Painting of side mirrors

[SuGamer]

I was looking at my PT the other day, after I'd finish washing and waxing, and noticed that eventhough my car is black and the side mirrors are black, the dullness of the side mirrors just take away from the glow of my PT. I've seen that some of you guys have painted your side mirrors to match the body color of your PT's. I have ordered some paint to paint a set of taillight covers I brought, so I decided to paint the side mirrors also. How would you guys who have done it recommend I do it? Gary04GT, Crewzin, KingKole, Jimbo, anyone? Suggestions?

[CREWZIN]

Mine were done professionally when I had the bumpers painted. The shop took the mirrors off completely to paint them. They were treated the same as the bumpers as in: sanded, primed, painted and clearcoated.

[SuGamer]

Thanks for the superfast response Crewzin! I was sure about the painting and clearcoating, but wasn't sure about the sanding and priming.

[MichaelDay]

Sanding and priming is critical. The factory mirrors have a rough finish and will never look right without being sanded smooth. The priming will allow the paint to properly adhere to the plastic.

[Jimbo]

I had mine done at the dealer I bought the car ,because they have a bake oven.They didn't want to do it because they said the paint wouldn't stick.I had to call this guy in Texas and he told me how to do it and I told them.basicly he lightly sanded and than applied
adhesion Promoter to make the paint stick. I think he called it yellow primer.Than paint and clear coat.Anyway they did a good job
and than I had them do the side pillars. Hope this helps

[Gary04GT]

I highly recommend painting the side mirrors[|)] although I waited a long time to get mine done because I wasn't sure they would look that much better--WRONG! [B)]

I had mine done professionally by "PT Bill": http://www.surfnpt.com/pages/1/index.htm
If you decide to do it yourself just remember what has been said: "sanding and priming is critical".
Good luck.

[Grouch]

Have to agree because of the texture I had mine painted by a professional also. If the surface isn't prepared with the right agents it will just peel off. If you decide to have them done make sure they have done them before.

[SuGamer]

Thanks for all the quick responses everyone. I guess I have to sand them to make them smooth. Anyway, I will probably attempt it this coming weekend. Gotta look into getting an adhesive promoter.[:I]

[jmack]

I think that depending on the car, the mirrors should stay Black. For instance, my car is Stone White, but the black mirros really in my opinion don't "wash out" the car. I have also noticed that Chrysler probably did this as a "euro" thing. My old M3 was colored coded on EVERYTHING except the mirrors. IMHO

[crazie.eddie]

Yeah, I agree. Depending on your car, you may want it to remain black. I was originally planning to paint my side mirrors to my cars body color (graphite metalic). Then I realized, it won't look won't look right after I have tinted windows. Therefore, I plan to keep them black.