[Peryls]

Greetings,
Just to be up front, I did do a search for tailgates and cladding but none of the results seemed to be exactly what I was looking for.

My wife purchased a 2003 E (DX model) for her soon to be driving 16 year old daughter. It's gonna be a sweet ride for a 16 year old and she's amazingly lucky to be a little spoiled. Of course appearances are important for the young lady and there is a "minor" problem that I am hoping to get some direction on.

The vehicle is an (orange) '03, however, according to the seller (through the car dealer) the original tailgate was damaged in a parking lot collision with a high speed grocery cart (or some other BS answer like that...) It was matched up with a tangerine tailgate from an '07 E, that was presumably located in a wrecking yard. The tailgate did not have the cladding on it, so it's a solid tangerine color. To my eye, it's not a big deal, but to my wife and I'm sure my step daughter, it'll be an every day eye sore and ... well... it's gotta match.

So, obviously, the easiest solution would be to find an '03 tailgate with the cladding and just swap it out, ... that's a little pricey. About as pricey is taking the door to be painted a matching color at Maaco or wherever, and then you still have cladding all over except the rear... which is a little tacky...
Can I just buy the cladding and place it on the '07 door?

I've seen a lot of cladding available for '03-08 E's but, before I spend the money I'd just like to make sure I'm barking up the right tree and it will even work.

 

[ramblerdan]

Welcome, Peryls.

Please add your location (Seattle, yes?) to your profile; it could help others help you.

As for the tailgate cladding, I assume you're talking about reference #13 in the illustrations below. I don't understand what you mean by "The tailgate did not have the cladding on it, so it's a solid tangerine color." Unless you're seeing the hidden, steel part of the tailgate (which I doubt), you are in fact looking at painted cladding. For 2007 the part number was 74890-SCV-A20ZF, where the "F" stands for Tangerine Metallic.

2004 models had unpainted, medium-gray cladding, p/n 74890-SCV-A10ZA. I can't guarantee it will fit on a 2007 tailgate, but I think the likelihood is very good. They retail online for about $130 plus shipping. Dunno how that compares to the cost of having your tangerine cladding painted. If you do have the cladding painted, go gray, not SOP, if you want it to be authentic. (Gray will also probably be a little more forgiving of an imperfect match than orange, and the plastic will also have a different texture from the steel panels.)


2003:



2007:

 

[dgale]

I don't know what year they switched from the gray plastic panels to the E being all one color but I assumed from his description that the 07 tailgate was all one color like the later models (?).

Either way, if you order the #13 cladding Ramblerdan referenced above, note that I tried to order one of these several years back from Majestic Honda and it was considered an oversized item and they told me shipping was prohibitive and I should get from my local dealer (who of course wanted full blown retail). Worth checking with the various online OEM vendors to double-check but you may end up needing to check with your local dealer parts dept.

 

[psschmied]

You may be able to get an entire tailgate at a junkyard with the unpainted cladding for less than th3 cost of new cladding.

To get a color match grey it must be from a DX model, the EX cladding was a diiferent color, more brownish, like bronze anodized aluminum.

Then switch the cladding.