Door Lock Facia, TIDY UP!!

[Sudesh]

So over the weekend I decided to tidy up the door lock facia. The black alloy tends to fade and can also be scratched with the key if people have used that method rather than remote, but I guess most of us have used the key entry at some point.

Anyway I decided to try a diferent method rather than going to the hassle of removing the lock and painting etc.

So here is whats needed,
Some black vinyl
Scissors
Crafting knife, [best to get one with a fairly sharp point.

Take the black vinyl and cut out a square, roughly 2" by 2"

 

[Sudesh]

Take the square and place it over the entire door lock including the rubber seal. At this point you need to start moulding the sticker to the contours of the door lock, squeezing out any wrinkles or air bubbles. Vinyl is quite easy to work and if you make a mistake just lift an edge of the vinyl, peel back and start pressing it back into the contours until your happy with the lines etc.

Once your happy with the mould, take the crafters knife and very carefully and lightly cut the vinyl in tight against the line of the rubber seal.

 

[Sudesh]

The key is to get it tight to the rubber so you can then tuck the line of the vinyl into the rubber seal. Once your happy with the cut start peeling off the square, take your time incase you missed a cut

 

[Sudesh]

Once you remove the square. Start to filter out the lines and squeeze out the wrinkles to the rubber seal. I used my thumb and nail to get it all pressed in to the edges. And with about 15mins of kneading the vinyl, the job was done.

I didnt bother cutting the key slot on the passanger side, but I did cut it out on the drivers side incase the batteries went on the remote entry.

 

[Sudesh]

Another tip I learned after.

Best to clean out any polish that you may have around the rubber seal lol

Just looks much better when the white polish line is cleared away

 

[Kitaka]

So what makes the repair resistant to use? eg car wash, weather, multiple key entries/removal, etc)

It seems this will easily come off, especially with the presence of moisture and temperature differentials between the vinyl and metal

 

[Sudesh]

In case you didnt read the title, its said facia tidy up!

Noting was metioned about it being resistant to anything. However it is vinyl and if entire cars can be wrapped in vinyl without any major issues then I'm sure the door lock facia will be just fine. I've used vinyl on many other cars and bikes, and never had a problem. Plus vinyl is used everyday for eg: signs, advertising on trailers and display boards, rally cars, quads, motorbikes and so on. It cost me absolutely nothing to do other that a bit of time, and if it gets to a stage where it starts to wear badly it can always be replaced again with minimal effort.

 

[Kitaka]

Oh I read it correctly. You just didn't mention that the vinyl had adhesive on the other side, as used with automotive wraps

 

[Sudesh]

Oh Right!

I would have thought that was pretty clear going by the photos of it stuck to the door.

Anyway moving on..............lol:smile: