Not sure what the mini-grill with the light in the A-panel is called, but I'd like to either paint or plasti-dip mine white. I still want the red "S" but want all the chrome to be white (not sure about the inside mesh-looking backing and how that would look).

I have no idea how hard this would be. Anyone done this? Pictures? Ideas?

Kinda thinking about installing Aesthetic Creations "dome" inserts, painting (or dipping) the whole thing, then removing the sticker to reveal the original letter underneath. Think that would work? Or would the adhesive on the sticker mess things up?

Thanks!

 

If you lay the dome s over the original and then plastidip them both s's will be covered and it won't look good if you remove them. You would have tocut the plastidip around it to get t out. I did that with my hood logo and had to repaint the entire thing and now I have no MINI logo, just the wings.

I think the best bet would be to 1) remove them, 2) take them apart (if I remember they are held together with plastic tabs), 3) Paint them (if there is white plastidip spray I would use that), 4)replace s's with domed ones form AS. But that is just my .02.

 

It's been done, although I don't know if it's been done with PlastiDip yet. I would just tape off the parts you don't want to paint - and I'm thinking a really sharp xacto knife might be handy. The dome stickers *might* work but I don't know how clean the edges will be...

The thing about PlastiDip is you can try it and if it sucks, it just peels right up so you can try again. I think if I were having a go at it, I'd spray the whole thing and try xacto-cutting out the S. The little back grille pieces with the holes are seperate on the S, so you can take them out and try them unpainted first, then painted and decide which way you like it...or paint the whole thing and get red "S"es from AC!

Good luck! Let us know how it goes!

 

You're going to want to hit the grill piece with with white spray paint. Plasti dip would clog up the holes in the grill. The outside can be done with the plasti dip. Regradless to what method you do, you're going to be using an x-acto knife on the S logo. Take your time and plan accordingly.

 

What about painting the black grill blue to match the car?

And seriously razor blades and plastidip do not work well together. When I did it, it peeled around the cut and looked terrible.

 

Whatever color he chooses for the grill, his best bet is to hit with some normal spray paint. And even after using spray paint, he's going to want to look for any paint that may have filled in any holes and take a needle and poke it out.

 

FWIW, I've had good luck with a sharp Xacto knife and PlastiDip... the trick is to cut the dip while it's still about "half wet" - then again when it's about 3/4 dry, then when fully dry. At least for me, this has kept it from tearing/lifting...

PlastiDip would work fine for the vent, and *might* work on the grille... but I suspect paint will work better. Challenge will be finding whites that match good enough... one would thing that "white is white"... but not so...

 

I agree.

 

Lot's of great discussion..thanks. Sounds like paint may be the best way to go...never painted Chrome though so any tips?

So the back grill separates from the rest; that's good to learn. Painting that blue is a great idea...any idea where I can get a blue that will match Hyper Blue

 

Paint: http://minspeed.net/ESP.htm

Painting chromed plastic takes some work... gotta sand and prime it.

 

Also, on my chrome headlight rings, I used a self etching primer as a base. Nice results with that stuff.

 

FWIW, plastidip is a lot easier to use on the chrome parts. Just clean and spray. Not sure how white the white is though.

 

Is Plastidip a spray ? Where is it sold ?

Also, can you just apply Plastidip to the chrome ? I sprayed mine with a semi-flat black spraycan onto the chrome but they are starting to chip.

 

PlastiDip comes in a couple of forms - spray and dip. The spray is what folks are using for black-out, etc.

http://www.plastidip.com/home_solutions/Plasti_Dip

Yep - you just wipe chrome with alcohol to clean it. Let dry, then spray on the plastidip. No priming, no sanding, etc. Peels right off if you decide you don't like it. It's magic.

 

I got it at home depot. I used it on my headlight rings and it's help up nicely. Except where the bird pooped on it. Need to respray that one. But I also painted my grill surrounds with flat black spray paint and the are already starting to chip.

 

Thanks. Guess I just need to take the things out and look at them to to see what might work best. As stated above, Plasti-dip is probably too thick for the mesh portion, but is less effort for the rest. Assuming I can figure out a way to mask off the "S".

How quick does Plasti-dip dry? (So I can estimate "1/2" etc...)

Has anyone ever used vaseline to mask areas and then wiped off when done to remove the paint? Always wondered if that would work...

 

I'm usually "cutting" the plastidip after about 5 minutes, and again after 10-15 IIRC... I do it more by "look"... when it "looks" half wet, 1/4 wet, etc... which just takes spraying a few coats to get the hang of it... I let it dry 30 minutes total between coats, and then overnight after the last coat before I re-install the part or do the final cut and un-mask...

 

Good info, thanks!

Paul, you coming to AMVIV?

 

Wish I could... just too far to drive... even for me.

 

Does anybody know where I could get stock "S" replacement repeaters, grills? Are they a Mini dealer item only? I can not find them online anywhere.

Thanks, brianbreeze

 

If you MUST order them online, then yes, you can find the part number through RealOEM.com, then search by part number on PelicanParts.com and order them.

But you'll save money by just calling Morristown or Classic MINI.

 

Thanks for the information.

Brianbreeze