Suzuki Equator Forum

The black plastic hood cowl on my Equator has been graying and fading. I’ve tried Back to Black and some other restorers and protectants that either didn’t work or didn’t last very long. A little research on our Frontier siblings has shown that some of them share this problem as well. Some commented that they didn’t have any problems with theirs. Maybe early applications with the proper protectants might prevent this, along with the amount of exposure it gets to the elements. New cowls are in the $75 to $100 range. Some have had them replaced under warranty, only to have the same thing happen again. Some have painted them black while others had them painted the exterior body color.

I decided to remove and paint the cowl black with Krylon Fusion aerosol paint for plastics. It’s offered in gloss, satin, and flat black. I opted for the satin finish. The cowl is fairly easy to remove with the removal of 2 push pin clips, wiper arms, radio antennae, rubber antennae boot, weather-strip clips, and hose to the windshield spray nozzles. With these removed the cowl will easily pop loose with gentle prying. There are several snap in type post clips across the cowl bottom. I used alcohol, and soap and water to clean and remove all the different products used on the cowl. There are 2 outside pieces to the cowl that I didn’t remove or paint. They are made of a different material than the cowl and seem to be holding their color alright. The paint is fast drying, and to prevent runs or sags, I put on 4 thin coats in about 10 minutes. With the hot dry weather here in central California it was easily ready to re-install within 2 hours. I’m pleased with the results, and will have to wait and see how it holds up.

Here’s some before and after pics of the cowl.

Equator Cowl 01.JPG

Equator Cowl 02.JPG

Equator Cowl 04.JPG

Equator Cowl 05.JPG

Equator Cowl 06.JPG

Good tip.
I am going to try putting 303 on mine before it fades. I need some for the Jeep anyway.
Otherwise I am going your route.

Looks great, keep us up to date as far as how it stands up.

__________________
2009 Suzuki Equator JX Radiant Silver
2007 Suzuki XL7 Limited Cobalt Blue
There's a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot.

Is any of the trim (cowl, bumper, bed rail caps) truly black? Mine all seemed a shade of gray straight from the dealer.

__________________

Hyunelan2 my bumper trim is the gray you mention, but the cowl, door handles, and mirrors are black. The bed rail caps are aftermarkets, that are also black. I wonder if these can vary by different production runs or suppliers? My cowl was faded the day I got the truck, and faded even more this summer in spite of all the products I tried to save it with.

My bed-rail caps are the same color gray as my bumper. Doors and mirrors are black.

Here's a picture of one fresh-off-the-truck @ the dealer I bought mine from. You can see the bed rail caps are gray from the factory on this one too.

__________________

Thanks for the info hyunelan2. How's the cowl on yours? Is it the dark gray like the bumpers? I don't really know what the original shade was because of the fading.