tigers425

I am new to the forum and need some ideas. I have a nighthawk black 03 TL. I am going to darken everything on the car to make it look like midnight on wheels. I am getting black rims, black chrome mufflers, black chrome emblems, already got dark tint 20%, black intake, and even black drilled and slotted rotors. I need ideas on how to darken all of the chrome on the exterior. My first wish is for it to be black chrome but I don't know how I can get that done on the door handles, window trim, front grille and inside the headlights. PLEASE HELP WITH IDEAS.

EL19

iTrader: (4)

i dunno how to get black chrome on something..i would imagine it would b a tad pricey, but ive seen people who jus paint the chrome trim the same color as the car...i have the same color car and i have everythin gon my chrome grill painted NighthawkBlackPearl and i have the rear debadged...the idea u have goin sounda nice tho...u might find someone who does black chrome dipping jus got google it

salvo24

As far as the headlights go, just look up the DIY on how to clear the headlights and just paint the inside of the housing when you have them apart. Like L said too, the grille can be painted, but I have no idea for the door handles or window trim, I don't think those will come off the car that easily

tigers425

That is a good idea to paint it the same color as the car. I have thought about sheets of black vinyl, sheets of the tinted rock gaurd that you put over your headlights, or covering it with carbon fiber. Any other ideas would be appreciated.

seanranger3

tigers i want to see some pics of your car. solunds hot.

csmeance

you ould use some of that spray on tint stuff for the tailights for the chrome pieces, thats what one guy did on his 3G tl to the emblems to make them darker.

02type-s

^^

X2, VHT niteshades

fsttyms1

Why not just take the chrome pieces off and have them painted body color

02type-s

Because then they would just blend in, I think he just wants to darken them.

nizmugen

iTrader: (1)

Wait, how do you have black drilled and slotted rotors?

tigers425

The rotors are coated with a black zinc coating to prevent rust. Most are coated with a zinc coating that looks kinda like chrome making them shiny. The part were the pads touch will adventually wear off but the remaining parts of the rotor(the hat, inside the fins, and inside the drill holes/slots) will stay black giving it a mean look. I would send pictures but I don't have many of these thing done yet. I have already changed all my interior lights to LED hyper white, put in a black intake, and changed my fog lights to hyper white sylvania silverstars. I still have a lot of work to do. Once I get closer to the final result I will post some pictures.

02type you are correct, I don't want the chrome to blend in with the paint but I do want it to not stand out so much. I like that spray tint/transparent black paint idea. It is one I am thinking hard on. I just know I am no professional painter and I don't want it to look like crap. Thanks everyone for the ideas and please keep them coming.

tigers425

02Type what is X2? I looked up and ordered a can of nightshades. I am going to try it out and see if I like it. thanks for the help.

02type-s

lol, X2 is like saying "i agree" (times two)

BAPE head

if you want to DIY Black Chrome

Take original Chrome Pieces and spray Tamiya clear SMOKE spray till you get the desired effect.

I have seen people do this with emblems, looks good.

tigers425

I like the clear smoke idea. So far this is the one that I like the most. Thanks for the idea BAPE.

joeman892

does anyone have any pictures of their TLs with the chrome darkened, i was just wondering how it would look, preferably on a black TL

02type-s

I found a few in the 3g forum.





The pics are not too great but it gives you the idea.

TlsNavi03

iTrader: (1)

Pretty nice!!

SteveP66

Some of us over in 3G are doing smoked/black chroming already....

SRAcuraTL

That black chrome is hot for sure. I wanted to paint all the chrome black on my ride for a while now but I gotta say the tint spray looks clean. Anyone know how to remove the trim on the doors? I havent even looked yet. If not Ill take a look tomarrow and post what I find out.

SRAcuraTL

Oh and one more thing, I looked up the Tamiya clear smoke and it says they come is 100 ml cans. You think this would be enough? Or how many cans would I need?

02TLSU

^sounds like a good idea, let us know how it goes... maybe a DIY?

mge2790

+1 on the DIY
i really like the idea of darkening the emblems but im not sure how it would look on my car (forget the name of the paint, but its like silver but not, almost a really light champagne) but ive got a can of nightshades from my last car just sittin around that i never got to used (totaled it 3 days after gettin the nightshades in the mail)

mge2790

[IMG][IMG]F:\grey\MINE\Pictures\Car\grille crop.jpg[/IMG][/IMG]

mge2790

[IMG]<img src=grill crop.jpg>[/IMG]

mge2790

[IMG]grille crop.jpg[/IMG]

mge2790

after many attmepts to post teh pictures.. here is my new darkened grille

mge2790

it was kind of dirty when i took the picture but i was in a hurry to remount it - still needs another coat in a couple of spots.

just sanded down the chrome and sprayed nightshades over it.
the middle acura symbol looks amazing - really light nightshades so its still pretty silver, like a dark brushed aluminum

02type-s

It looks a lil patchy

FirePR2002

I like what you're doing - it'll look great when finished, but it is patchy. Even out the spots and it will look sick.

mge2790

its a work in progress

so i was going to make a new thread for this but i wanted to see if anyone on this thread had any ideas:
i have 2 holes in my front bumper where a liscence plate holder was (previous owner) and i have let them glare at me for too long. dont really like the look of another liscence plate or holder but i want to put something there to cover the holes.
cut it open and put some grille pieces there?
other ideas?

02type-s

like vents?