so... since i have to pull 1 flare off the bed to do some bodywork i figured why not pull them all off and paint them black as they are the stock grey color right now. also nothing else on my truck is grey except the flares and grille.. once the flares are done im going to put the 2 front one's back on and leave the other 2 off until i get the bodywork done, gonna do the grille also..

here's what the bodywork im doing (that many of you dont think i can smooth out) and the truck without the flare



here's the color of the flares right now

and here's what the ends of the flares look like, they are a little scratched.




im going to start sanding them tomorrow with 220grit, then wet sand 600 grit, throw some high build primer on it, sand that down possibly some primer and sanding then some paint.

so since this is mt project thread i will update it when i get some progress done.

 

thats going to be a hard one to smooth out if it was me i would just put on another bed side and repaint the bed

 

It can be done, but you will end up having to use quite a bit of bondo.

 

No bondo, you;ll have to build it with primer then sand then paint.

 

the hardest part is going to be where the bodylines are and getting them to match.. i wish i still had the pics of what my s15 looked like.. it was similiar to this.. i've done it before.. i did some smoothing out a couple days ago and it was easier than i thought. once i get the bed off the truck it will make it easier to get to. i got time... hell i got all winter!!! if i dont get the B-W done by the time i can afford to put the truck back on the road i can spray some primer over the filler or build a quick flatdeck for it.

there's a little smoothing to be done where the the fender flare goes also... i sure did a number on the side of my truck though... holy crap.. there's a little bit of straightening to be done inside the bed also, but i wanna get the outside done first.. just gotta get them damn bed bolts out first.. stupid things grrr!!

 

LOL eh i dont think you'll ever get that paint to match...paint is to old and faded....not that its bad but it is when compared to a fresh coat lol!!

 

ya i dont think we could match it... it is pretty old paint.. but surprisingly enough its not that faded... but i was thinking about repainting the whole truck.. like sonic blue or something. or even a custom color.

 

paint it vista blue!

 

hmm... its an option.. so it will go either vista blue, cobalt blue metallic( chevy color but it looks awesome, like a navy blue), sonic blue or bright atlantic blue.. not sure yet.. got some time to think about it.. did a little sanding on a flare today to much like work by hand so im gonna break out the palm sander!!

 

so here's some of my mad paint skills, i blacked out my fender flares and grille... i havent had the time to sand the flares down yet.. umm but this week for sure.

 

i have also found that krylon fusion for plastic really sticks well to the flares when prepped good.

 

Agree with Jake on the Krylon, satin black turns out nice.

 

ya im going to use the krylon fusion stuff if i can find a can or 2 of it.. also considering leaving the flares off, but i dunno.. gonna paint them anyways. i got a see-through mesh tailgate in the works right now that will be going gloss black. also have a 4"x4" custom bumper that is going gloss black as well.
just have to cut the mounts off and move them ( or make new ones) in about 2 inches on each side as the frame of a s10 is a little wider than a ranger.

EDIT:
this is the look im going for my truck with black flares.. then visualize a mesh gate and headache rack on the truck too. all in time though.. the bills come first though!!!!