well done on the wrap...ya know, I know Lyle does amazing work, but I can't believe there isn't another Vinyl guy/woman for the MINI world? Am I Wrong? Again, well done with the DIY. That color combo is sweeeeet!

 

yeah the vinyl does llook good, although i have never seen it up close in person to be able to say, "oh this really is a clean job"....but the work aside...
isnt it too expensive? maybe its just me, but ive taken a look at the site and wowwww is it expensive

 

the xenon gets pretty hot. do you guys use duplicolor's hi-heat paint or similar?

 

silicone can be cut with a knife and removed very easily.

 

when I did my last car, I actually used "header" paint. it went on a little funny and then I needed to hit it with a heat gun, but never got any blistering.

 

im probably going to use flat black high heat and the red high heat....i do NOT want to go back and open these after i do it....ill be doin it this weekend so ill post pictures if you are hesitant maximus....personally...after blacking out the chrome....ive lost the fear factor...
btw i did the beltline last night....looking good...havent had a chance to look from a distance cuz i came to work this morning no time....but will take pictures from a DECENT camera tonight...lol dont want any more orange remarks haha.....
ive suddenly found a need to tint my windows....something i never wanted to do...

 

I gotta say Lyle does amazing work and is cool as hell. I met with him on his NY tour 3 weeks ago and he did my front (double) and rear tail light rings, beltline, boot handle, door handles, side scuttle lenses and emblems - all of which look completely sick - he wraps by hand and that takes both time and skill - check my gallery.

 

Definitely use a high temp black paint when you do your joey mod, that's something I should have done. The projector trim piece can be done without high temp. Here's my little write up on doing the Xenon's. It's rather helpful if you plan on painting the projector trim piece.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...highlight=joey

 

i was looking at your link, did you do the belt line with electrical tape? what width tape did you use and how is it holding up? since electrical is vinyl, whats the difference between it and the "belt line black out" kit i see online?

thx

 

i think the differnece is the finish

 

so you dont need high temp paint on the xenon piece with all the little holes in it then....

 

In hindsight I would not recommend the electrical tape method. The finish is nice, but the tape has shrunk up slightly, revealing some chrome on the ends. I plan on doing mine again with 3/4" scotchcal tape. Here is another thread I started a little while back, what started out as a joke ended up yeilding some good info. There is a link in there to the 3/4" tape.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...light=beltline

Mine is holding up quite nicely. I used the Chili red paint that Minspeed sells. I have yet to read about anyone having any issues with painting that trim piece.

 

it is not electrical tape, if it were, under direct sunlight it will prob get messed up. the one from outmotoring is as cheap electric tape so there is no need to substitute.

it took me a few tries for the vinyl wrap. i cut out a template with paper b4 i cut the vinyl. it really is some forgiving material. how much longer it will last compared to a pro? i guess i shall see!

 

just started the blackout process or my hl and tl trim pieces on my 09' MCS. I cannot figure out how to take off the bottom grill piece though. im so afraid to break something. haha.

 

examine it closely. there's little tabs that you can push to make it come out easy. stare it it for a while, pull lightly on it and see what pieces move, you'll figure it out.

 

The bottom slat/chrome piece is simply held on by 2 tabs located at the extreme ends of it. Push them down and it will slide right out

 

just grab each end and pullllllll

 

haha, that works, ill try it tonight. i blacked out my TL and HL rings.

 

^^^^awesome...you going to do the joey?

 

yes i am. EVERYTHING will be blacked out on this car besides the blue paint. I just painted the grill surround and the hood scoop plasti dip black. Sunday the door handles,gas cap and i need to find the forum for the side scuttles cause i cant figure those out. they seem like they would pop off but i dont wanna try till im sure. Lower grill surround was ez once i really examined it and took the hints from you guys finally got it. ill take pix tomorrow if its nice with the more black. joey mod will have to be done the night of, b4 my day off. still gotta read the how to about 100 more times b4 i do it, considering how expensive these lights are. But im excited!! im also obsessed with plasti dip. i want everythign plasti dip. i wanna do my rims but im not sure. did you use plasti dip checkercoop?

 

side scuttles- open your hood, get a good stance with your feet, and grip the side scuttle on the top and bottom with one hand (or two), and push towards the front of your car (towards the open hood area). they will pop and come out, its just a clip that holds them in. Then the trickier part is getting the actual chrome part out. use a screwdriver and carefully manuver each clip out. I snapped one but its still okay. theres like 4 or 5 i think.
FYI: the red s sign cant really be taped off with the plastidip since it dries in a plastic form, once you try to take just the s part off, its complete failure (at least for me), i tried 10 min after drying, and also 4 hrs after drying, and 24 hrs after... no good. i ended up buying the dome S from asthetic creations website for 10$, pretty sweet imo.

and with the gas cap, i think theres a clip inside at the top and then you turn CCW i think to pop it off. Careful not to drip any gas from your actual gas cap when filling up, did this last week, melts the paint right off =\

good luck!

 

Yeah at first I had used krylon fusion about 2 months after I bought the car, then about 8 months later I heard of the plastidip and I have redone everything in it. I love this stuff too. The rims I had done with a 1200 degree engine paint (used it on the exhaust components and liked the way it match the black trim, but didn't realize that it got that way once it was baked so my rims have a purplish hue in the right light). I will be redoing them sometime when I have time in plastidip, but my only concern is that its such a rough surface that it way me horrible with brake dust.

Definitely go for the joey and trust me we have it easy and cheaper. Our halogens are much cheaper than the xenons, but you wont ruin anything anyway. I highly recommend the heat gun method instead of the oven, but its totally up to you/what you have available. When I painted the metal cap that covers the bulb, I had just used the krylon (didn't have any heat paint at the time), but it has not bubbled or anything. I'm not sure though what the plastidip might do (seems like it would bubble to heat)

Goodluck

 

checkercoop..
off topic but, hows ur car coming along?
i keep reading that youre having major problems with it and the dealer....just curious....

 

thank you bostonr56s that seems very helpful and i will try it this weekend! if the weather is ok at least.

checkercoop I wanna plasti dip my rims but idk if it would be ok to do. i dont see why it wouldnt but people on here have been very skeptical sounding. i would do it today if i had off, i hope its this nice sunday!

joey mod will be done after everything else is done blacked out. use high temp engine paint? or what? i figured since we have hologens plasti-dip would work. but i guess we will see how it does on my hood scoop haha.