The plastics around the switches and handle in my front door were really badly damaged (presumably by the previous owner's jewellery) and needed sorting out. The rubbery finish on the switch surround was peeling in places which exposed some nasty shiny plastic underneath and the foundry paint had large chunks missing.

I forgot to take a pic of the switch panel but here you can see the state of the handle trim sat on my state-of-the-art painting stand.

Click image to enlarge

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NICE JOB

very nice work..leave it as it is as the range looks ok with a few different colours.

this is mine and all the colours work well..

Click image to enlarge

Nice job, FYI Supercharged RR's had piano black door handle surrounds rather than foundry finish, so my vote is to keep it black  
Gone - Range Rover Supercharged 2006

I have a similar problem with badly scratched panels and was thinking of spraying them. How easy was it to sand the rubbery finish on the switch panels, can it be painted over or did you have to get it all off? No longer FF owner but still interested. Present car Jaguar XE
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Previous car Td6 SE
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Previous LR- Disco 300TDi Auto

Thanks for the positive reviews.

The rubber finish needs to be completely removed. I tried putting the primer over it but it just bubbled and lifted. Some bits came off very easily but others were a bit trickier. Spraying the primer on by mistake actually made it easier to remove as more of the rubber lifted but it was a bit messier and no quicker than just sanding it all off at the beginning would have been.

A good rub with 240 grit followed by 800 to get the deeper scratches out then it was ready for the primer. The handle trims took the same amount of effort. It was no more than 15 minutes sanding per item so fairly easy.

i painted all mine gloss black and as said earlier so long as you give them a good sand down and use a etching primer they do come out well ....on mine i did lots of coats then when it dried i wet and dried it so that i could get a nice gloss finish.........with regards to the window switch surrounds mine are pealing to so im just gonna take all the rubber coating off and have them just black plastic

good job by the way looks much better in black than foundary


if you use car polish on the rubber it comes of easy as it seems to break it up ... this is what i did with the steering wheel spokes "RANGEISM WILL NOT BE TOLERATED"
www.futuresecurityservices.co.uk
Pretlove says , '' I want my car back "

pretlove wrote:

with regards to the window switch surrounds mine are pealing to so im just gonna take all the rubber coating off and have them just black plastic

if you use car polish on the rubber it comes of easy as it seems to break it up ... this is what i did with the steering wheel spokes

Not sure whether the plastics stayed the same over the years but the switch surround plastic looks really cheap and nasty under the rubber. It's got a shiny but textured finish and wouldn't look out of place in an 80's Vauxhall. Have a look but you might want to prime and flatten before using the same paint as your handle trims to get a finish that's as good as what you've already done.

Nice tip for the steering wheel spokes as I was wondering how I was going to tackle them without taking the whole thing apart.

andrew i fear you may be right about the switch surrounds so maybe once ive got the rubber off ill just paint them like the rest with regards to the polish trick i found the cheaper the polish the better it worked....dont get me wrong it still takes a bit off elbow grease and does take some time to start working but it does work "RANGEISM WILL NOT BE TOLERATED"
www.futuresecurityservices.co.uk
Pretlove says , '' I want my car back "

Really looks great Andrew - I prefer that to the Foundry finish. I'll pop in to Halfords on the way home; busy weekend ahead. Tow bar electrics and now spraying.

pretlove wrote:

i painted all mine gloss black and as said earlier so long as you give them a good sand down and use a etching primer they do come out well ....on mine i did lots of coats then when it dried i wet and dried it so that i could get a nice gloss finish.........with regards to the window switch surrounds mine are pealing to so im just gonna take all the rubber coating off and have them just black plastic

good job by the way looks much better in black than foundary


if you use car polish on the rubber it comes of easy as it seems to break it up ... this is what i did with the steering wheel spokes

there on my range rover thread
i will take some fresh ones for you right now "RANGEISM WILL NOT BE TOLERATED"
www.futuresecurityservices.co.uk
Pretlove says , '' I want my car back "

thanks for that!

Very nice. Same colour as mine. I need to have a go at that when I get some free time. So much to do and so little time No longer FF owner but still interested. Present car Jaguar XE
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Previous car Td6 SE
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Previous LR- Disco 300TDi Auto