So I finally got around to painting my tailgate handle. Been wanting to do this for a while but was just too lazy to get started. Started by sanding the crap outta the handle to take off the texture, followed with an adhesion promoter then a sandable primer to fill in the imperfections, then started with light coats of the factory color followed by a few light coats of clear. Not bad for a rattle can.
Before:


After:


And a sneak peek at my next project, just needs some fiberglass work and a coat of paint

 

man that looks great. good job! looks like that truck will be gettin better with the sneak peak. cant wait till you post pics when you get dont with it.

 

Thanks man

 

win u PTM the handle did u doit your self or did a body shop doit

 

what grit sandpaper did you use? and what kind of paint?

 

very nice. cant wait to see the bumper cover on

 

I did it all myself... just a lot of sanding and a rattle can.

I used 60 to take off the texture, then I hit it with sandable primer and sanded that with 220 i think. when I started laying on the color, I used wet sand paper, I think it was a 1500 or something. I got the paint from this site:
Express Paint

Thanks
The cover is a work in progress. it is one of those repro lightning one's I got off Craigslist, so it has the vents in the side. I'm fiberglassing over those vents so it looks like a factory L piece. First time working with fiberglass, but I think it's going well so far. Might not be complete for a while though...

 

Nice job on that handle! I'd like to see that bumper cover on too

 

Thanks man Like I said, I won't have it on the truck for a while, but I'm trying to do all the body work on it to save me some $$$ So here are some teaser shots.
Here's a shot of the vent that I'm trying to get rid of

And here is one side fiberglassed in. you can't really tell where the lines are but I think the shape is pretty good so far.


If anyone has any ideas on how to mount the fogs here, let me know. I'd love to just get some Lightning fogs in there, but the opening is different in this cover than the L covers

 

Just fab up some brackets for the fogs.

 

make it sounds so easy. I'll come up with something after I pick up the fogs then.

 

^^^^if you dont mind could you PM instructions on how u did ur handle an all materials if you dont mind


thanks

 

No problem

 

How difficult was it to fiberglass the vents?

 

I used a lot of fiberglass, just kept laying down layers of it. which means a lot of time to cure... laying down the fiberglass wasn't too bad though, the part that sucks the most is sanding off the gel coat to prep the surface. I'm still working on that second side.