doodman is that your rig?

looks great, thanks for the write-up!
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quick question: do you have to not touch the door handles at all for a few days? if so, i need to block out more time than i thought...

To answer this question, it's important for me to mention that it's very difficult to paint the backside of the handles due to the shape of the can and inability to get back there. Thus, I didn't paint the backside but you can't tell unless you really stand over top of it and look for it. With that being said, I opened the door by putting my fingers on this unpainted backside of the handle and pulling the handle open without touching any other area of the handle. And I used this method of opening the door for the entire 7 days that was req'd to let the paint cure.

So to get to the point of your question, NO, you do not need to block out more than 3-4 hours to do this project and YES it is OK to touch the handles once paint has dried, but I recommend the 'open the handles from the unpainted backside' method.

Nice writeup. How come you did not just take apart the doors and remove the handle and lock assy? I've taken several toyota doors apart, and they were not too bad to re-assemble.

That is the way I would have painted them, but it seems as if your method works.

thought i would share some pics if anyone was thinking of doing the same

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any tips you can give on the front toyota logo? I did mine on one of my 3rd gens, and getting all the small nooks and corners were a PITA to do by hand with sand paper, any tips or just sit my lazy butt down and rub...

Demeaux so did you just buy the spare parts sand and paint then pop off the originals and replace with the new ones you ordered? Also can you give a little writeup on doing the 4runner logo on the back. Thanks

doodman, awesome writeup.

question: do you have the touch lock/unlock function on your doors and does it still work now that you've painted?

i wouldnt think paint would affect it but ya never know.

AAAGGGGGRRRREEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDD, um thanks, cause im gonna do exactly what you did in above pictures....

That looks great! Good work. Do the new emblems come with the sticky backing on them already?

i bot black pearl emblems unfortunately the tri circle symbol is too small for the 4runner.

how tuff is the krylon fusion paint to rocks and stuff on highway?

front logo- easy as pie
remove plastic shield
pop out logo
sanded down with 320 grit sandpaper
cleaned with papertowels and acetone
painted several coats with rust-oleum plastic satin black
painted several coats with rust-oleum platic clear coat
let it dry for and replace

rear logo's---not so easy
when i removed the "4runner" i scuffed up the plastic molding on the lift gate and had no intentions on replacing it.well i couldnt handle the scuff marks and had already thrown the letters away so i bought new ones for $64.60 from dealership.i figured the toyota logo was going to be the same so i just went ahead and bought a new one for $17.93.for some reason i could not get the paint right.every time i sprayed the clear coat on it would crack...lets just say after 4 times i gave up..

i went back and read that harper used krylon fusion paint and that was the ticket.i removed all the cracked paint and sanded everything down with 320..sprayed a couple coats with the krylon fusion and it came out great.the molding had 4 indentions so it gives you a reference to replace them and there will be an outline left over from removing them.you will still have to eyeball some....the toyota emblem has two studs that go in two holes in the molding plus the adhesive so you cant mess up the alignment..

if i could do it agian...i would remove the logos, clean off adhesive as much as possible"doesnt have to be perfect this stuff is stong and easy to replace", paint logos, and stick back on...IMO

demeaux thanks for that, helped a lot on the front emblem i'm not sure i'm on the same page as to what the plastic shield is? Did you have to access anything from in the engine well..

no dont think so...just removed the plastic cover held in with like 20 clips...once thats removed it will give you access to the rear of the logo..you will see the tabs holding it in place...push the tabs in and it should come right out...it took longer to remove the clips than it did to remove the logo

read your question agian...yes you will..open the hood...remove plastic shield over the fan..its big and covers everything in the front..it comes off easy i think i used a flat head screw driver and a pair of needle nose pliers for the round platic clips...hope this help sorry for the confusion..if you need pics let me know