Kizashi Club

I'm in the process of de-badging and painting the chrome trim black.

Removing the exterior emblems was cake. I got the exhausts tips off and painted no problem and I think the fog light trim should be easy as week although I haven't attempted it yet.

The thing I'm not too sure about is the body side moldings at the bottom of the doors. I haven't been able to find a definitive answer on how to remove them. I did take a door panel off and saw a series of clips along the bottom in assuming hold the molding on. Has anyone done this? What is the best way to remove them without damaging anything?

I can't figure out how to get the steering wheel emblem off to be painted. Its all faded. I tried to do with fishing line but that's not working and I don't want to break something trying to get it off.

Have you checked the service manual? I think I recall seeing a diagram for the body moulding in there.

However, for the steering wheel, that may be a tough one since that's also the airbag cover. If you can find out what a blown kizashi airbag looks like, that may give you a hint.

rannel.bradley wrote:I'm in the process of de-badging and painting the chrome trim black.

Removing the exterior emblems was cake. I got the exhausts tips off and painted no problem and I think the fog light trim should be easy as week although I haven't attempted it yet.

The thing I'm not too sure about is the body side moldings at the bottom of the doors. I haven't been able to find a definitive answer on how to remove them. I did take a door panel off and saw a series of clips along the bottom in assuming hold the molding on. Has anyone done this? What is the best way to remove them without damaging anything?

I can't figure out how to get the steering wheel emblem off to be painted. Its all faded. I tried to do with fishing line but that's not working and I don't want to break something trying to get it off.

How did you get on with this?
It's one of the first things that popped into my head when I got the car.
I plan on getting some black alloys, so making the chrome bits black would blend in nicely.

I ended up using back pastidip while they were still on the car. I couldn’t find anything concrete on how to remove them and didn’t want to risk damaging anything.

The trim is held on with push pins and double-sided tape, with small tapping screws at the rear edges, if I recall. I had no issue taking mine off, though you have to be careful with the chrome because it's metal and will bend/warp if you're rough with it. Once that's done , the trim comes right off. Then, however, you'll have to get all of the torn up tape back off so that you can reapply new runs of tape later. The chrome is held on to the main piece with d-s tape as well, and once the whole trim piece is off you can see from the back if there are any clips/latching areas that hold the chrome to the main piece. I used a bondo spreader to slice the d/s tape along the way as it's nice and soft/non-marring.

Depending on the time you want to put into this, you might want to mask it and call it a day (or two). Just make sure you drop cloth the whole car, especially if you're using an epoxy primer (which will promote adhesion). Be aware, however, that the chrome has a clear coat on it. I'd recommend scuffing it (#220) and going over the clear rather than trying to get down to the bare chrome/metal, especially if you don't separate the chrome off. Another reason to use epoxy as a tie coat/primer over the clear is that we don't know what chemistry that is, and etching will cut open the sealed surface which leads to chemistry issues. Epoxy is pretty inert as far as reacting to existing coatings.

If you're not doing a simple Plasti job, below is probably what you'll want to tackle it with (assuming you dont' have a full hvlp setup), if you're at all trying to make it look like it came body-color from Suzuki. These are surprisingly good products for aerosols, but of course, the prep and application will dictate the result, as it always does with bodywork.

Aerosol Urethane Basecoat ($30):

Epoxy Primer ($25) and Urethane 2K Clearcoat ($25):


Probably more than anyone asked for, but I've done it, so I thought I'd add whatever help that might offer. Also, if your fear is strong, the 3M vinyl is a really good option as well. It lays flat, is durable, and won't make your trim look like it was made of bedliner. The cheap 1080 series impressed me with I've used it in similar fashion on other vehicles.

Excellent info, appreciate it!

I'll defo be coming back to it if this is something I decided to do further down the line.

Thank you for so much great information! Do you have pics of your results? I'm very curious to see what the Kizashi looks like without those.

I took so few pics before i tore it back down for more nonsense, and these about all I had of the car in one piece.

viewtopic.php?p=40290#p40290

Absolutely LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!! The car looks so much more clean and purposeful with the chrome gone, but the shaping still there.

CG1 wrote:I took so few pics before i tore it back down for more nonsense, and these about all I had of the car in one piece.

viewtopic.php?p=40290#p40290

I'm genuinely in love, that looks stunning!