Interior trim coating
 

Is underneath the silver paint on our trim pieces a decently finished black plastic? Like did they just take the black trim and spray it silver for the U.S. versions?
It looks to be since I am seeing a darker color as it wears on EVERY silver piece in the car.
I'm wondering if I can just take some paint stripper and remove the silver and have a black plastic piece instead of ordering like $150 of new OEM black pieces.
I know everybody just pulls them off and paints them but I want it to be all the way through so as it gets scratched more, it's just more black.
Anything would be better than the look of silver paint wearing away. The car hasn't even hit 20k and it looks like it was sprayed with a rattle can the way it's wearing so quick.

It’s definitely a black plastic underneath, but as for stripping the paint, I’m not sure. You might be able to sand it off carefully, increasing the grit to a high degree, and then polish it out? Alternatively if it’s ABS (probably), you could use an acetone or MEK dip to smooth it out post sanding.

Or alcantara wrap it all ;)

If you sand it, it turns black. When I painted my stuff I gave it a light sanding with 200 grit and then sprayed it.

Acetone will most likely smudge the plastic underneath. I would recommend going with 200 grit then work your way up to 400 then give it a nice matte spray.

you can buy the black plastic trim pieces from various outlets for not very expensive. I think you would be better off buying something with a finish in black rather than trying to sand plastic.

I don't think I'm in down for any sanding, but just stripping if it's possible without ruining the plastic. I know the easiest thing is to
just buy the OEM black stuff but I figured if it's just removing silver paint and then maybe clearing, I'd do that to make a little project out of it.
I might do a search for local wrecked cars and see if I can test it out on something first and when I do, Ill report back on results.

What do you reckon is causing the silver to wear off?


humfrz

The "paint" is just a thin layer of different coloured plastic. Any solvent that will remove it will damage the plastic underneath as well. You will probably just end up with a sticky, ugly mess if you try strippers.

Ya, really. I have well over a hundred thousand miles and untold hours spent in the car and all my trim is still like new.

When I wash the car(every 1 to 2 weeks), I always wipe all the plastics/rubber down when doing the insides with protectant. If it was an oil based product it might be doing
damage by softening the silver but I use 303 Aerospace and it's not every silver part but only the drivers side being affected.
I just looked to see exactly where damage is prevalent and it's all really bad on the driverside door pull thing, a little on the shifter trim is mainly on the driver side but still slightly on passenger side.
The rest of the silver, A/C rings and knee pad trim are ok so parts that aren't touched are good. The difference in door handles is huge, passenger side is still new.
Could be just from touching it though or maybe a combination with the heavy cleaning I do inside. Maybe my sweat is higher pH and does more damage to stuff I touch?
Either way, it doesn't look like less than 4 years/19k miles of inside wear and more like 20 years worth and it bothers me every time I sit in the car now.

Maybe that is it. I wipe mine down with plain old soapy water about once every two years or so. Could be a combination of the cleaner and sweat.




Like new. Dirty but 100% intact.

Either my acid sweat or I'm overdoing it on wiping the thing every week with the "protectant".
https://i.imgur.com/pgVsuc9.jpg

That's EXACTLY the reason I don't "detail" the inside of my car. I don't want to wear it out - ;)

However, I do vac the floor mats and I dust off parts of the dash, if I'm waiting in line at a drive through carry out.


humfrz

Bunch of dirty old men in here. :D

I see why it's wearing so fast now. Being in FL, I am in shorts 99.99% of the time and my knee is rubbing that door handle with bare skin.
Just going to order the OEM black stuff. Anybody know a better price to get it all than ft86speedfactory.com ?

Hey! I took a bath last Saturday!


humfrz

If you're looking for a budget option, give it a good scuff with 800 grit sandpaper and wash in something to get rid of any grease/protectant left on it. Get some matte black spray paint and give it a shot. Try it out on a single piece first (the most damaged one ideally) and see how you like it. Worst case you're just buying the black parts you were already considering.

83245CA0701 SWITCH-CENTER CONSOLE
66076CA0401 ORNAMENT-PANEL CENTER,RIGHT
66076CA0501 ORNAMENT-PANEL CENTER,LEFT
94237CA0701 COVER GRIP-FRONT DOOR,LEFT
94237CA0601 COVER GRIP-FRONT DOOR,RIGHT
92122CA0201 COVER-SHIFT LEVER

I bought all of these from Heuberger Subaru using their 2018 tS catalog. All those pieces are black.

Amayama is a decent source too as long as you don't mind shipping from Japan.

https://parts.bestbuysubaru.com/p/Su...3154CA120.html

OP - Just vinyl wrap your current pieces in any of the dozens of black finishes (or other color.) It's easier and will look better than most backyard paint jobs. Can't decide on which black to use? Samples are like a buck each at places like http://metrorestyling.com

I came up with $160.12 including shipping to me from ft86speedfactory, I read another post of yours and you said you spent $160 for all these parts below, is that correct?

https://thumbnail.image.rakuten.co.j...ts_naisou2.jpg

I bought the shifter trim $25, traction control buttons $39, two hvac pieces $21/ea, two door handles $20/ea from Heuberger Subaru for a total of $160 shipped.


I bought the vent pieces and black door handles (the part with the lock) from Amayama. Vent pieces were $3.70 each, door handles were $11 each.


That black steering wheel piece can be sourced from Amayama as well.

Vents and Door handles from Subaru and the rest from ft86speedfactory, I got it down to $140 total. Thanks @tehShirt

hey now, let's keep the life advice to off topic!

Here's. Paint stripper for you.

https://images.saatchiart.com/saatch...OOOZMVCF-6.jpg

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

That's NOT a stripper, that's a pole dancer - THIS is a stripper - :drool:


humfrz

We were discussing interior trim part numbers like 2 posts ago lmao not complaining though :D

Oh, ol @p1l0t started this tangent. Since he usually shows pictures of food, I thought I'd just play along.

:iono:


humfrz

Just a heads up for anybody going the replace all silver trim to black route. DO NOT use Heuberger Subaru to get parts. Just go your the closest Subaru dealer and get it ordered there.
I finally received my stuff 13 days later today after ordering and to top it off they sent the wrong part, another silver trim ring. Then they aren't taking responsibility and sending out the
correct part and taking the wrong part on their dime. I am just throwing it away since after shipping for the correct part and plus the extra shipping to send the wrong part back, I'd be
out at least another $20. Great customer service right there...

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience. I have used them in the past without any issues. The BRZ tS doesn't have black vent rings here in the US. That's why I ordered mine from Amayama.