I know a bunch of members have had their tailgate handles painted to match the color of their truck. My question. Can you recommend anywhere I can have mine done? I talked to a couple local body shops, and given the amount of work they have going currently, they aren't interested in doing anything as small as a tailgate handle. Any ideas?

 

BigDeal -

I bought a pair of tail light covers from a place that sells toppers, lids, etc. Since they custom paint the lids and toppers to match peoples' trucks, they painted my tail light covers for $25.

The only rub was I had to wait 2 weeks until they needed to paint a lid Oxford White for someone...

If you can part with the handle for a short time, you can probably utilize someone like that as well.

The other option is to get the factory match spray paint and do it yourself. On an item as small as that handle, it would probably turn out looking pretty good, as long as you prep the parts well before you spray.

I recently spray bombed a full pillar gauge pod with the factory Ford interior paint. Pretty big piece and it turned out perfect, if I do say so myself. I just took everyone's advice here and cleaned the pod real well and then put 6 or 7 thin coats on it. The Ford stuff was lacquer, so it dried literally in 30 minutes or so. A light Scotch Brite rub-down between coats and it looks just like the factory plastic inside.

Good luck!!

 

BigDeal,

Just take that advice and run with it. Just take the time to wet sand the snot out of it, else all the "grain" in the plastic will show right through the paint ( as interior parts do ).

Lots of thin coats is the ticket. and remember unlike the interior parts, the tailgate handle will need clear coat.

Try paintscratch.com for the body paint with flex added. Flex added primer and clear coat also.

Steve