akingzkid

I'm kinda proud of myself and wanted to share my success with everyone. The door blades at the bottom of my doors are separating from rain getting in there and causing rust which causes it to separate. So, I went to the junkyard and found 3 (couldn't find one for the driver's door yet) and paid a whopping $19 or so dollars for all three. My car is silver and these were blue. I need to point out that I have ZERO experience with painting. I got some primer from Lowes, ordered some color match paint and got a spray bottle of 2K clear coat, a small bottle of prep solvent, a roll of blue painter's tape, a tack rag and a variety of sandpaper. I watched a ton of youtube videos and set everything up in my garage this past weekend and gave it a shot. I think the results (color match, finish and fitment) are OUTSTANDING. I really wish I had the 4th one and did them all at once because it was a tedious and time consuming process and it will be hard for me to repeat just for the one piece.

Let me know what you think.

old (original) ones on the car and replacements on the ground

Products I used (awesome stuff)

original, replacement and replacement after sanding

Sanding in progress

Sanding

Primer

Primer

Base (color) coat

Final base (color) coat

After clear coat (still wet)

Driver rear door BEFORE

Driver rear door AFTER

Passenger rear door BEFORE

Passenger rear door AFTER

Passenger front door BEFORE

Passenger front door AFTER

Passenger front door BEFORE

Passenger front door AFTER

Space between passenger front and rear doors BEFORE

Space between passenger front and rear doors AFTER

Passenger side profile AFTER

KevinGary

uberwgn

Aking, they look damn good! Is the silver color match really that good?

What happened with your wheel re-finishing project? Can we see?

akingzkid

Fun? Not sure I would call it fun. LOL. But it wasn't too bad. Just time consuming due to the multiple coats of each product and the wait times between each coat as well as the extended wait times between each product. How does it look to you KevinGary?

akingzkid

Thanks man. I appreciate it. Yes, the color match is that good.

I didn't paint the rims. I am taking beep beep's recommendation and reading a book instead. LOL. Nah, I just figured that the juice wasn't worth the squeeze. The rims really aren't that bad unless you are down there staring at them. However, now that I have 1/2 a can of the color match paint (which I think will look good on the rims) and another full can of the 2k clear coat, I might just rethink that. We will see. It's not a priority right now though because I am giving serious thought to manual carbon cleaning, driver side chain tensioner, oil filter housing gasket and valve cover gaskets.

dzywicki

That looks great. Like you experienced, quality painting is all about the prep. The painting itself goes super quick. Where in VA are you? Reason I ask is I had this with my 2005 (RIP due to deer), I could not find any A6s in any pick a parts near me in Northern VA. I know all the pick a part places since I have 2 old Jeep Cherokees (98 and 99). I never saw any A6s in any of the 3 places I went to regularly. I have a 2008 now, but always on the look out for what pick a parts have C6 A6s.

akingzkid

KevinGary

dzywicki

I am in Aldie/Chantilly. I go to Banks on 234 and the pick a parts in Fredericksburg and Stafford(Pick-A-Part | Recycled auto parts in Stafford and Fredericksburg Virginia). Inventory management is terrible at Banks. I have typically gone looking for Jeep Cherokee's but will have to look for C6 A6's next time. I currently have a 2008 4.2 and it has just about every options except air suspension and the solar sunroof, but it's always helpful to collect spare parts for troubleshooting (MAF, coils, etc.)

JamesAudiA6007

Looks great!