I was thinking of doing some mild aesthetic mods for my protege ES model. And there is one item that stands out the most .... the sliver pannel at the trunk, where you can put the key in to open the trunk, sorta like a handle bar (sorry for the poor description). I'd like to change it so that its black and not sliver anymore so that it matches better with the rest of my car. I didn't really care about it at first but over time it started to stick out. Got any ideas?

 

Remove it, sand the chrome with 600 grade wet/dry paper--use it wet for best performance--prime the piece and spray it with a top grade of satin black lacquer. If you want to spend the bread, get it professionally black powder coated.

The powder coating is the best way to go for a flawless, pro finish that'll last. Also spendier.

 

just find a black one from a junkyard. Maybe a 2002 got smucked and you can find the part. I think the silver trunk thingy looks upscale. the body coloured pice looks more sporty