Chromatic Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 (edited) Well, like many Zed's the Cover that goes over the rear strut bar cover in hatch has issues -- Primarily on mine the Z emblem which is actually not painted but covered in a light coating of metal was peeling off badly. So I removed the cover (man mine was super brittle).. then carefully drilled out the Z emblem.. and have removed all the metal from it and sanded it down ready for Prime/Paint.. I have a fairly stock match with paint.. did my best. Here's the Emblem with everything removed.. not too pretty like this. But I'm going for an exact stock look on it, as I've seen many others who have done this elsewhere and when they do something else it generally doesn't turn out looking exactly "right" or clean to me. They don't look bad (most of them).. but I like a good clean look.. and the way it came is how I think it should remain (for my tastes). Front of Emblem after prepped with Dremel, Razorblade, and Hand sanding: The back which shows where it connected: Had to dremel those points down so I can reattach it evenly.. If you look at some others I think some people didn't completely flatten this out on all edges so their's sticks up a bit (not something most passerby's would notice.) I will say if your considering fixing this,.. be VERY careful removing this whole plastic piece.. on my car it was incredibly brittle.. I think the car was left in the 100+ F heat for years before it had tint and caused it to get super brittle. I could hear it cracking with very little pressure. -- I don't think others are nearly as brittle as mine was. Next update will be the final product on the car.. Edited February 5, 2014 by Chromatic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chromatic Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 (edited) I started on this last week.. I re-did it about 3 times,.. cause I wasn't happy with the finish as I kept comparing pictures with the stock one and it wasn't quite right.. a little wetsanding fixed it up. Here's the end result. I'm happy with it! The Circle shape on it is the fliashlight lol.. It was nighttime when I finished,.. and with tinted windows it's not easy to get light in there.. despite having the hidden LEDS that shows all the light under the Strut Bar.. Edited February 5, 2014 by Chromatic 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZEUS Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 That looks like a good job to me and a very close match too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chromatic Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 That looks like a good job to me and a very close match too Thanks.. I almost went the darker color that came on the 2006's.. But, said nah.. I'll keep it where it was.. it works for this Silver car. What is the "Official" factory color for this car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 More great work mate. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chromatic Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 More great work mate. Thank ya's.. Here's a shot in a little more light.. but still this car is super dark due to the tint I guess.. I think I had so much trouble getting this thing out because I followed another BAD .. guide on how to take it out instead of just figuring it out myself.. Which didn't say to pull the front and back covers out (the ones that go all the way to the carpet/mat.. on front and back.. ) -- Those clip in to the piece in more than 10-12 spots front and back. So I was pulling on it when it wasn't ready to come off in the least. I DID crack it.. and freaked.. (slightly).. So what you see there is my "plastic repair" work.. -- Good thing I was refinishing it.. otherwise I would have been in trouble,.. I could afford to bond the plastic very sturdily .. then sand that down as needed. I have to be honest,.. when I make a mistake,.. I'm gonna admit it. But I salvaged the piece.. stronger than ever now, just took what would have been a 1-2 day job into a week job cause I was out getting the right stuff and trying different things to bond it very well.. (no super glue fixes lol).. But, even still. That piece is still VERY brittle.. just is that way period due to how thin it is and what it's made of. While I was doing that and rewiring the LED's the prev. owner sloppily put back there.. I looked for that supposed boot switch in the hatch under the strut bar.. I didn't see/feel find it? Is it in all the cars? This is a base model.. 2008.. ?? Not a big deal, but still curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.