went and got myself a 2nd wagon

well i got myself a new wagon today. i bought a 1992 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon. it's a 1 owner and is in real nice condition other then the trim around the woodgrain is flakin. It's has 157,000 miles and it's blue inside and out with the woodgrain package. picked it up for $1200. it's a bit of an upgrade from my 1988 Buick Electra Estate Wagon.

I WILL HAVE PICS TOMOROW!!!

when i got home with it the sun had already went down.

 

i have a good and cheap fix for that flakeing trim!!

 

and what would that happen to be????

 

Im jealous, thats the car i want, in white! Looking forward to the pics!

 

I'm jealous too! I'm not too fussy on the colour but I've been looking for one in my area for a while. That's a sweet price! Let's see some pics!

 

Congratulations. I've always been a Mopar guy but I bought a Buick wagon earlier this year (62 Special) and I really like it.

 

well there are 2 ways to do it!

1. remove the trim (much easier said than done) and do the following:
2: leave the trim on and carefully remove the decal with a razor blade...then do the following:
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1. once you have removed the woodgrain film DO NOT remove the latex on the aluminum trim underneath (this will actually help the new paint to adhere)

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2. use a high quality masking tape and tape along the trim ...tucking it behind the trim with a razor. this is the most time consuming part.

3. get 2 paint colors that are a wood tone of your choice (i personally chose antique brown and an almond base coat.) and should be of a satin finish or matte finish. you'll also want 2 brushes that are roughly the width of the trim..foam brushes are what i used. and a thin rag..mechanics red rags work best.

4. paint the base coat on the trim...go over it once or twice and try to leave very heavy brush strokes in the paint (there is a purpose to this).
the key here is long strokes and in one direction.

5. once the base coat is dry, take your darker top coat and instead of using the brush to apply it, wrap you finger in the mechanics rag and pull the pain along the trim one section at a time. then before moving to the next section wipe the paint off very lightly with a bunched up rag as opposed to your finger. this will allow the paint to stay in the crevices that were created by the heavy brush strokes. The more you repeat this step the darker it will get...it can even be made to blend in with the wall paper (if you use almond and antique brown).

the end result is a finish that looks more wood-like than the decals and actually has a wood feel to it too! watch my video touring my car in the stationwagon lounge if you want to see what it looks like up close. im sure nick(phantom309) and mike (200oz)
will vouch for me as they have seen it in person.

 

At last! The woodgrain method. Thanks Ian. Well done.

 

OR....if your car's trim has the metal under that decal you can remove the decal, polish it and put it back on and it will look like chrome.

 

If I have to redo mine, that's exactly what I'll do and get them powder-coated with clear coat. I like Ian's technique for interior trim panels.

 

this is also true!
the lighter color cars dont look so good with polished trim though.

to do that you have to remove the trim from the car and strip the decal and latex underneath, with aircraft stripper then polish the crap out of it. on the longroof forum, the guy that goes by "BigBlackBeast" has a Dark Grey Green metallic roadie and the polished trim really pops. the same on a lighter car doesn't so much!

 

It just occurred to me that my post may have come across as belittling your great method, A1. That was certainly not my intention...I like the way you did your car and the method is super cool. I meant only to offer up another alternative that I also like.

 

I wonder if there's an affordable filler to put inside the mouldings. The problem would be rust with silicone, but that foam that Ford used back in the late 50s and 60s would work. Helps keep them straight and tight to the body, even with the odd dent.

 

mike, i didnt read it that way at all! i am glad you mentioned it too! i completely forgot about polishing it!

 

i'll give ya mine and a bucket o moola for your CS...

wanna come to Canada???


congrats on the purchase Touchy