I want to paint the factory black plastic tailgate and door handles on my 02 ranger. what sandpaper should I use to prep? where can I find paint that will match the factory color? and finally, will it be best to take the handles off to paint them, and if so, how?
thanks

 

My 79 p/u had a lot of black dull, faded, plastic pieces on it like, seat belt straps and plastic clips and such, that I knew would be a pita to paint. So I ordered this stuff called Forever Black from Eastwood, and it looks good. It goes on like black liquid shoe polish, I cannot testify for longevity yet, just done it. Maybe some one else will chime in on the paint for you, good luck,

 

anyone know how to get the handles off? does the inside panel need to come off first?

 

If you ranger is anything like my F150, you need to remove the inside door panels and then there's just a couple of nuts to remove and the handle pops out (you may need to unbolt and move one of the window tracks to get to the nuts.) The tailgate should have an access cover on the inside. As for the painting, the most inportant thing is to make sure to really clean then with degreaser so the paint will stick. I would scuff up the plastic with some mild sanding then use a high build primer to fill in the texture of the plastic and get a smooth look. If this is the only thing you're going to paint, I would go with the spray paint instead of paint gun. Depending on what color you truck is you should be able to get a pretty close match with the paints they have at AutoZone, PepBoys, etc. Good luck.

 

for a great match of the paint if it's not faded and stuff if you want it in a rattle can you can go to a dupont dealer, and probably ppg or other major paint brands, and they can either mix it themselves or order in the proper colors. usually you can get a much better match then just the off the shelf touchup paint that most parts houses cary