i was wondering if anyone has tried to paint the door handles or mirrors caps before and so how they turned out? I am going to try it and see how it comes out on a set of door handles and the bowtie.

I bought my door handles from gm for 27.00 each. They were already painted to match my truck. Unfortunately I was told that the mirror caps for my truck have been discontinued. So, I guess I need mine painted as well.

Krylon Fusion works very well for any plastic or chrome I've painted. trying to match the color is the hard part.

Do you have to sand the factory door handles smooth before painting them? I've heard things about plastics peeling if they're not meant to be paintable.

No, just make sure the item is clean. But no sanding or primering is needed. The stuff works great. I have'nt had any peeling after 6 months, and still looks great.

If you paint used plastic you may have pits, tags. and other flaws show up in your paint versus new parts. I just had all the parts on my bumper painted and all the flaws in the plastic showed up in the paint on the lower valance. I had my paint man appologizing profucely for not getting perfection when it was my fault for not starting with good clean parts. :banghead:

ive painted my grill and my vortec cover and the inside door handle trim...just make sure you clean it really well before you spray...use alot of thin coats to acheive the right color, you shouldnt have any probs

I would do what nineball said. If you're gonna do it yourself, you must thoroughly clean, sand, primer and then spray. And never use anything besides automotive paints. Otherwise you'll drive around looking like a tool.

well i am painting my bowtie and door handles right now. it is kinda a pain in the butt to sand the door handles becasue or the shape and curves. but i got several coats and they look good. i am gonna clear them today. then i will have them on the truck. does any one have any odea what i can use to replace the rivet that was in the handle. i drilled it out so i could sand and paint the handles.

does any one have any odea what i can use to replace the rivet that was in the handle. i drilled it out so i could sand and paint the handles.

I think I would need a picture for that one. I haven't a clue what your talking about. Are you refering to the interior or exterior handle? Also, just curious, why did you have to drill out anything in order to paint the handle?

it is the exterior handle where the shell and the actually hand go together. one side had a rivit in it and the other has a plastic pin with the spring and clip on it.

You can buy kits from GM to replace your door handles with pre-painted buckets with chrome pulls in certain colors. If your color is not listed for kits, you can still buy handles from the Escalade to get the crome pulls or the Tahoe/Yukon for the all painted handles. I have the Silver Birch kit on my 2005 Crewcab along with Chrome Mirror Caps. Here are some part numbers:

Escalade type chrome handles with painted buckets.
4 Door Set With the tailgate handle and bezel.

Silver Birch 17801144
Olympic White 17801143
Victory Red 17801142

GM parts direct has these for 215 shipped.

2Door Set with tailgate handle:

Outside Door Handles - 17801132
Chrome w/ Olympic White bezel 2 door set, w/ white handle and bezel

Outside Door Handles - 17801133
Chrome w/ Silver Birch bezel 2 door set, w/ Silver tailgate handle and Silver bezel

Outside Door Handles - 17801136
Chrome w/ Victory Red bezel 2 door set, w/ Red tailgate handle and Red bezel

GMparts Direct has these for 139.38 Shipped.


2 Door Set/ no tailgate handle

Outside Door Handles - 17801134
Chrome w/ Black bezel 2 door set.

Outside Door Handles - 17801135
Chrome w/ Dark Gray bezel 2 door set

93.11 Shipped


Mirror Caps:

Silver 59U 17800656
White 50U 17800657
Red(sport?) 63U 17800658
Victory Red 74U 17802411
Chrome 17800659

Gm Parts Direct has these for 76.31 shipped



Dark Gray Metallic Handles, No Chrome:
15093820 - Front
15093821 - Front
15093806 - Rear
15093807 - Rear

Escalade chrome/painted door handles:

Black:
15745149 FLH
15745148 FRH
15745141 RLH
15745140 RRH

Pewter:
15745145 FLH
15745144 FRH
15745136 RLH
15745137 RRH

Arrival Blue:
15093425 FLH
15093424 FRH
15093427 RLH
15093426 RRH

Carmine Red:
15745151 FLH
15745150 FRH

White (not pearl):
15066575 FLH
15066574 FRH

Indigo Blue (no chrome, all blue):
15015961 FLH
15015962 FRH
15015975 RLH
15015976 RRH

Pewter C3/SS Tailgate Handle (Texured not smooth/no chrome):
15755401 Handle
15752896 Bezel

Black C3/SS Tailgate Handle (Texured not smooth/no chrome):
15997911 Handle
15046512 Bezel