Eggs999bacon

Alright so I appreciate the answers to my other thread about what to do with the chrome trim. I took it to a shop and they said a vinyl wrap on just the chrome trim would be $300 which I think is highway robbery, but its the best shop in the area and they are very reputable. He said another $250 for the break and my jaw almost dropped. I also asked how much to bake the headlights to remove the amber reflector to install my V3 VLEDs which I want to instill but am too nervous to do myself which he quoted me at $1000.

Anyway, I know I can do this all myself with the advice on here, youtube, and some patience. So my question about the chrome trim was: can it be removed easily to plastic-dip? I spent 3 hours taping out and applying plastidip to my chrome trim, only to fail because the fucking chrome part has NO gap on part of the trim therefore when you pull the excess dip away it rips the dip on the chrome that I wanted covered in the first place. So I was wondering if I could just remove the chrome trim to attempt this again without the hassle of removing it and hoping for a clean break. Yes, I bought a brand new exacto knife and it still sucked.

I know the next viable option is vinyl wrap. I don't have a heat gun and don't know how difficult it actually is.

Professional painting is going to cost more than the vinyl wrap quoted above at that shop so thats out.

I hate chrome if you couldn't tell haha. Literally the only chrome I would keep would be the acura tsx letters on the back trunk lid, and the acura "A" on the front. I already bought a gunmetal plastidip kit to do my wheels as I refuse to drop $$$ for new wheels when I actually like the stock wheel look.

Sheefo2k

Spend the money on the professional to do it or purchase your own 3M vinyl for the same price and practice. You will most likely get a similar outcome in the end, it just comes down to time and money.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

try the plastidip again. instead of letting it fully dry, remove the tape when it's still a little wet to prevent rips.
it takes a little learning and a little doing to get the hang of it.

you could also do vinyl. (but if you dont want to buy a cheap heat gun for like $7 and if you dont want to ACTUALLY try) no one can help you

more DOING and LESS complaining!!

opboarding

Here we go again.

Yes those prices you got quoted are ridiculous. They are that way because they take time. You could buy new clear euro headlights for $1000.

You don't need a heat gun to wrap the trim. I thought we agreed that you would give wrapping a shot yourself? In those 3 hours you could have wrapped most of it by now.

2snail

harbor freight has cheap heat guns, i wrapped my chrome beak myself with gray vinyl using a hair dryer on the hottest setting and it worked. I did it with the grill on the car. I have since removed it as I have gone from hating the chrome accents to liking them.

Vinyl is relatively cheap, and worth trying yourself. Just use some rubbing alcohol to prep the surfaces to get good adhesion. I used windex when i did mine.

julius071

Euro headlights does not cost $1000.

https://acurazine.com/forums/second-...-drive-952394/

opboarding

I was just saying for that quoted price(or less) you could get yourself a whole new set of pre-cleared headlights.

julius071

Ditto.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

and everytime i read my post, I cringe.
i seriously didnt mean you were complaining. just it takes a little doing to get the hang of either plastidip or vinyl.
so, get cracking!!

Eggs999bacon

I appreciate the feedback. I never have been one to work on my car. This car is the first "nice" car that I bought and I am just treading carefully as possible so I don't fuck up. I work a lot so to have a full day to dedicate to any of these projects is tough. However I will have more time in the next few weeks to do so, and if I get things done I will post the results. Thanks.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

the cool thing is both vinyl and plastidip are completely reversible.
you just need practice!

TSX1012m6

I was against vinyl wrap but I added some to some interior trim in my car. Came out great and it was my first time. Certainly takes patience. For me a hair dryer on hot was more than enough heat to get it to stretch. With that heat it was still possible to burn/overheat the vinyl. I'd avoid a heat gun that has a high/low setting. You would be better off in my opinion with a quality heat gun that has an adjustable temperature range.