Paint chrome door handles or find painted ones to paint?

[kimokalihi]

Would it be a better idea to paint my chrome door handles or find a set that are OEM painted and paint those to match my car? I'm not a painter so I don't know if the chrome will hold paint as well as the painted ones or which would be easier.

[originalcyn]

Why don't you try getting them vinyl wrapped? They'd look pretty good matte black right? There's a guy around here who vinyl wrapped pretty much everything on his wagon, including things like the wiper arms and the pillars, so it might be relatively easy to do.

[kimokalihi]

I want them pearl white. Don't like the random different colored body parts look. I'm after the cleanest legacy I can make. There's no way I could find pearl white vinyl either but paintscratch.com sells the tricoat cans to match my factory paint so I might try that.

[originalcyn]

Every "chrome" thing i've dealt with on the legacy was the worst thing ever. Even the stupid chrome finish around the post face lift grille was a piece of plastic with a chrome foil over the top. ugh. I expect the handles to be better though i guess. Sanding them down will be horrific though i imagine. I'll keep an eye out for handles for you if i got to pull a part or pick and pull or whatever. Though I don't think i've seen anything in your color code.

[kimokalihi]

I would buy them from you in a heart beat. I don't even know if they ever existed. I can probably find a pre painted set and respray them.

[Apex3]

If you're gonna paint it then get some that are already painted. Even if you plan to paint it yourself you don't want to paint over that fake chrome stuff, unless you wanna do it again in a year.

I'll keep an eye out as well, but I don't think I've ever seen white painted door handles in a yard. I found some in my cars color but one was broken So I didn't bother, since I already have a painted black set

[kimokalihi]

It's not just white, that's quite common. It's pearl white which was rare as a body color and I don't know if any of them ever came with painted handles. It would have to be probably from a 90-91 LS.

[originalcyn]

i feel your pain on that. i cannot find anything in my color. i need a front fender badly, but it's been no go.

[kimokalihi]

I've actually never seen a pearl white legacy that wasn't a 91 SS. But apparently they exist because Beatersubi found one and snagged the hood off of it and sold it to me so when I go FMIC I already have a factory paint matched NA hood to clean things up even more! I can't wait.

[originalcyn]

are the handles on all the ss models chrome? It appears that all the mirrors are black instead of the body color.

[kimokalihi]

No just the 91 and maybe 92 SS have ugly chrome handles. Facelift got painted handles which were previously probably only on LS trims but the problem is they ditched the pearl white with the facelift so as far as I know, pearl white door handles don't exist.

[originalcyn]

Maybe on a LSi, i don't know what models came with which colors. I don't even know how many colors the ss came in.

[Danny-G]

I painted my chrome "L" handles before the Big NW meet. they are still holding up just fine with only one chip on the drivers handle. I used the cheap Wal Mart paint too. All I did was scuff them up really good, spray the paint, and clear. Then, after they were on the car I gave them a good cut and buff and they turned out amazing. If you do paint them, the prep is what will make or break the paint job.

[kimokalihi]

I know it's all about the prep and one coat of clear is not going to cut it. With an item that sees as much wear as the door handle, probably more wear than any other part of the exterior of the car. This won't be walmart paint because I want it to match as good as possible.

[Danny-G]

Totally understandable on wanting a really good match. I wasa on a bit of a budget when I did mine and the paint on my car is littered with scratches so I just used a basic black. I would have color matched but thats seven bucks for an eight ounce can.

[Apex3]

I'm likely gonna use paintscratch to paint my replacement hood, should be in the next week or so hopefully, I can post up results if you're interested. But it's not gonna happen until I get some decent weather to paint it.

[kimokalihi]

I already used them to paint a custom grill on my gf's ek civic and it matched perfectly and has pasted like 4 years.

[Deride]

I think I might still have a full set of chrome handles laying around if you want to experiment with them. Like $free plus shipping.

[kimokalihi]

Let me check out the junkyard first. I'd rather try a set of painted ones, I think I'll have better luck with those.

[fngearhead]

I'm almost certain I saw a set on a wagon in a junkyard in Denver. I pulled the hood for my pearl white 91. If I can get back down there in the next week or so I'll definitely pull them for ya.

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[kimokalihi]

That would blow my mind. You'd be my hero.

[beatersubi]

I'm likely gonna use paintscratch to paint my replacement hood...

Can you elaborate on this please?

[soobrdad02]

Those pearl-white Peggy's are few and far between. I found one in a junkyard one day last summer and snatched those door-handles with the quickness, because as rare as they might be in that color, it's the only pained-handles Leggy I've come across in my numerous junkyard escapades.

[kimokalihi]

Are you using them?

[IronMonkeyL255]

I just sanded all the chrome off, hit it with self etching primer, and hit them with truck bed liner.

Sent from my mind using telepathy.