# Painting Fenders



## jlis (Feb 3, 2019)

Has anyone color matched the black fenders? Was either thinking of painting or wrapping them to match the rest of the car.


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## Hfqkhal (Oct 14, 2018)

That would give it a great look. For me since my Atlas has the black color so you can in way say it matches. 


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## shijmus (Oct 8, 2018)

jlis said:


> Has anyone color matched the black fenders? Was either thinking of painting or wrapping them to match the rest of the car.


Very interested, but don’t expect too much, if you look closely at the fenders, the surface is not smoothy, so your paint won’t shine


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## jlis (Feb 3, 2019)

shijmus said:


> Very interested, but don’t expect too much, if you look closely at the fenders, the surface is not smoothy, so your paint won’t shine


Nothing a little bit of sanding, primer, and clear coat can’t fix. 


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## knedrgr (Jun 6, 2011)

Following to see if the OP will get this done. It's been on the back of my mind, but never a must-have.

Curiosity got me thinking, so here's a digital mock up of how it might look with just the sides and rear bumper done up with color matching to the car. The front bumper seems to be more complicated, and I didn't fine a good line to break in.


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## shijmus (Oct 8, 2018)

knedrgr said:


> Following to see if the OP will get this done. It's been on the back of my mind, but never a must-have.
> 
> Curiosity got me thinking, so here's a digital mock up of how it might look with just the sides and rear bumper done up with color matching to the car. The front bumper seems to be more complicated, and I didn't fine a good line to break in.


It looks nice, but I’m afraid diy will be too much trouble, it seems you have to take off the fenders first, painful


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## jlis (Feb 3, 2019)

knedrgr said:


> Following to see if the OP will get this done. It's been on the back of my mind, but never a must-have.
> 
> Curiosity got me thinking, so here's a digital mock up of how it might look with just the sides and rear bumper done up with color matching to the car. The front bumper seems to be more complicated, and I didn't fine a good line to break in.


It’s going to be a while before I get this done. First quote was $400 with removal of the black trim and a 2 day turnaround. Debating if I should just use that money for suspension instead.


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## shijmus (Oct 8, 2018)

I tried to get a quote, but they said paint on plastic may not last, they do not recommend me to do it



jlis said:


> knedrgr said:
> 
> 
> > Following to see if the OP will get this done. It's been on the back of my mind, but never a must-have.
> ...


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## RCDheliracer (Jan 7, 2012)

shijmus said:


> I tried to get a quote, but they said paint on plastic may not last, they do not recommend me to do it


That doesn't make any sense. What do they think the bumper is made of? I would definitely find a different place to do a quote.


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## Eye Candy White (Nov 9, 2006)

Just get an R-Line?

The cost of the R-Line package including the 20" wheels was easily worth the price of admission for me, and the paint-matched body pieces were one of the motivators to me.


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## jlis (Feb 3, 2019)

Eye Candy White said:


> Just get an R-Line?
> 
> The cost of the R-Line package including the 20" wheels was easily worth the price of admission for me, and the paint-matched body pieces were one of the motivators to me.


I have an R-Line but the plastic part on the fender is still black. I was wanting to paint that part white to match the rest of the car. 


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## Eye Candy White (Nov 9, 2006)

Gotcha. I'd be afraid of painting that because I'm certain those areas get hit with plenty of road debris that would present a risk of chips and dings on an AWD car. Would some widebody/off-road fenders be a better option? Is anyone offering any yet?


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## knedrgr (Jun 6, 2011)

Eye Candy White said:


> Gotcha. I'd be afraid of painting that because I'm certain those areas get hit with plenty of road debris that would present a risk of chips and dings on an AWD car. Would some widebody/off-road fenders be a better option? Is anyone offering any yet?


I doubt we're going to see a widebody/off-road fender kit, simply because the Atlas is looked upon as a mall-crawler vs off-roader.


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## brian81 (Apr 19, 2007)

jlis said:


> Nothing a little bit of sanding, primer, and clear coat can’t fix.


It is pretty easy to do if you consider that it will take a lot of sanding, priming, sanding, re-priming...and eventually the surface will be smooth enough to color coat and then clear. SEM products has some tutorials on plastic repair and painting on their website. 

When the MKI and MKII GTIs were new, color matching the black flares was a thing. Paint technology for plastics was in its infancy and people who scuff sanded and used regular primer and paint found that the paint would flake off after a while. At the time flex agent was added to the paint to help it adhere, but the biggest problem was getting the texture out of the plastic so the paint would sit on a flat surface and show proper gloss. I did this on a MKI Jetta and it had to sand, prime, and repeat about four times...it took an entire weekend. I can't remember what the last grit paper I used was but am guessing at least 800 wet. I did this because the body shop that sprayed the color told me that their experience was that it would work without problems, but the sand/prep alone would cost me over $1000 (at a heavily discounted rate as they were already painting the stripped body shell for me). However, it came out great, and 25 years later it looks like new.

The Atlas fender arches have a texture very similar to those MKI flares.


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