NEW DIY- Painting black SR5 mirrors to match! WRITE UP WITH PICS!

[JoeyG.]

NEW DIY- Painting SR5 mirrors to match factory paint! WRITE UP WITH PICS

I bought an 04 SR5 V6 in october. I have always liked the look of the limited, but could not find one in my budget.

One big thing the limited has over the SR5 is factory painted mirrors. I decided to remedy this myself.

First thing you will need to do is determine your paint code. Mine was titanium silver, or 1D4.

1.) Go to your local automotive store or paint store (I went to O'Reilly's Auto parts. Give them your paint code, and have them mix it into an aerosol can.

2.) You will also need basic automotive primer and top clear coat. I bought dupli-color automotive. The cans are about 15 .oz's each, and one of each should be enough.

3.) pick up some sandpaper to scuff up the mirrors prior to painting. I chose 400 grit, as it isn't going to cause deep gouges, but will scuff it up nicely so the primer and paint will adhere.

Phase two requires removing the mirrors to prep and paint.

1.) In order to remove the mirrors, you must remove three bolts. You can find these by popping off a triangular shaped cover off of the inside door panel. Any screwdriver to remove will do.

2.) You will then need to pop off the leather armrest cover using a screwdriver. You will find a screw under this, and you must remove it with a Phillips head.

 

[JoeyG.]

3.) Behind the door handle will be a plastic cover, pop this off carefully, and proceed to remove the screw behind it.

4.) After this, you are ready to pop off the door panel. Cover a screwdriver with a cloth, and go around the edges of the door panel, carefully popping off each tab at a time. Work your way from the left, to bottom, right, and then up top. When you get up top, the door is held by a sort of hook, so pull up and away to get it off.

5.) Have a friend hold the door panel, as the windows and locks have wires connected to it. I did not remove these, I merely had a friend hold it while removing the mirror screws.

 

[JoeyG.]

6.) Proceed by removing the (3) 10MM bolts that hold the mirror in place, and reach down and disconnect the wire connecting the mirrors power functionalities.

7.) Repeat this for the other door panel. You now have both mirrors off of the truck.

PHASE 3: PREP

1.) Begin prepping the mirrors by hand washing them.
2.) Using 400 Grit sand paper, lightly scuff the mirrors up until you have no more shine, and a surface which the primer will easily adhere to.
3.) Mask the mirror surface with blue painters tape, covering the whole reflecting part (that you use while driving) so no paint gets on it.
4.) Wrap newspaper around the rubber seal and wire so it is not harmed by the paint.
5.) You are now ready for the first coat of primer. The trick with any painting is LIGHT COATS.

6.) Allow the primer to dry 10-15 minutes between coats. Third coat:

6.) Allow the primer to dry an hour before the base coat of paint. I allowed the primer to cure overnight, only because of the extreme cold weather I was painting in. If you have any runs or blotches, sand them with light paint now.

7.) You are now ready for the base coat of paint. SPRAY A THIN COAT OF THE BASE ON! THIS IS KEY!

 

[JoeyG.]

Heres where I messed up. Between coats, I did not wait until the paint COMPLETELY DRIED, and flipped over the mirror onto newspaper. When I came back out, the newspaper had stuck to the paint, causing a mess. I eventually just sanded the affected parts down, and continued painting; MESS UP is shown here

After about 4 coats of base paint, you can allow the mirrors to cure overnight.

After allowing the mirrors to cure, and taking care of any blotches or runs by LIGHTLY wetsanding them (I DID NOT HAVE TO DO THIS, due to light coats!), you are ready to clear.

The trick with clear is to do one two light coats, followed by a medium coat. You can put as many coats as you want, but keep it light. I allowed 10-20 minutes between each coat. I then allowed the clear to cure for about an hour before putting them on my truck. I had to make an appointment for the truck to be inspected, so I couldn

 

[ric]

looks great, CONGRADS

 

[rook]

The pics look good. I hope it holds up over time. Plastic can be a real pain to get good adhesion. Normally, an adhesion promoter is sprayed on the substrate after sanding. However, the mirrors are not raw plastic, like an unfinished piece so you may be good to go. After you put the primer on, did you sand or go straight to spraying color? Did the primer specify that it is non-sanding?

 

[JoeyG.]

The pics look good. I hope it holds up over time. Plastic can be a real pain to get good adhesion. Normally, an adhesion promoter is sprayed on the substrate after sanding. However, the mirrors are not raw plastic, like an unfinished piece so you may be good to go. After you put the primer on, did you sand or go straight to spraying color? Did the primer specify that it is non-sanding?

After primer, I went straight to the base coat of silver. I did a good job of light, even coats of primer, so that I had no runs, drips, blotches. I thought I'd sand if I had any of these problems, but I didn't so I skipped it. The primer said you can sand if you want. I don't think there is any need to sand other than to smooth things out.

I also hope they hold up as well! It was a long process. If it was warm out, I'm sure it wouldn't have taken so long, also with me being ill, things weren't the easiest!

 

[<<<<]

Do not forget to Clear Coat it, it'll prevent fading and oxidation.

 

[JoeyG.]

Do not forget to Clear Coat it, it'll prevent fading and oxidation.

Haha, I guess the write up was a bit too long to read. I threw on about 4-6 coats of clear. :bigok:

 

[Jacobzky]

Nicely done there!!! Did the new painted side mirrors blended very well?

 

[simple]

Ballsy! I like it, an excellent write-up.

 

[JoeyG.]

They match pretty well. If I'm not 100% satisfied on anything, it'd be the color match. While 8 out of 10 of my friends can't tell, I am a bit of a perfectionist and can see a bit difference. The paint guy explained that, since Titanium Silver (1D4) is a complex code (meaning there are many different components to it) small quantities of the paint may seem a bit off compared to a larger quantity.

Out in the sun, it looks fine, and I myself can't notice much of a difference. What it looks like in the pics is essentially how it looks in person.

Ha, yeah it took a bit of balls, but I really like the way they look painted, it makes a huge difference on the truck.

Next project: Spoilerdepot spoiler install. Will be purchasing here within the next week.

 

[salsa_sr5]

Nice right up and good work ! It looks really good.

The black mirrors have always peeved me - it's completely ridiculous in a car that lists for nearly $34K (as did mine) to not have painted mirrors.

I'll do the same, if I can't find the time do it myself, I'll look into a body shop to do it.

 

[keylay31]

Looks fantastic. I would do it myself but my grey seems to be somewhat pearlized, and I'm not sure that will work with ur method.

 

[J.A.]

Great write up! looks much better than black.

 

[JoeyG.]

Looks fantastic. I would do it myself but my grey seems to be somewhat pearlized, and I'm not sure that will work with ur method.

It should work. The titanium metallic has some flakes or pearls in it, and the paint that I got has them as well. The store you get your color code mixed into a can will have all the flakes or other components. I'd say grey would be easier to match than silver, as it's darker. Go for it!

 

[icantsee]

 

[sbbamafan]

Could this not have been done without removing the mirrors and simply masking off the vehicle?

 

[sbbamafan]

I'll ask again. Couldn't this have been done without removing from the car? I'd like to try it but I hate to take it apart...

 

[JoeyG.]

Sure, when I get done from school I should be able to take some pictures. I don't want to promise for today however, it may be by friday or saturday. I painted the inside, and since it doesn't hit much wind/snow/water, it doesn't need to be done as well as the rest of the mirror. Looks great, no passengers can tell.

As far as removing them, yes, in order not to overspray your vehicle, and to ensure even coats of paint, you MUST remove them. It is not hard at all!