AaronChiles

After realizing and I suck at painting and sanding, and not wanting to pay $100 dollars to get them painted, I finally found the cheapest solution. I looked on eBay for some Gloss Black Decal Vinyl (15" x 10ft) for cars and found some really cheap (~$12.00 shipped)

Tools


Ugly Pillar


Back of the Pillar with Vinyl


Car Picture


Use a squeegee or credit card to put the vinyl on the pillar. Use an x-acto knife to cut off the excess (very easy, there are ridges on the backsides and it just slides right down.

I'm about to go through the carwash to test it out for water, etc. Enjoy! Oh yeah, this took like 15 minutes and I was slow.

AaronChiles

Went through the car wash fine and everything is still as it was. I couldn't find the edit button, so here is the updated picture.

fsttyms1

Nice

dreem1er

iTrader: (2)

that looks good.....way to think out of the box.....also can you post up some better pics

AznWay

iTrader: (8)

X2 Some closer picture of finish pillar

AaronChiles

The smoothness really depends on the condition of the pillars before since the decal material is thin. I placed them on top of my crap paint job so you can still see some of the uneveness, but none the less they still look good.

t0ast

nice alternative.... would it smooth it out if you put more layers on since you have so much vinyl?

bonknhead

Looks pretty good. For $12, I'd like to give it a shot. Was Metrosellers the eBay seller? If not, can you point me to the seller? Thanks.

ChrisQ1980

Looks really good. Nice, cheap fix. Hope it holds up.

BUT WHY do you go through a public car wash? =( Harsh soaps, dirty wash mits, or spinny things creating nasty swirls. lol Sorry I'm a detail freak and avoid car washes.

AaronChiles

Yes, I am not a fan of public car washes either, but I wanted to test out their strength with those harsh things you mentioned.

and the eBay seller was dirt_cheap_decals and the item is
"1 ROLL 10' x 15" BLACK GLOSS SIGN VINYL PLOTTER" or something similar.

dreem1er

iTrader: (2)

....my pillars could normal again.....for only $12

AaronChiles

Well I just sent the remainder of my vinyl to a member on here, but they are smooth enough for me. I'm assuming it would though, I wouldn't go more than 2 layers though because I'd imagine you'd get some size issues.

Soccer_playa1579

i like tat alot.. looks pretty good.. althouh im a chrome guy so im gunna buy the chrom pillars for like 30 bucks....

dreem1er

iTrader: (2)

^^ me personally i think the chrome pillar only look good when you don't have tints....once you get tints or already have tints the chrome pillars stand out too much....

01tl4tl

You may also find this material at local shops that make vinyl signs and banners and items like that- buy the amount you need- variety of colors and patterns- fake carbon fiber...

snowman81

Nice fix...maybe I'll go this route instead of trying to repaint mine. I'll try sanding mine down first to make sure it's nice and smooth. Thanks for the idea!

salvo24

I went the sticker route just to see how carbon fiber would look. After a few weeks, it started to bubble. It started to peel after a few months...hopefully you won't encounter any of these problems.

AaronChiles

Thanks for the info, we'll see how it goes.

snowman81

yeah, keep us posted. Sorry to use you as the guinea pig, but I'll wait to see what you say.

AaronChiles

Well it has rained a lot out here in Iowa over the past few days and they're still looking good. I leave on Monday to go on my trip from Iowa to North Carolina (1200ish miles), so we'll see how the pillars and my car hold up...

laidback93

Hehe, looks like a spitting image of my car. Well except with the alloys instead of chrome.

I lucked out myself. My good friend who is a service writer for Toyota had a favor owed to him over at Acura. So I had all the pillars replaced as a Goodwill.

I wonder how long the new ones will last?

pearl tls

Yep That's what I did. Save time and money with chrome pillars on EBAY. $ 35 with shipping

JpnSamurai

wow ill have to try this too.

Soccer_playa1579

yea 35 bucks is a good deal.... im bout to order mine as well...