the shop charge you to paint that piece?
it is an aftermarket sunroof, but the previous owner of the car had it installed.
i did not wetsand the rattle can job i did, but it could have used a bit of a buffing. as for the piece that was professionally painted, it didn't cost me anything. my car got broken into when it was at a shop getting work done, so when i was talking to the insurance company i told them that i had painted the stock bezel (which now needed to be replaced) and i wanted the replacement bezel painted. since they were already painting both doors (the locks were busted out and the doors messed up) i told them to just use the body color paint because it was convenient, so they agreed to it. i did have them paint the door handles and mirrors as long as they were doing the work and had them off the car already, so it only cost about $115 at the time to do that. if you want prices for how much it's going to cost to paint your bezel, go to a few body shops in your area and get price quotes. then just pick the shop that does the best work for the price charged.
looks great.
Word of advice to any one doing this tho, even ever i do one for someone I'll always sand/grove out the section where the reflector meets the filler panel. Then u can put a small amount of bondo into the crevice and also onto the panel in both directions...Then sand it smooth....This way u wont get that line between the reflector and the panel......it will just look smooth
For me, this is the most essential mod you could do to a pre 03. As you may have noticed, GM finally got their sh*t together after 03 as I assumed lots of enthusiast dropped some notes in the suggestion box saying that the centre piece should come body colour. APC Altezzas painted to match always helps too! Anyways, on to the pics.
painting it body color FTW.
then I made a french licence plate filler, although it never did make it past the sealer and primer stage:
Those look really good guys! Now, if I did it with a rattle can, cleared it, and wet sanded, do you think it would look good enough? I know, I'd be further off getting it professionally done, but if I can do it with a rattle can and have it looking good enough, I'd like to save a little money. If not, I'll get it done at a shop when I run into the extra cash. By the way, my car is white so maybe it would turn out okay with a rattle can? Anyhow let me know!
Thanks again!
I like the 95-02 models with the filler panel painted to match. My 03 filler panel is painted satin black. I like being different.
ya, I like the '03 rear ends, very nice... anyhow, my previous question... anyone?
look at the pictures i posted. that's just a quick rattle can job. i didn't sand or buff it, but if you do it will probably turn out pretty well.
just to give youa n idea of what can be done with rattle can, here is the side of my computer case i did a few years back
thats your basic gloss black spray paint, a couple coats of clear, and an ass load of sanding
