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My hoops needed a proper refurb - I'd painted them in situ and the results weren’t great - there were already chips in the paintwork and surface was rough, so I decided to bite the bullet and do the job properly.

A big thanks to Stuboy who had given me a pair of new back covers ages ago
I wanted to keep the matt black look so I needed to spray the new pair and remove, sand down and re-spray my existing front covers.



Prizing the hoops off was as tricky as I’d been led to believe, I was expecting to break one or two clips in the process. This is the way I went about it using a flat head screwdriver at the positions where the clips are located (positions shown in following pics)



I remove the rear covers first



Then released the front covers by prizing the retaining clips as shown, however they still needed a good push to release. There’s nothing delicate in this job – brute force is often required!



Following pics show the positions of the retaining clips on the front covers



This shows the retaining clip positions for the rear covers - you can see a 'clip casualty' bottom left




Then the ball ache of sanding down my hand painted front covers



Two coats of primer on all four covers (Plastikote)



Five top coats (Matt black Plastikote)



Much better finish



Re-fitting: Position the back covers in first, make sure they are seated in the rubber base, they need a good hit all round – heel of the hand should do it.
Then angle in the front covers from the base first, making sure they are seated in the rubber base



You will end up with a gap that’s difficult to close – I couldn’t close it using my hand:



I had to resort to using a small hammer giving it several heavy whacks around the whole hoop while protecting the surface with a cloth.

Done



So that’s my guide based upon my experience, if you’ve done this already feel free to add other useful hints or tips for others.

Nice write up Colin.

Nice write up Colin, my son has been on about doing his

Excellent !
Thanks for sharing this.
Cheers
Bumpy

Good job Colin, for their cost I would definitely recommend these tools though as they reduce the chances of marking plastic trim
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 2273224693
Rob

Cheers Fellas
Rob - good call, I didn't know these even existed!

Thanks Colin, have bookmarked for later in the summer.

Can’t decide weather to give wrapping them in situ a go or to just bite the bullet.

Cheers Rob, just ordered

About time too Nice one.
Having said that probably a lot quicker that Steve Hutch would have taken

What a cracking job

Stu Boy wrote: ↑Tue May 01, 2018 4:44 pm About time too Nice one.
Having said that probably a lot quicker that Steve Hutch would have taken

Cheeky bar steward.

I did mine on my last zed within a few weeks of buying it @ 6 months old. Had to replace the covers for ones to take the wind deflector. Little did I know back then in 2007.

Marlon wrote: ↑Mon Apr 30, 2018 7:13 pm Cheers Fellas
Rob - good call, I didn't know these even existed!

You need some decent tools Colin. A hinge and a big old screwdriver

srhutch wrote: ↑Tue May 01, 2018 8:42 pm

Marlon wrote: ↑Mon Apr 30, 2018 7:13 pm Cheers Fellas
Rob - good call, I didn't know these even existed!

You need some decent tools Colin. A hinge and a big old screwdriver

Look great Colin definitely on my list to do as I have an annoying rattle from my passenger side hoop and fancy a colour change possibly piano black thanks for the guide

Nice right up there.
Been toying with the idea myself as I hate the awful shade of dark grey mine are. I just can't decide what colour to go with. I did initially think gloss black but have since seen that on a few zeds and it looks crap. Being toying with the idea of a matt black (ala Z4M) or maybe colour coding to titanium silver etc.
Did you consider going Hellrot Red?

MACK wrote: ↑Wed May 02, 2018 10:30 am Nice right up there.
Been toying with the idea myself as I hate the awful shade of dark grey mine are. I just can't decide what colour to go with. I did initially think gloss black but have since seen that on a few zeds and it looks crap. Being toying with the idea of a matt black (ala Z4M) or maybe colour coding to titanium silver etc.
Did you consider going Hellrot Red?

Cheers Mack. I did consider it (even had a Poll running ) but decided on matt black after a drive out with Z4M pals.
Also I had already sprayed the A-pillars matt black so the hoops had to match