TLwiz

OK, since there has been much discussion about this, and several posts, not to mention I have had at least 6 PM asking about it; here is the deal.

Yes, mine looks chrome. Yes the pics I posted are my second one, for MY'99. No, neither of them are truely "chromed" as NHB has had done to his very nice piece. Therefore, it is only plastic and CAN scratch if you are not careful. To have it chromed for real could cost about $40-50, if the product is ready to be done (and no, I won't tell you where to get it done for that, since I cannot provide that info, sorry!)

Here is the easy way to do it, and remember it will only work for the 99 shiftplate (the 99 plate was cast in "chrome" plastic, and then had a coating applied to it to make it hae the "dull" look.)


What I did was to give it a dip bath overnight in a solution that helped to loosen the coating. The coating could then be sloughed off, and carefully picked at with a fingernail. It actually came off easier the longer it soaked in the solution. Some of the stubborn areas took a little work, but the removal process only took about 2 hours.

My second plate is NOT for sale at this time. However, it has never been mounted, and when my lease is up I will definately be getting rid of it, and maybe even trade for someone's "regular' one.

Feel free to PM me if you have questions.

Davediego

could you post pics? what was this solution you soaked it in?

TLwiz

there are two pics here:

http://www.acura-tl.com/forum/showth...threadid=28671

the 'solution' was just a cheap paint thinner, and some dish detergent. I tried it first with just thinner, and it workerd great. The dish soap I tried on the second one to help, and it made it a little easier. Put it in a ziplock bag and let it sit for a day or so, you should be able to just rub the stuff off.

Davediego

Wow, that looks GREAT! How do you get the shift plate off?

TLwiz

you first have to remove your shift knob. Then remove th outer ring around the shft plate. You should be able to just lift it up/pop it off. The silver surround is just snapped into place, so you can put a screwdriver under it and pop it off too.