Hey all,

For those of you who have blacked out the chrome, was it DIY or did you buy blackout parts?

If you're a DIY'er, what products did you use for the following:

headlight rings, tail rings, boot handle? door handles? beltline?

Here's my plan: I am looking at buying the JCW grilles and blackout door handles, but want to DIY the rest. I think 3m Scotchprint 1080 matte black will be my product of choice, but I've never done it before...

Helpful tips? I've scoured NAM and my local group's forum, and there's so much confilcting info out there (and some mods are just outside of my budget).

Also, I want to keep it as stock as possible, as it's a lease; anything I DIY I want to be able to reverse.. and anything I replace, I'm going to keep the factory originals to reinstall.

So anyone who has thorough product info for what they've done or any helpful hints/tips.. Please share or point me to threads that I may have missed...

Thanks a bunch, guys n gals!

 

I've done the tail light rings and headlight rings on my Countryman using the same vinyl. It's a not to hard at all, your biggest problem is getting it off the car. Be careful releasing the clips on the headlight rings they break, but the can you can get replacements from your dealer if need be. There just a couple of penny's. You need a hair dryer or heatgun, once you get everything off I cleaned the pieces with alcohol. Then start heating and streching the vinyl.

 

I'm leasing also and I'm doing some blackout mods. I bought the JCW grill trim fro Outmotoring and received them yesterday. They're nice - same plastic, but nice. I'm going to do viper stripes and I'll buy a set of headlight rings and have the striping guy wrap them for me. I'll probably get the black taillight trim, black door handle covers and gas cap from Aesthetic Creations and I'm looking at the M7 Ram scoop which I'll have painted black. I'm going to leave the beltline and scuttles chrome because I have the star bullet wheels and I think I need a little bit of chrome on the car to tie them in. As you can see, I'm a DIY kinda guy, but it should turn out nice.

 

I vote for plastidip if you want it reversible and on the cheap.

 

less2, go check your PM's when you get a sec...

 

And get some trim tools from harbor freight so you won't scratch your car with a screw driver trying to get the clips off.

 

I used plasti dip and blacked out all of my chrome. Its very easy to use and is reversible. Here are some Pics of the look.

 

more picture



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another vote for plasti dip.

i just did it today and it looks incredible! LOVE IT...super cheap, anyone can do it, and a great way to spend a few hours with your Mini.

 

I know it's an S, but...







Lyle from Vinyl Styles did most of my work 1 1/2 years+ and no issues.

 

How hard is it to remove that piece of chrome above the license plate?

Looks sick btw

 

Very easy. 3 screws hold it in. Just be careful with the plug from the license plate lights.

 

Black PD'd wheels,headlight rings,foglight surrounds, grill, all MINI badges/emblems, side scuttles, rear boot handle and door handles. Red PD'd mirror caps and SC intake. Door handles were the most challenging. After two attempts they turned out great.

 

Another vote for plasti dip. Plasti dip also sells a glossifier if you want it to have a shiny look. You can also paint on top of plasti dip. Only thing is it won't come off as easy if you just left it alone.

One can of Plasti Dip will run you in the neighborhood of $5 and would be enough to do all your chrome trim. Search youtube on how to plast dip cars and learn the process.

Vinyl is nice, but tends to be expensive. Plus if you get the cheap made in China stuff to try to DIY, i've heard it can leave a nasty mess to clean up when you take it off before you turn your car in.

 

You said reversible.. I recently got a chip on my Plasti-Dip surrounding and wanted to re-do it. How can I remove it?

 

I had to redo several pieces and used a tooth pick to pry gently under the paint and then it simply peeled off. Also had several chips in the wheels and simply touched them up with a light coat of PD.

 

+1 more on the plastidip. Easy. Durable. Reversible. Cheap. All the right buttons. I did my HL and TL rings, scoop, scuttles, gas door, and grille surrounds a few months ago and still am happy with the results.

 

Mineral spirits strips plastidip quite well.

 

I found this thread to be very helpful as I have just started the blackout process. Plasti Dip is an amazing product I must say, if you're skeptical give it a try like everyone has been saying its easily reversible if you don't like it, and I can attest to that after a few failed "trial" sprays. I have a question though concerning PDing the "cooper" emblem on the back. What's the best way to spray it? Leave the emblem on car and mask it, or remove and paint? I would rather not remove it and risk scratching my beautiful chili red paint, but I don't know if I will be able to peel off the over-spray in the middle of the "o"s or "p" if I leave it on the car....

 

Are the screws outside or inside the car?

 

I just left the emblem on the car, masked it, and sprayed it with several coats, making sure to get all the angles. It looks good and the overspray peels off easily if you use enough.

 

So I had my first experience with plasti dipping this morning. Needless to say, I love this stuff.







I don't want to go overboard with this stuff, but I'd like to do the chrome strip on the trunk lid, as well as the chrome strip in the lower grill.

 

BJM,

Thanks for the complement on the Dread Pirate!

The screws are on the outside on the bottom side. As Onefish2 said though, don't pull it off too fast as you have to disconnect the power cable.

 

Here's a shot of the trunk lid with that chrome strip PD'd. I think it looks awesome! I just masked it off and PD'd on the car. If you decide to do it, when you mask it off leave a small area around the handle open for overspray that way the edges of the chrome get solid coverage. The overspray peels right off! I posted a pic of it in another thread, here it is!

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...oday-image.jpg