Help painting grille/ rims
12-24-2009, 11:12 PM
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Help painting grille/ rims
Hey, i have a 2006 black TL with black interior, i want to make it look cooler, but i dont want to spend a ton of money. ive seen people paint there rims and grilles black and i wasnt sure if people did it professionally or at home, I'd rather it be done professionally but i dont want to spend a ton. could someone tell me how much it costs to get that done or how to DIY?
also, doesnt anyone know if tinting your headlights is legal in NC?
also, doesnt anyone know if tinting your headlights is legal in NC?
Last edited by samspot44; 12-24-2009 at 11:14 PM.
12-25-2009, 11:25 PM
#3
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first off, tinting i believe is legal in NC, but first off, does not look very good on TLs IMO, and secondly, you dont want to sacrifice the light
solutions:
get something custom from JnC
OR go to bluebatmobile get teh sidemarker overlays that cover the amber part of the headlights, gives it not only a more dynamic/aggressive/clean look than full tint, you dont lose the light
onto painting: seems to me as though you are going for a blackout, in which you do have a good idea of wat to do
i painted my stock tl-s rims black, i had no experience whatsoever, but i found it very easy to do as long as you take your time and be careful, and the results are awesome, furthermore, painted stockies look VERY sick
if you ask me, if you want powdercoat look for at least 100 dollars, but for me, i painted mine for 15 dollars (5 for each primer, black engine enamel, and clearcut), of course the professional powercoat is probably higher quality, but really the paint looks just as good IMO, and if you take good care fo youre car, itll be just as good
painting your own rims is not very difficult at all
as for the grille, i have not painted, but i am planning on getting it wrapped in vinyl professionally, some members on the forum have done it, looks just as good, and it is more resistant to chipping, not to mention reversible, so you may want to consider that.
solutions:
get something custom from JnC
OR go to bluebatmobile get teh sidemarker overlays that cover the amber part of the headlights, gives it not only a more dynamic/aggressive/clean look than full tint, you dont lose the light
onto painting: seems to me as though you are going for a blackout, in which you do have a good idea of wat to do
i painted my stock tl-s rims black, i had no experience whatsoever, but i found it very easy to do as long as you take your time and be careful, and the results are awesome, furthermore, painted stockies look VERY sick
if you ask me, if you want powdercoat look for at least 100 dollars, but for me, i painted mine for 15 dollars (5 for each primer, black engine enamel, and clearcut), of course the professional powercoat is probably higher quality, but really the paint looks just as good IMO, and if you take good care fo youre car, itll be just as good
painting your own rims is not very difficult at all
as for the grille, i have not painted, but i am planning on getting it wrapped in vinyl professionally, some members on the forum have done it, looks just as good, and it is more resistant to chipping, not to mention reversible, so you may want to consider that.
12-26-2009, 12:52 AM
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first off, tinting i believe is legal in NC, but first off, does not look very good on TLs IMO, and secondly, you dont want to sacrifice the light
solutions:
get something custom from JnC
OR go to bluebatmobile get teh sidemarker overlays that cover the amber part of the headlights, gives it not only a more dynamic/aggressive/clean look than full tint, you dont lose the light
onto painting: seems to me as though you are going for a blackout, in which you do have a good idea of wat to do
i painted my stock tl-s rims black, i had no experience whatsoever, but i found it very easy to do as long as you take your time and be careful, and the results are awesome, furthermore, painted stockies look VERY sick
if you ask me, if you want powdercoat look for at least 100 dollars, but for me, i painted mine for 15 dollars (5 for each primer, black engine enamel, and clearcut), of course the professional powercoat is probably higher quality, but really the paint looks just as good IMO, and if you take good care fo youre car, itll be just as good
painting your own rims is not very difficult at all
as for the grille, i have not painted, but i am planning on getting it wrapped in vinyl professionally, some members on the forum have done it, looks just as good, and it is more resistant to chipping, not to mention reversible, so you may want to consider that.
solutions:
get something custom from JnC
OR go to bluebatmobile get teh sidemarker overlays that cover the amber part of the headlights, gives it not only a more dynamic/aggressive/clean look than full tint, you dont lose the light
onto painting: seems to me as though you are going for a blackout, in which you do have a good idea of wat to do
i painted my stock tl-s rims black, i had no experience whatsoever, but i found it very easy to do as long as you take your time and be careful, and the results are awesome, furthermore, painted stockies look VERY sick
if you ask me, if you want powdercoat look for at least 100 dollars, but for me, i painted mine for 15 dollars (5 for each primer, black engine enamel, and clearcut), of course the professional powercoat is probably higher quality, but really the paint looks just as good IMO, and if you take good care fo youre car, itll be just as good
painting your own rims is not very difficult at all
as for the grille, i have not painted, but i am planning on getting it wrapped in vinyl professionally, some members on the forum have done it, looks just as good, and it is more resistant to chipping, not to mention reversible, so you may want to consider that.
ps good advice on the rims and on the lights
12-26-2009, 11:24 AM
#5
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vinyl-designs.com try emailing him and he may work out a deal for you to ship them to him he does that too
idk anywhere else, try joining some local forums of your area and checking there, ALTERNATIVELY you could try doing it yourself, vinyls a little tricky, but you can figure it out with time
12-26-2009, 03:31 PM
#6
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First of all welcome to Acurazine!
I live in Cary, NC, which is right outside of Raleigh, so I'll try my best to sum up the tint laws and such.
The headlights cannot have any kind of film on them. The taillights aren't either, but mine are smoked, and I've never had a problem passing inspection. The windows cannot read out lower than 32.0% by a tint meter, therefore you will need to put 35% tint on the windows so it reads out 32%.
I've never painted my wheels, so I can't help you there.
I just painted my grill last weekend in my garage. The hardest part of the whole process is removing the front bumper. It's not hard to take it off, there are just clips and bolts everywhere. Once that's off, it's pretty easy to take the grill off of the bumper and prep it for paint.
Now when it came to painting everything, I got three different kinds of paint: Adhesion Promotor to make sure the paint sticks and also prevent peeling down the road, Flat Black Engine Enamel Paint (High Heat Resistant), and Gloss Black Engine Enamel. Of course the colors you choose can be different depending on what you want your grill to look like, but that's what I chose. Here is how mine turned out:
The hardest part of everything is waiting for everything to dry and then putting it all back together. Besides that, it's a fairly easy project that can be knocked out in half of a day.
I live in Cary, NC, which is right outside of Raleigh, so I'll try my best to sum up the tint laws and such.
The headlights cannot have any kind of film on them. The taillights aren't either, but mine are smoked, and I've never had a problem passing inspection. The windows cannot read out lower than 32.0% by a tint meter, therefore you will need to put 35% tint on the windows so it reads out 32%.
I've never painted my wheels, so I can't help you there.
I just painted my grill last weekend in my garage. The hardest part of the whole process is removing the front bumper. It's not hard to take it off, there are just clips and bolts everywhere. Once that's off, it's pretty easy to take the grill off of the bumper and prep it for paint.
Now when it came to painting everything, I got three different kinds of paint: Adhesion Promotor to make sure the paint sticks and also prevent peeling down the road, Flat Black Engine Enamel Paint (High Heat Resistant), and Gloss Black Engine Enamel. Of course the colors you choose can be different depending on what you want your grill to look like, but that's what I chose. Here is how mine turned out:
The hardest part of everything is waiting for everything to dry and then putting it all back together. Besides that, it's a fairly easy project that can be knocked out in half of a day.
12-26-2009, 11:06 PM
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First of all welcome to Acurazine!
I live in Cary, NC, which is right outside of Raleigh, so I'll try my best to sum up the tint laws and such.
The headlights cannot have any kind of film on them. The taillights aren't either, but mine are smoked, and I've never had a problem passing inspection. The windows cannot read out lower than 32.0% by a tint meter, therefore you will need to put 35% tint on the windows so it reads out 32%.
I've never painted my wheels, so I can't help you there.
I just painted my grill last weekend in my garage. The hardest part of the whole process is removing the front bumper. It's not hard to take it off, there are just clips and bolts everywhere. Once that's off, it's pretty easy to take the grill off of the bumper and prep it for paint.
Now when it came to painting everything, I got three different kinds of paint: Adhesion Promotor to make sure the paint sticks and also prevent peeling down the road, Flat Black Engine Enamel Paint (High Heat Resistant), and Gloss Black Engine Enamel. Of course the colors you choose can be different depending on what you want your grill to look like, but that's what I chose. Here is how mine turned out:
The hardest part of everything is waiting for everything to dry and then putting it all back together. Besides that, it's a fairly easy project that can be knocked out in half of a day.
I live in Cary, NC, which is right outside of Raleigh, so I'll try my best to sum up the tint laws and such.
The headlights cannot have any kind of film on them. The taillights aren't either, but mine are smoked, and I've never had a problem passing inspection. The windows cannot read out lower than 32.0% by a tint meter, therefore you will need to put 35% tint on the windows so it reads out 32%.
I've never painted my wheels, so I can't help you there.
I just painted my grill last weekend in my garage. The hardest part of the whole process is removing the front bumper. It's not hard to take it off, there are just clips and bolts everywhere. Once that's off, it's pretty easy to take the grill off of the bumper and prep it for paint.
Now when it came to painting everything, I got three different kinds of paint: Adhesion Promotor to make sure the paint sticks and also prevent peeling down the road, Flat Black Engine Enamel Paint (High Heat Resistant), and Gloss Black Engine Enamel. Of course the colors you choose can be different depending on what you want your grill to look like, but that's what I chose. Here is how mine turned out:
The hardest part of everything is waiting for everything to dry and then putting it all back together. Besides that, it's a fairly easy project that can be knocked out in half of a day.
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12-27-2009, 12:06 AM
#9
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iTrader: (3)
Thanks man. The headlights are blacked out but I left the turn signal housing silver so the light output from the switchbacks are brighter. Another local Acurazine member came over to my house and we knocked out both lights in one day.
12-27-2009, 01:07 PM
#11
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^Where in NC are you located?
12-27-2009, 07:59 PM
#13
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There are a bunch of Acurazine members over in the Charlotte area.
Post in the Southeastern section of the Regions Forum at the top of the screen. Maybe somebody would be willing to help you out
Post in the Southeastern section of the Regions Forum at the top of the screen. Maybe somebody would be willing to help you out
02-18-2010, 03:13 AM
#16
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I painted my wheels gunmetal grey. It took me several hours (sanding, taping, and several coats of primer/paint), but it turned out perfect. I highly recommend it. Total cost was about $30 and I have had tons of complements.
I will post pictures soon.
I will post pictures soon.
05-05-2011, 09:23 PM
#20
Race Director
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05-05-2011, 11:21 PM
#21
I've painted a couple things: my emlbems, my grill, and my engine cover. All of them were really easy to do especially since we have the DIY aka the "garage".
for your grill first go to the DIY section of the 3g TL forum to look at how to remove your bumper which only takes 15 minutes. once you do that you need to disassemble your grill. once you have that done you're ready to start painting.
When you're painting you need three things, fine grit sand paper, primer or adhesion promotor, and your primary paint color.
1. you need to sand the areas you want to paint with fine grit sand paper. *wet sanding is recommended, wet sanding it sanding with the aid of soap and water which prevents all the the gunk from building up on your sand paper and gives you an easier time with a better quality job*
2. once you've sanded the area you need to wipe it off and make sure it's clean then spray on your primer which will help your paint adhere to the area. you will coat the areas with primer, but prevent dripping and over coating, about 10-15 minutes between each layer.
3. once you're done with layering the area with your primer make sure the primer has had ample time to dry then you can layer on your paint 15-20 minutes apart and let dry.
then after that you just need to put everything back together, for my grill and my emblems i didn't really wait that long between layers and it still came out great, by my engine cover i took a really long time on cause i was just learning to how paint things especially with paint cans haha.
for your grill first go to the DIY section of the 3g TL forum to look at how to remove your bumper which only takes 15 minutes. once you do that you need to disassemble your grill. once you have that done you're ready to start painting.
When you're painting you need three things, fine grit sand paper, primer or adhesion promotor, and your primary paint color.
1. you need to sand the areas you want to paint with fine grit sand paper. *wet sanding is recommended, wet sanding it sanding with the aid of soap and water which prevents all the the gunk from building up on your sand paper and gives you an easier time with a better quality job*
2. once you've sanded the area you need to wipe it off and make sure it's clean then spray on your primer which will help your paint adhere to the area. you will coat the areas with primer, but prevent dripping and over coating, about 10-15 minutes between each layer.
3. once you're done with layering the area with your primer make sure the primer has had ample time to dry then you can layer on your paint 15-20 minutes apart and let dry.
then after that you just need to put everything back together, for my grill and my emblems i didn't really wait that long between layers and it still came out great, by my engine cover i took a really long time on cause i was just learning to how paint things especially with paint cans haha.
05-08-2011, 01:58 AM
#24
It looks great, IMO. Plastidip is latex-like, so it's going to stretch where you don't want it to, and refuse to cut/break when you want it to. I did it kind of as a trial to see how it'd look. The matte looks good IMO, and it IS reversible, just be damned sure you do a tits job of taping shit off because you won't get this stuff out of your radiator if it gets in.
05-08-2011, 09:41 AM
#25
I Like turtles
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Glad to see another NC member, I'm in Greensboro
I did my wheels in graphite about 2 weeks ago and love it, wasn't a hard DIY project. Going to do my grill the same color here in a few weeks. Here's a few pics of the wheels and engine cover I've painted
I'll be getting my 35% tint here in June so I'll let ya know how that goes too
I did my wheels in graphite about 2 weeks ago and love it, wasn't a hard DIY project. Going to do my grill the same color here in a few weeks. Here's a few pics of the wheels and engine cover I've painted
I'll be getting my 35% tint here in June so I'll let ya know how that goes too
05-09-2011, 03:19 AM
#27
plasti-dip! honestly you cant fuck up with plasti-dip and if you do just wait for it to dry, peel it off and do it again! i plastidipped my grilles and left the "A" chrome and plastidipped the "A" in the back
05-11-2011, 05:20 PM
#28
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Yeah, I need to order some plastidip. I'm going to do my grill and my wheels with it. Not sure if the wheels are going to stay flat black or going to get painted over, but I like the idea of not having to sand my type s wheels and just peel the plastidip off when I want to sell the wheels.
05-11-2011, 07:08 PM
#30
Racer
Hey, i have a 2006 black TL with black interior, i want to make it look cooler, but i dont want to spend a ton of money. ive seen people paint there rims and grilles black and i wasnt sure if people did it professionally or at home, I'd rather it be done professionally but i dont want to spend a ton. could someone tell me how much it costs to get that done or how to DIY?
also, doesnt anyone know if tinting your headlights is legal in NC?
also, doesnt anyone know if tinting your headlights is legal in NC?
Here is a link to my pics. I painted the stockies black, smoked the tails and will post pics of the grille that I wrapped in 3M Di-noc
https://acurazine.com/forums/members/cpm06wdptl-306884-albums-started-modding-8097/
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