Well, I did make a few calls and found some vinly places that have blackout tape in widths as wide as *5 feet* (what possibly could you use that for?)... the problem is that they want about $12 a FOOT for the 24" stuff. Where did you find it for so cheap, Moreorless?

 

You'll want to call a car graphics design and install shop. Or a boat shop. On the back it says Avery Graphics averygraphics.com. I found mine by stopping in at an Auto Zone when I noticed a couple of Civics with graphics in the lot. I asked them where they got it done and they pointed me in the right direction. Put on your Sherlock Holmes hat and have at it. That's part of the fun anyways. Don't try to take off the chrome surround as the clips are very fragile (at least they were on my old '02).
1. Clean off all the wax on the parts that will get taped.
2. Use a straight edge and cut your strips at about 1" 3/4 wide.
3. Get a spray bottle fill it with water and put in a drop or two of dishwashing detergent and shake it real good.
4. Spray a light mist of your first slat.
5. Tuck your tape up close to the end and have at it.
Keep a micro fiber rag handy to wipe off the tape and push out any air bubbles. The tape will stretch as well.

Post pics when you're done!

....Les

 

So you cut the strips a bit wide and then trimmed away the excess with an exacto knife? Sounds doable, and not having to remove the grille is a real plus.

 

Ok, I'm keeping it black....I like it..........Les

 

I agree, support black grill's

 

What, no Blacked Out Grill owners club yet?

 

I installed mine this weekend... the vinyl is a real PITA to work with, and took some trial and error - I'm VERY happy that I cut a few extra strips before beginning the install. Also, be sure to give yourself at least *2 hours* of solid daylight before beginning this if you've never instaled this before - it takes some trial and error and believe me, running out of light makes things MUCH harder (don't ask me how I know that).

Some tips I found out as I was going:

1. 1 3/4" strips were too wide for me. 1 3/8" was actually about perfect - wide enough to have some extra to tuck aruond but not TOO wide. I used 36" wide material and that gave me a few extra inches to work with at the end of the strip.

2. I began by cutting the end of the strip at an angle to match the side of the grille BEFORE peeling away the backing material. Each grille slat (there are 4, 3 on the upper, 1 on the lower) has unique angles where the grille slat meets the edging peice. Take your time and keep cutting until the angle is just right. Don't rush - the backing is still on the vinyl so you can afford to go slow.

3. After the beginning angle was cut with scissors, I peeled away the backing and applied. Be sure to only apply a GENTLE MIST OF WATER - if you use too much, the strip will slide around forever and will take a long time to adhere. The more it slides around, the greater the chance for folds or bubbles. I found it was better to use too little and have to mist a second, gentle spritz than saturate the grille with water. Again, having EXTRA STRIPS makes this less stressful, as if you screw one up (fold or crease it, bubble it, etc.) you can just pull it off and try again.

4. Have an exacto knife with a BRAND NEW blade handy. You'll need it to trim around the verticle supports that back the grille slats (just make a single verticle cut on each side of each upright "post" and press the material back around it) as well as to trim of any extra material that you end up with. ONLY a new blade will cut the surprisingly tough vinyl cleanly without tearing.

5. When you reach the far end of the grille slat, trim off the excess with scissors. Be sure to cut the strip 2" or 3" longer than you think you need at first, lest you undercut. If you undercut by accident, pull it off and start again (no, you can't stretch it to fit). I found that if I pressed the vinyl into the edge of the grille (where the slat mets the siding), that it "creased" the vinyl a bit and showed me where to make my last scissor cut. I'll say it again - CUT LONGER THAN YOU THINK YOU NEED, even with the fold mark as a guide. Better to have to trim an extra 1/8" or be a bit over (which won't show to the eye) than be that ammount short and have the grille showing at the edges (whicb certainly will show like a beacon).

6. After getting out all the visible air bubbles with your squeegee, wipe away the extra moisture and WALK AWAY for 30 minutes. Resist the urge to futz wth it, as you will just end up sliding it around and getting bubbles.

7. After 30 minutes, most of the glue should be stuck down. Be sure to smooth all edges around the back sides of the grille slats, opening the bonnet to assist you in seeing everything. if you have any bubbles, try gently smoothing them out but don't pop them yet if they won't stick - about half of mine went away by themselves when I parked in the sun for a few hours. Any that don't go away can be popped with a sewing needle or other SMALL pin. DO NOT use your Exacto knife to pop bubbles.

8. The next day, you can hit the vinyl with a bit of dressing (whatever vinyl protectant you use on your trim) to make them look great!

Pics:

BEFORE:



AFTER:

 

THAT looks nice!

 

Thanks for saying so. I think it accents the "bulldog" stance of the car better than even the body color-painted grille. It's a cheap MOD that's a bit challenging, and is easily reversable if you later change your mind, which in my mind makes it great.

 

I like it!! Most excellent results! Nice write up too. Now take it to the Dragon and get a Killboy photo of it bustin' through the curves!!

Nice Job.....Les

 

I'm just glad I finaly got it done before my driving lights get installed next week.

 

Now you need a black scoop.

 

Nah... looks a bit weird, I think. I've seen this on some colors like dark gray that look not bad, though.

 

It makes the car look a bit more aggressive. Helps get the SUVs to move out of the fast lane when I pull up behind them.

 

I think the black roof and wheels helps tie-in the scoop on your car, Agro... it certainly looks better with the scoop next to the black grille, compared to the version in your sig image, IMHO - nice! I don't usually like them, but you may want to consider the blacked-out headlight rings with your car as well - just a thought. Most of the time I think the OEM chrome looked better when I saw that MOD on other cars, but in your case it might look really fitting... the smoked headlight film might look good with that black and yellow theme as well (though I'm sure you already considered that).

 

Nice job, Les. Here's to the dark face of cheerfulness!

 

ImagoX nice work and great write up. I just laid my vinyl on the grill and gut slits and wrapped it like that..I prolly could have done a better job after reading this, but it was my first big vinyl project. I think tonight I am doing the headlight rims I will post pics later.

Does anyone know what the law is in TX about blacked out headlights (smoked out etc) I would really like to do that too in my anti chrome battle hehe.

~R

 

I thikn the blackened out look looks fantastic.

The black grills draws your eyes else where and highlights the surrounding areas.

The chromegrill i felt was always to busy in the center of the front end.

 

I have seen the blacked out headlight rings, and they kinda look to me like the car has a couple of black eyes. And my car is tougher than that! Alice would never get a black eye.
Yeah, I need to update the image in my sig. Even the one in that picture isn't completely current. I now have yellow mirror caps and black and yellow center caps on the wheels.

 

Let me bounce this off you guys....

I found a packaged product called simply black out tape. It is flat black and says on the package it is used for chrome belt lines etc on cars. It's 2" wide and comes in 20' rolls. they were 3.99 a package so I bought two rolls.

It was in an autozone by the house. I didn't inspect the material yet but it looks thicker than say electric tape but that may be because of the backing.

Here is my question, I would like to cover the chrome accent ring around the slats as well. I have a pure silver/black roof with twin viper stripes running the middel of the car. How hard is it to also do the chrome? anybody done it ?

 

I like it!!

But the aero grills are still the nicest front grill mod IMO.

 

I'd think that, since there are multiple angles and such, using tape like this would result in cut-lines and other imprefections that would REALLY show to the eye. Honestly, if you're wanting to black out the entire grille (slats and surround), I'd paint it before trying to jigsaw-puzzle all that vinyl. The tape works on the slats because the ends are visually hidden in the seam between the slats and the surround. If you try it with tape first, however, it's pretty low risk, because if you DO get seams and such and aren't happy with it, you can always just peel it off again.

Can you let me know the brand and item# of that tape? 2" is certainly wide enough, and 20' would do about 2-3 grilles. When I looked for tape like this, I couln't find it that wide, and that's why I cut my strips ut of a single sheet. the best price I've found so far for a hunk of sign vinyl large enough to do 2 grilles is $16, though.

Thanks!

I agree that the aero grill looks pretty nice, but I like the slat look with the upper-mounted driving lights (which, I just got installed):

 

i'll try the slats first and if I am rolling without any hiccups I will continue.

The rolls are in the back of my Cooper. I will post once I bring them into the house. Thanks for the feedback and I'll post pics if it comes out decent LOL.

 

Good luck, man!

 

Nice. I just wish the orange was more orange (and available on the tintops).