How to remove damaged chrome plastic side trim
 

Hi, fellas. I have a Performance White colored 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis GS. I decided to detail it myself and after claying I applied 3M Finesse-it II with a 3M Superbuff wool pad using my makita rotary buffer. The painted sections turned out great and I was trying to be especially careful not to burn the paint by keeping the rpm low and not dwelling too long in one spot.. But somehow the edge of the pad seemed to be too aggressive for the "chrome" plated plastic trim that sits in the moulding that surrounds the car. At first I just thought it was just dryed polish that would come off, so when a rag and more finesse-it didn't work, I went for the Goof-Off which has always served me well on both boats and cars. Unfortunately, the Goof-Off was too strong and removed the chrome from the trim like paint thinner. So I stopped immediately realizing that the dull areas were not dried polish, but rather spots where the buffer had removed the fake chrome from the plastic. So I am looking at some sort of touch-up or repaint of those strips. I've read that the brushed-on version of "chrome" paint looks more gray than chrome, and that I would get the best results by removing the original paint from the trim and then respraying from a can. So really I have 2 questions:

1. How to I remove *just* the chrome trim pieces (not the entire plastic/rubberized mouldings)? I wouldn't want to try to strip/spray with the pieces still on the vehicle.

2. What paint should I use to get the "chromiest" results. Is there *any* brush-on version of the chrome paint that will work? Only about 20% of the trim is damaged, so I could live with slightly less than perfect results and a hell of a lot less labor. If I'm forced to yank the trim and spray, what would be the best product to use.

Thanks kindly in advance for any advice...8-)

-Steve D

Bump...:)

Is there no one that can help me on the previous 2 questions? I ready don't know whether to try and touch up the strips while they're mounted on the car, or remove them and spray or replace. I would assume they're attached to the molding with some kind of adhesive, but I would like to have someone confirm that before do further damage. If I could get them off, I might just paint them white to match the rest of the car. That would be a lot easier than trying to re-chrome them.

Is there a site somewhere on the web that has exploded views of car bodies? That would really help. Right now I'm just kind of stuck on what I should do. Any ideas or tips would be greatly appreciated. Sincerely,

-Steve D