Painting Aluminum Half Doors

NOTNSUV

NOTNSUV

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Anyone painted GenRight aluminum half doors?

I'm not sure how much attention I want to give these, wondering if matching black paint will look nasty if not done perfectly, and/or make the interior hotter, defeating some of the purpose of half-doors. Thinking professional painting would be big bucks and I'm not afraid to paint them with either rattle can or HVLP gun I have a little experience with (I can rattle can with the best of them..lol). Will be shopping for aluminum etching primer if I decide to paint.

If I paint black I'll leave the inside a primer grey with clear coat to somewhat match the interior.

Leaving them 'natural' is an option but should I clear coat? Is the CC worthless w/o primer? Or just leave them as they are and clean the aluminum when necessary?

GenRight says:
  • Finish work is required, if you are not just putting them on a trail rig.
  • These doors can be painted or left as raw aluminum.
Waiting on warm weather to do this project but would like it done when the first topless weather arrives.
 
If I was going to DIY AND WANTED A BODY MATCH, I’d do a wrap. It’s cheap, flat surface, and matches factory finish. I’ve tried painting to match factory finish and it ain’t happening without different equipment and more practice.

Another good option is to leave them unfinished.
 
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You can get spray cans of your specific paint code. I’ve used “kustom canz” And get 2k clear coat and do them yourself. With good success. You’ll prob spend $40-50 in material. That’s what I would suggest.
 
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If they are just trail doors I'd leave them unfinished. Another option is to call around for some quotes on powder coating. I had the tub mounting plate of my sliders powder coated gloss black and it is a darn near perfect match to the factory PX8 paint. Black wasn't my first choice in color but over the years it has grown on me due to the ease of finding and color matching parts.
 
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Etching primer after prep, then sand and paint -

I like the wrap idea too-

Post pics
 
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Maybe I'll go crazy and try to match my seat covers.

https://www.rvinyl.com/3M-Wrap-Film-Series-1080-Shadow-Black-SB18.html
PXL_20211108_210026451.jpg
 
I haven’t done aluminum half doors, but did rattle can OEM doors. Took them from a greenish/blue to a bright metallic silver. Finished product is great and the color match from automotive touch up was perfect. I just got them for trail/spring/fall doors…and also cause who doesn’t love half doors!4CD5AF89-3F7A-4FD1-A5DA-3F8CDB1872C3.jpegB8344C1F-551C-40F4-99BB-3A4FDCE0C534.jpeg
 
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NOTNSUV said:
Anyone painted GenRight aluminum half doors?

I'm not sure how much attention I want to give these, wondering if matching black paint will look nasty if not done perfectly, and/or make the interior hotter, defeating some of the purpose of half-doors. Thinking professional painting would be big bucks and I'm not afraid to paint them with either rattle can or HVLP gun I have a little experience with (I can rattle can with the best of them..lol). Will be shopping for aluminum etching primer if I decide to paint.

If I paint black I'll leave the inside a primer grey with clear coat to somewhat match the interior.

Leaving them 'natural' is an option but should I clear coat? Is the CC worthless w/o primer? Or just leave them as they are and clean the aluminum when necessary?

GenRight says:
  • Finish work is required, if you are not just putting them on a trail rig.
  • These doors can be painted or left as raw aluminum.
Waiting on warm weather to do this project but would like it done when the first topless weather arrives.
Click to expand...
TJ black is black,paint them
 
06lj said:
If they are just trail doors I'd leave them unfinished. Another option is to call around for some quotes on powder coating. I had the tub mounting plate of my sliders powder coated gloss black and it is a darn near perfect match to the factory PX8 paint.
Click to expand...
I'm going to have my aluminum tub plates PC PX8 also. Considering painting the steel in a mat black or such to get closer to the color of the flares and give a touch of contrast to the blackout look.


Welp, I opted to powder coat my Gen Right half doors. Shop texted me pictures today with text saying the lower support bar fell off during the pre-heating process. It was on there with double sided tape only. What? Top appears to be welded. Did they tape them in place to be welded and forgot? I'll be dropping them a line for answers. I can't be the first one to try powder coating on these.

So I told him to go ahead and PC the pieces separately and I plan to get epoxy or possibly JB Weld to re-attach. Hopefully the adhesive I use will stick to the powder coating.

GR Doors Glue.jpg


GR2.jpg
 
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NOTNSUV said:
I'm going to have my aluminum tub plates PC PX8 also. Considering painting the steel in a mat black or such to get closer to the color of the flares and give a touch of contrast to the blackout look.


Welp, I opted to powder coat my Gen Right half doors. Shop texted me pictures today with text saying the lower support bar fell off during the pre-heating process. It was on there with double sided tape only. What? Top appears to be welded. Did they tape them in place to be welded and forgot? I'll be dropping them a line for answers. I can't be the first one to try powder coating on these.

So I told him to go ahead and PC the pieces separately and I plan to get epoxy or possibly JB Weld to re-attach. Hopefully the adhesive I use will stick to the powder coating.

View attachment 321396

View attachment 321397
Click to expand...
From GR:

"That is how they are held on. Where the supports are located we can not weld or you would have heat/weld marks on the front and most people leave them raw".

Gonna have to look but almost sure the top support is welded. ??
If sticky tape was good enough OEM then whatever I come up with should be at least as good to hold them in place.
 
I'm not sure why you need that lower support. Several of us on here have JCR aluminum doors. They don't have them and work just fine....
 
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1904-06LJR said:
I'm not sure why you need that lower support. Several of us on here have JCR aluminum doors. They don't have them and work just fine....
Click to expand...
Good to hear. I'll still stick them on there somehow. Would have bought JCR but their price nearly doubled in the past year.
 
JMT said:
If I was going to DIY AND WANTED A BODY MATCH, I’d do a wrap. It’s cheap, flat surface, and matches factory finish. I’ve tried painting to match factory finish and it ain’t happening without different equipment and more practice.

Another good option is to leave them unfinished.
Click to expand...

They can do a body matched wrap? I was thinking of painting mine or getting them painted. Though if there's a color matched wrap, that might be better.
 
suicideking said:
They can do a body matched wrap? I was thinking of painting mine or getting them painted. Though if there's a color matched wrap, that might be better.
Click to expand...
Some colors, yes. Check your paint code and then check 3M vinyl wrap colors. Flame Red is available for me, but Patriot Blue is not. @B00mb00m has used it with good results.

As an aside, I’m working on my painting again because I have to do some on the Patriot Blue Rubicon. I’ve about exhausted aerosol’s on a flat panel. It’s about time to move up to HVLP.
 
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JMT said:
Some colors, yes. Check your paint code and then check 3M vinyl wrap colors. Flame Red is available for me, but Patriot Blue is not. @B00mb00m has used it with good results.

As an aside, I’m working on my painting again because I have to do some on the Patriot Blue Rubicon. I’ve about exhausted aerosol’s on a flat panel. It’s about time to move up to HVLP.
Click to expand...

Is there a chart somewhere that tells you which color to use? I tried the 3M site, don't see one there.

I went to this site: https://www.rvinyl.com/Jeep-3M-Vehicle-Wraps.html

But the color names aren't the same. I selected 06 wrangler, still doesn't show the same names.
 
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