I was thinking of painting the Hood vents and the lower mesh grill chrome. I already bought the spray paint, but will it look ok? Will it look tacky, or bad or anything? Thanks for the input!

 

no such thing as chrome spray paint, its just bright silver.

so i would say it would probably look tacky

 

According to the spray can, its a Chrome finish. It says "Instant Chrome Finsh" "Ideal for trim and accessory pieces and trim. The brand is Dupli-Color

 

.... quick, someone steal this guys Mini and give it a good home!

 

its not going to be chrome. that kind of paint has been around for years.

its just a bright silver. try it out on something and you will see.

Chrome plating is a process of coatings, not just a spray on solution.

 

I've seen some quite convincing chrome paint, esp. for polycarbonate applications.

 

Um, ok thanks for the support i guess.

 

your the one that wanted the input.

i told you exactly what it will look like and thats it.

buy the parts already chromed. there are the hood vents and scoop on ebay and numerous vendors sell grilles in chrome.

 

You paint them whatever color will make you happy (i could care less if you made them seafoam green with a pink swirl) but keep this in mind.....

I test painted a set of grills with a trim paint (flat black basically) and they looked fantastic! for about 2 days.....

Then they started chipping and flaking from all the road debris that hits them.

You will probably love what they look like if you give them a proper paint job.

I sanded my grilles down first (not much mind you, just a light scuffing so the paint would stick) and then gave them roughly 4-6 light coats to build up properly and stick well over a week long period.

Like I said they looked unbelievable! but they just didn't hold up.

Your hood vents may hold up since they won't get much hitting them straight on but the lower grill will probably be trashed within a week or so.

Just keep that in mind and don't be dissapointed.

Painting them chrome may not be my first choice but it's your choice and don't let anyone try and keep you from doing what you want

chris

 

no one said he shouldnt chome them, but theres no such thing as "Chrome paint"

I have no problem with chrome on the MINI, but using a "Chrome paint" isnt gonna do much for the car.

 

http://minitruckzone.tenmagazines.co...c.ten-id-54198

And if you dont believe me, look here. these guys are saying the same thing about the paint as me.

 

Mini Mania has some nice chrome bits for these spots. They are chromes Plastic overlays, but look great. Fiona has the hood vents, mirror covers and a few things on the rear end.

 

I think what you saw is probably vacuum metalzation (aluminum released evenly on part in vacuum chamber); otherwise, it won't look like chrome. My company (in Japan) does surface coatings on plastic parts for automotive, cell phone, and cosmetic applications and though we've experimented with certain pigments (one was used on an M3 in a car show a few years back) that look close to chrome, nothing that comes out of a can will look close to chrome.

 

No no I didn't meant to insult you! I was just disapointed that it wount work out and I have to pop for the real thing! lol

 

its cool.

 

Look here: http://alsacorp.com/chrome.htm

peter
Team m7
562-608-8123

 

bwahaha $225 bucks a pint!!!!

 

Hey gang- the vents under the wipers- mine are 3 years old (03 MCS) and the mesh is pretty much trashed. I worry that debris will get in and cause problems. Has anyone else had this problem? If so, how did you remedy it. Replies would be appreciated. Thanks a lot.

 

The design of the cowl vent cover/mesh has changed a bit since '03. You could probably get some updated ones from Classic MINI for not that much.

 

But answering a question

Take a look at my galery.
The vents are easily poped out and the FOAM can be replaced (it is sandwiched between 2 plastic parts.)
or
Get some SS mesh from a hwd store and cut replacements.


LOOKS good and WORKS