I won't be able to put mine on until this weekend. I will post pics ASAP.

 

Well, I got you beat on this one, Russell! Photo of installed handle:
(Of course, it looks pretty plain, but shows the fit pretty well)

 

Wow, looks great. Looks like I have to get them now.

 

Well, it's so nice, I think I should have got the gas cap to match! I have a black powder-coated gas cap, but it pales next to the CF door handle. At least the handles match the headlight rings.

 

Nice job AC

 

Wow! Those look amazing. A lot better than I was expecting. Too bad I just painted my door handles.

 

Looking good! I'm excited to get these on my car. I think they will really offset the PW paint. When you installed them did you clamp them or just press really hard?

 

It's hard to get a clamp in there, but a small C-clamp might work. I just set them in the sun while prepping the chrome with acetone cleaner, and then pressed them on. They aren't going anywhere...
In use, I don't even notice them as different from the originals, which is a testament to the design and fit.

 

Awesome, thanks! I was thinking of using one of those squeezy clamps with the rubber tips but I'll give pressing them on a shot first.

 

Look awesome, been watching this topic since the GB and waiting to see the pix but then went to Eloy a couple days back to talk with a guy there who mainly does classic Mini parts and I saw a dozen of these sitting on a table. I guess he is the one who make them for AC. He wouldn't sell me a set directly but they did look great and he said that order was going out in a couple days. The good news is this is only a small part of his work and most of his business is doing carbon directly with owners. I'm planning to have him overlay a bunch of interior parts, maybe grill surround, flares... He said he has a web site but not finished, can e-mail him at roguemotorsports@gmail.com. Just thought others would like to know.

 

I'd sure like to see more pictures ! A picture of a set of black would be great for anyone that bought that color. Sure wish he made them in a satin black ! I know he makes them ready to paint but I'd prefer to just put them on and be done.

 

Jim at Rogue showed me some satin carbon parts he was doing for a classic. I guess he can take a shiny part and make it satin so don't know why he couldn't do the same for black.

 

I got my black covers today so I will post pics when I get them on.
I agree satin would have been better but this should be much easier than taking the handles out to cover.

 

The idea is great ! No muss, no fuss just apply and your done. I don't look forward to removing my door handles at all with some of the other methods ! I asked Mike at Aesthetic Creations if they were going to make any handles for a R53 in satin black but was told no, not at this time ! I would think they would make up some in a satin black since there are so many that go with ether carbon fiber, gloss black or in my case, satin black (and he should have them at AMVIV ). Who knows, maybe he'll surprise me in Vegas and have a few sets for sale, That would be really sweet ! I have but the side repeaters and the door handles to go to complete my black out work.

 

cant wait to get mine!!! grrrreat addition to the GP!!

 

Some may be interested in the email I got from Rogue about satin parts.
I wrote him back to make sure he didn't object to my sharing his message.

----- Original Message ----
From: Jim Jones <roguemotorsports@gmail.com>
To: Rob <minirob2@yahoo.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2008 10:01:25 PM
Subject: Re: carbon


Rob,

No problem, I actually like a mat finish on parts. In my opinion even carbon parts look good in mat, I think it gives it a look that is a little more like what you would see in a F1 car or say Ferrari f40, I guess a little more industrial instead of like a shiny piece of plastic, but honestly most people prefer the shiny look.
The shininess (is that a word) is actually just the look of the top layer of the clear coat, so if you want a mat finish I just take some 1000 grit paper and scuff the entire surface until it is all evenly scuffed (usually wet sand) so that is all looks evenly white even after washing it a couple times. Then I wax the part and this will bring back a little bit of a shine but the part will still have a mat look. The nice thing about this is that if you ever want to go back to shiny just de-wax the part and re-clear coat it.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,

Jim


On Thu, Mar 13, 2008 at 8:45 PM, Rob <minirob2@yahoo.com> wrote:

 

Good info minirob2 ! For me, the whole idea of this part is to just apply them and your done. I think you can get the handles primed ready to paint but again, that takes away from just being able to apply the handles and be done with them. Same holds true to wet sanding and going thru that process. I hope that AC will offer the satin black finish R53 handles at some point.

 

Is there any difference between R53 and R56 handles?

 

Thanks for sharing the technique!

 

A couple of pics of the black covers.
Unfortunately the the passenger side cover is cracked.

I have a PM to Mike to find out if there is a way to take it off and get a replacement.

Still a very nice product and continues in my quest to get rid of all of the chrome.

 

Lookin good!

 

Does anybody have a nice wide shot of the cf handles in the daytime. I would love to see that.

 

Working on it in a few minutes! I will post pics later.

 

Anyone else having trouble getting them to stick? My passenger one went on no problem but the Driver side is giving me a lot of problems…

 

Not too happy with the adhesion. Might either buy more of the tape and try more locations on the CF add-ons, or check into epoxy.

Gene