Film wrapping the header panel?

[dtavres]

Newbie here...

My windshield header panel (like many) has been chipping paint, which is distracting and eventually just looks bad.

I've talked to several people who have remove, stripped, prepared, and painted the panel, only to have it chip again within a couple of years.

So I was wondering if some of these new 'protective films' would work for recovering the header panel?

Would it be better to strip it, or strip it and paint it, THEN wrap it with film? OR, could it just be removed and wrapped as-is?

Just a thought.

[Mark D]

Mine has a few chips in it where the upper wide piece meets with the two narrower side pieces... There must be some vibration there that keeps causing the paint right on the edge to chip off.

If you're planning on removing the pieces completely you could have them powder coated which should hold up much better than regular paint.

Or you could touch up the existing paint and apply clear vinyl over the whole thing. There should be local shops that specialize in "clear bras" that could do this for you or you could DIY. The paint surface needs to be smooth below the vinyl though to start with otherwise you can get little bubbles that form around the chipped areas.

Or you could wrap the whole thing in black vinyl (semi gloss black) or some other fun material like faux carbon fiber vinyl.

[SS Spoiler]

It's my understanding that top piece is stainless so
you could polish it to "chrome".....

[David T]

My guess is there must be some movement. The fiberglass underneath is not completely stiff, and as the parts move and rub the paint chips. Eventually anything you do will chip.

[DMCMW Dave]

It's my understanding that top piece is stainless so
you could polish it to "chrome".....

But the side pieces are not stainless, so you end up with kind of a disconnected look.

[Lwanmtr]

Well, one thing...with a wrap, you could have a plaid window panel.

[vwdmc16]

But the side pieces are not stainless, so you end up with kind of a disconnected look.

Exactly, I had that panel stripped and brushed for a few months, it never looked right, the roof looked bigger and the winshield smaller. The poportions ive loved over the years were not right.

How many rock chips does one get in that area? You must be going through windshields lol.

[DMCMW Dave]

Exactly, I had that panel stripped and brushed for a few months, it never looked right, the roof looked bigger and the winshield smaller. The poportions ive loved over the years were not right. .

I've had one car in here where they stripped the header panel and then grained it like the rest of the stainless. Just didn't look right to my eye. People seem to have some success with powder coating, but if the powder coater gets aggressive with heat the parts will warp and be junk. So don't just leap into that either.

The funny thing to me is that the paint comes off the header panel easily, but it's almost impossible to strip off the side rails other than sanding it off. I wonder what the paint process was on those.

[dn010]

The sides are aluminum and the header is stainless. All of mine are stripped and while I at first enjoyed the look, I'm now going to go back to the original color. Should be fun....

[mluder]

The funny thing to me is that the paint comes off the header panel easily, but it's almost impossible to strip off the side rails other than sanding it off. I wonder what the paint process was on those.

That was my experience too... I think the stainless panel doesn't take the paint as firmly as the aluminum side pieces. Man I tried every type of stripper and ended up sanding too.

Cheers
Steve