Repainting the black paint on the metal window trims

[MJL944]

The black paint on the metal window surrounds (around the rear quarter windows, above the rear screen & along the bottom of the front door windows) on my S2 have a fair few paint chips on them which reveal the bare metal beneath. A common issue I'm sure but it really lets things down on such a beautiful car.

You know the type of stuff:

I gather that as this is black paint on aluminium it's difficult to repair effectively/easily.
In fact, in the second picture you can see that it's paint from a repair job that's coming off a second time.

Any suggestions as to how to most effectively repair these trims?
I don't want the trims off the car either as the bits will never go back on properly again, so any repair job would need to be with trims in situ.

I'd be happy to accept a compromise whereby I got 2 or 3 years of nice black trims & then accept that they're slowly going to start to chip off again.

Or is this just throwing good money after bad and I should live with it?

Any experiences that others have gone through would be gratefully received.

Thanks

 

[colin944]

You can simply remove them and paint with a spray can of satin black and replace them.Just be carefull taking them off as they bend easily.I have a spare set that I painted and used on my car.

 

[Lowtimer]

If you decide to repaint them give them a good sanding with fine wet & dry, used wet, (1200 grade or finer) then your will need to etch-prime them before you paint them. Paint just falls off aluminium alloy unless the surface is etch-primed.

 

[944Scott]

I tried this, it came out easy enough and painted well but it was a PITA to get back in. Atfer lots of washing up liquid and persuding with a nylon hammer it went back in but now i have some marks from using the hammer[]

 

[colin944]

never said it was easy.........

 

[os951]

This is a fairly easy task to do. Remove window (takes about 3 seconds)Just push window out.Have someone to catch the window and after that carefully remove the aluminium trim. You can take paint off with Nitromorse or similar stuff. Then sand all nasty things off. I would not paint trim with spray. Have trims powder coated with black satin powder. It's cheap !
Afterwards put trim to sealing carefully. Window is easy to put back with some string.
It's easier to remove trims when windows are taken off. If you want to have a nice black surface which looks good for years, powder coating is the way to go.