Mikz86TA
02-05-07, 12:23 PM
Hello:) . I just thought Id share a little insight to mt comrades on how to renew the look of the S-series wiper arms. I,like most of you,enjoy keeping my truck looking as good as new. But there are some areas that are simply hard to maintain,if not imposible. One of those areas is the OEM wiper arms. The black paint on the arm tends to fade and thin,and the plastic covers tend to haze and gray. I have found a good way to refreshen them and maintain them. You will need a few items before you begin. 1. Sandpaper Assortment (600grit and finer) 2. 3M SotchBrite scuffing pad (brown) 3. SEM Trim Black # 39143 4. Buffing wheel (soft) and collet (drill or bench) 5. 3M PlasticPolish --> Start off by first removing the wiper arms. To do this, unclip the plastic cover exposing the attachment nut. The cover has two small ears near the base as pointed out in first pic. Next unbolt the nut while keeping the arm from moving. There is a little loctite on it, but it will come fairly easy. The arm is on splines, so wiggle it and pull up. Now, dependent on the starting condition of the arm, you will need to wetsand the surface until it is uniformly scuffed. If your arm has already faded through to metal, only light sanding is needed with a 900/1000 grit. Try not to go to bare metal or the paint will not stick well. If you have a fairly good arm, start off with 600 grit and go to 1000 grit. On both, use the ScotchBrite for a final scuff/ non-directional while it is wet. Dry off with towel and surface prep with alcohol. Let arm air dry for at least 30 min. While the arms are drying go on to the covers. Apply the 3M polish to the covers rubbing it on kindof thick. Then using the buffing wheel, go over it at high speed keeping it moving slightly and different directions. Wipe off dry poilish and re-apply more. Go over them thouroughly until you have done entire cover a couple times. Dependent on how faded they are you might need to do this more. But you should already nitice them looking much better. Careful on the end not to snag the plastic in the wheel. The plastic on these is flexible, but age can make them brittle. In the next pic you can see a difference in the before and after. Now by this time the arms should be dry enough to paint. Make sure they are, water can seep out of crevises and ruin the freshly painted surface. I used a quick clamp on tha arm base where the shaft/nut go to attach it to a sawhorse for painting. It is unnessesary to paint that area anyway since it is covered. After shaking the SEM Trim Black for 2-3 min., apply a light first coat and let dry 3-4 min.(dependent of climate). The paint is a 'satin' finish which will look not 'flat' but not 'shiny' when dry. Hold can 6-8 inches using even/controlled back-forth motions. Apply 3-5 coats in the intervals aformentioned. SEM Trim Black only needs 15-20 minutes to cure to be touched. But dont be rough hadling for a couple days to cure hard. Reinstall arms in reverse of dis-assembly. Looks better Huh? I have used different trim paints in the past on my TransAm and Camaro, and the SEM #39143 is by far the best. In both color/texture correct, fade resistant, and application ease. I was re-painting the TransAm trim like once a year since '95. About 6years ago I had a friend in the paint/body business get me a can of SEM to try out. It looked good on his prestine '84 5.0 coupe, so I gave it a shot. I was sold. Still today, the T/As trim looks as great as the day I sprayed it. The T-Top trim, hatch trim, wiper arms and cowl panel were all done. Just keep em clean like you know you do anyway. On the plastic covers, periodically use the polish by hand. You can also use the polish on that pesky 3rd brake light cover that fades and dulls. Just remove it and use the polish/buffer the same way. On the cowl cover, I use Mothers BackToBlack. I have the textured(later) style. It doesnt work so good on the earlier(smooth) style. On the earlier one, Id usr the polish/buffer which would require removal. Easy to do at the same time though. Hope this helps!:D