The $5 Tailgate Applique Conversion

Since I ended up getting a truck from dealer stock, it wasnt completely as I would have ordered it- it actually has a little more on it than I wanted, but one thing it did not have that I did want was the applique. Since there really is no way to convert a non-applique tailgate, I played around with some matte black peel coat paint from a spray can. I figured if I didnt like the results then I could just peel it off. But I think it actually turned out pretty decent tho. Looks a lot better than it did before anyway.

Sorry, but that looks pretty cheesy to me. Maybe it looks better in person though. Also your pics are upside down.

Yea, not sure why it loads the pics upside down every time i load from my iphone. Very annoying! I will have to go fix it on my desktop.

---------- Post added at 05:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:45 PM ----------

Fixed the pics... Not sure why the Ford emblem in the middle looks dark on the lower half in the pics- must be the shadowing. I did paint over all the chrome parts with the same matte black peel paint. I'm not a big fan of chrome.

What product did you use? I may try to do this on my rear Ford Emblem until I can get a hold of a cool blacked out one

Rustoleum..

Did you just tape off the lights and the rest of the tailgate and spray it, or did you remove the applique and spray it separately? Assuming the "peel coat" is similar to plastidip.

ChevyChad said:

Since I ended up getting a truck from dealer stock, it wasnt completely as I would have ordered it- it actually has a little more on it than I wanted, but one thing it did not have that I did want was the applique. Since there really is no way to convert a non-applique tailgate, I played around with some matte black peel coat paint from a spray can. I figured if I didnt like the results then I could just peel it off. But I think it actually turned out pretty decent tho. Looks a lot better than it did before anyway.

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Just out of curiosity... what do you care what the rear of your trucks look like? it’s what that Dodge & Chevy drivers will have to look at, not you

neat idea. My truck was also from dealer stock and although I didn’t want to pay for the appliqué, Lucille came with that and the bed ink so... what can i say, I like big framed trucks that aren’t afraid to show a little ink...

I left the tail gate on and masked off around it. Yes, similar to plasti-dip. Probably the same stuff. One tip for anyone who does this- spray the middle part first then spray along the borders last. You need to immediately remove the tape while the paint is still wet. If you let it dry then everything will try to come up together.

Another tip i would recommend removing the emblems. I painted over them and peeled the paint off of them after it dried, but peeling those tiny letters took me over an hour- maybe 2 hours. I kind of lost track of time.

looks good...some people hate plastidip (appears to be similar). I did my FORD emblem and wheels. looks great. easy to touch up or remove. the machined wheels weren't my style. plastidipped em and very happy. I like the tailgate idea. its your truck. do what you want. looks good

Piranharaptor said:

looks good...some people hate plastidip (appears to be similar). I did my FORD emblem and wheels. looks great. easy to touch up or remove. the machined wheels weren't my style. plastidipped em and very happy. I like the tailgate idea. its your truck. do what you want. looks good

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Got any pics of the wheels? I had thought to do mine as well for the same reason.