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Started the process last year shortly after I bought the car. Exterior Chrome Package must have been really cool 14 years ago. It started with the bright shiny belt line trim. That had to go.
While researching options, I discovered RED 3M tape!
Everybody knows RED makes you faster, and besides, I always liked red accents on blue.
Lived that way for a long time...then the chrome grille started bugging me. I was pretty pleased with the look when I swapped that out... Especially after I pointed out the change to the wife, and she said, "yeah, it doesn't look so 'meep meep' now." WTF?!!! I'll have you know this is a proper British (by way of Bavaria) sports car, woman!!!
Obviously the problem was all the shiny bits. So I began hatching a plan.
Step 1: Talk @robj into blacking out his chrome in order to get well-documented How-Tos. Particularly interested in the process to paint the chrome.
Step 2: Decide Robj puts too much effort into his perfectionist deals, and decide to be different... And I didn't want to set up my paint gun!
Step 3: Research vinyl wrap, and order a roll. Nothing close to Hyper Blue, so Satin Black it is. You can get a 5' roll of this stuff for under $20!
While waiting for time to work in the garage, order new wheels: S-Lites were too much like chrome... black rims with RED stripes are much faster and much less "meep meep"
Wrap the headlight rings (oh, yeah, break a mounting tab for the cursed headlight washer mechanism, and the stupid tabs for the little chrome covers while you're at it--be sure you have some 3M double-sided tape on hand).
Wrapped! Blacked out headlights, black grille, crappy garage lighting for photos Blacked out boot handle
Driver's door handle and gas cap cover wrapped.
Tried to wrap the scuttles. I'm not that good. Paint is still drying.
It was a good weekend. I needed the garage therapy.
Waiting for the Hyper Blue mirror caps I picked up off the Marketplace last week to arrive from Canadia, and I'll be set!
I started to write how-tos. I suck at writing how tos. Here's what I learned, having never used vinyl wrap, but having done more than a few vinyl stripe kits:
This stuff isn't wet-install like a stripe kit. Watch lots of You Tube videos, particularly on how to cold-stretch the material.
Take you time, and leave the heat gun alone most of the time.
They sell all sorts of little tools, but you can get by with a decent razor knife (the break-off kind, so you can always have a sharp tip), and a bondo spatula.
MINI door handles are a booger. All the videos I could find chose a MUCH easier handle that had a separate section for the lock, so you could do two pieces.
MINI gas cap is NO JOKE. I'll probably replace this at some point. Couldn't figure out how to do it without some relief cuts.
Headlight rings and boot handle are easy.
It was all a good warmup for redoing my interior. Going to wrap the dash, door handles, and the console tube thingies in blue (as close as I can get to Hyper Blue; since it's on the inside I can get away without an exact match). Way cheaper to wrap them yourself than buy the color-match dash components.
Looking Good !!!!! I might go take care if my trim soon also as were on LOCKDOWN . Mine has some peeling where the previous owner started covering it up so I want to correct his shoddy work and get rid of ALL the chrome on the car. Imo chrome and woodgrain have no place in a sports or sportier car.
I too am going to use a tape to cover it as spraying and masking it much go much work .
Husky,
I like it! And looks a lot easier than the aggravation/ fun I did. And I really like the red stripe with the wheels.
Just wondering, where did you get the "actual size" sticker or is that letters? I'm loving that. Might be the only sticker I would ever put on the paint!
Husky,
I like it! And looks a lot easier than the aggravation/ fun I did. And I really like the red stripe with the wheels.
Just wondering, where did you get the "actual size" sticker or is that letters? I'm loving that. Might be the only sticker I would ever put on the paint!
I'm probably going to do the door handles again. The ends didn't come out as well as I would have liked.
The scuttles are kicking my butt. I thought I had the chrome sanded well, but the paint isn't sticking. I need to sand everything again, and planned to use it as an excuse to buy a sandblasting cabinet from HF. I sold my last one when I moved from Alaska, and haven't had a good enough reason before now to replace it. Went out Monday night, and apparently there was a run on sandblasting cabinets at the same time as the run on TP. Checked 4 stores, and all were out of stock. My closest one is expecting a truck tomorrow, but that was before the governor locked us down. Hopefully Harbor Freight is an essential business!
Husky,
WTF is a "scuttle"? is that the official name for the rockers? I'm hoping H.F. is essential, hell it essential to me!
One of the things I've found, esp. anything that may have had some sort of silicone goop smeared on it, [like the flat black parts] is to clean them really, really well before any sanding as sanding can grind that **** into what your working on. What I do is an alcohol; wipe, 1-3 times. Then hot soapy water, [Dawn dishwashing soap, cut grease] then another alcohol wipe before any sanding. Sometimes even that's not enough.
I also have been trying out "plastic adhesion promoter-type primer". Jury is still out on how well this works.
rob
p.s. I did find the sticker wit a red stylized "s" on e-bay. Not sure why that tickles my fancy so much but I really like it.
Yup. If you look at the last Pic, the vent thingy is missing from the front fender. Stripped it down, cleaned with a degreaser I use for all prep work, sanded the chrome plating-not completely off, but enough that it looked like a matte brushed aluminum. Primer (SEM self etching) still orange peeled like crazy. Got full coverage after several coats, then sanded as best I could to try to get it smooth for finish. Used Eastwood Chassis Black, but it just didn't want to adhere. Need to sand it all down and start over. My fingers don't fit in those little ribs at all, so a sandblasting cabinet is ESSENTIAL to me.
I had a similar experience with Eastwood Chassis Black. I don't think it likes self-etching primer. I welded up a bumper kit for my sons jeep and used self-etching primer then Eastwood Chassis Black.
The next day or maybe the second day the black was coming off in big, [quarter size] flakes. It all came off pretty easy with a wire brush and I re-sanded and repainted with some other black paint.
I think Chassis Black is meant to be more of a DTM [direct to metal paint] but they do have their own primer for it and maybe that's why. They really don't explain that well but I think now they do mention not using it over self-etch.
Sometimes plain old "fast dry" hardware store black, misted on for the first 2-3 coats might work better.
Sorry for your bad luck,
rob
Nice work! My Mini had a chrome boot handle that was bubbling, thought I could pull the chrome off and just paint it, but in the process of taking the chrome off the plastic underneath was cracked like a dry lake and literally crumpling away. I was going to buy a new primer one and paint it but found an OEM black part from Latvia. Euro cars werent obsessed with Chrome, so that will be a nice piece to add when it arrives. I dont mind SOME chrome, but these cars definitely had too much. Good on you for tackling ALL of it
I have lots to keep me busy while I self-isolate in the garzge all weekend.
That's pretty much what I've been doing. Of course I've doing that for months! Maybe years. I want to see big things with the blast cabinet. I've been using pretty much glass beads exclusively. Works with rust, [although not quite as good as Black Beauty], but leaves a much finer finish. To be honest, even on aluminum, I blast it, blow it off with air and go right to paint, no solvent, no primer, no nothing. So far it's seemed to work well. No better "tooth" for paint than freshly bead blasted.
On a sadder note, [speaking of self -isolating], I had to lay off most of my staff today, Was able to keep the VP, [at a much reduced rate, like 1/2 pay and no check for me] one office person and 2 supervisors. I've had my own business for 31 years and never had to lay anyone off and I feel pretty terrible about it, but it's pretty much out of my hands. I called everyone individually then sent out an email.
This sh*t can't end soon enough. We are slightly under the radar as "essential" but just about zero work coming in. I'm really hoping May 1 is the turning point, but I fear that's not going to be the case...
I'm taking my mind off of it with Mini -Tasks...
rj
On a sadder note, [speaking of self -isolating], I had to lay off most of my staff today, Was able to keep the VP, [at a much reduced rate, like 1/2 pay and no check for me] one office person and 2 supervisors. I've had my own business for 31 years and never had to lay anyone off and I feel pretty terrible about it, but it's pretty much out of my hands. I called everyone individually then sent out an email.
This sh*t can't end soon enough. We are slightly under the radar as "essential" but just about zero work coming in. I'm really hoping May 1 is the turning point, but I fear that's not going to be the case...
I'm taking my mind off of it with Mini -Tasks...
rj
Sorry to hear about the layoffs. I had to cut a bunch of staff to half time. Fortunately our program cuts line up with the lack of demand due to stay home policies. The shelter staff is all still working full time, so it hasn't hit us too bad. My people that I cut to half time all have other sources of household income, so they aren't hurt too badly by the loss of income, but they were working primarily because of the mission, not the money.
It sucks when you have to make the hard choices. I pray that your people will be able to use the relief funds to hold over until your work picks back up.
I had a similar experience with Eastwood Chassis Black. I don't think it likes self-etching primer.
rob
Yep, right there on the side of the can, mixed in with a bunch of other words with the heading "DIRECTIONS":
"Do not use over self-etching primers."
Wonder why they didn't put something in a prominent place where people might read it?
Got the sandblasting cabinet assembled today. Took a while, because I caulked all the seams, and built a roller-platform so I could move it around my garage. Stole the ideas from a YouTube video.
I forgot how much I enjoyed cleaning parts in a blast cabinet. Something soothing about it. No effort, just watching the crud blow off.
Parts are clean, and repaint has started. Hopefully will have the outside refinishing done tomorrow. Waiting for more vinyl to come in to tackle the interior. It's been a good day.
After looking at this thread, its got me looking at all the chrome and wondering which pieces Id like to eliminate, and that lower windshield piece definitely has my attention. I have some SEM Trim paint that I want to use, but not sure how well the paint will take the chrome and black ( Id like to paint both together to make it uniform)
After looking at this thread, its got me looking at all the chrome and wondering which pieces Id like to eliminate, and that lower windshield piece definitely has my attention. I have some SEM Trim paint that I want to use, but not sure how well the paint will take the chrome and black ( Id like to paint both together to make it uniform)
In other news, painting over chrome is continuing to be a challenge. After giving up on self-etching primer, I went to regular rattle can primer and paint. It covered well, and probably would have held up had I let it cure, but the matte black I had was too flat, and looked grey on the car, so I stripped the scuttles AGAIN, and went to Eastwood Chassis Black (satin finish) straight over bare, highly media-blasted chrome/plastic.
My observation: The chrome on plastic that is on the scuttles appears to be real chrome, not chrome-looking plastic coating. I've done a little reading, and it appears that starting back about the time our cars were new, manufacturers found a way to bond copper to plastic, forming a base that real chrome plating can adhere to (at least, that's how I remember it being described). I've hammered this plating pretty hard with my blasting cabinet, and it's tough. I've had a few places where I penetrated to what appears to be a copper-colored substrate, but have only managed to get down to plastic in a couple of spots where a bubble/chip let loose. Even trying to work out from those spots didn't yield any noticeable results. This plating is TOUGH.
I've managed good coverage and adhesion with the Chassis Black on bare chrome, and am letting it cure all day today; hopefully it will harden up well and I can install tonight.
My observation: The chrome on plastic that is on the scuttles appears to be real chrome, not chrome-looking plastic coating. I've done a little reading, and it appears that starting back about the time our cars were new, manufacturers found a way to bond copper to plastic, forming a base that real chrome plating can adhere to (at least, that's how I remember it being described). I've hammered this plating pretty hard with my blasting cabinet, and it's tough. I've had a few places where I penetrated to what appears to be a copper-colored substrate, but have only managed to get down to plastic in a couple of spots where a bubble/chip let loose. Even trying to work out from those spots didn't yield any noticeable results. This plating is TOUGH.
I've managed good coverage and adhesion with the Chassis Black on bare chrome, and am letting it cure all day today; hopefully it will harden up well and I can install tonight.[/QUOTE]
This was pretty much what I found when doing my headlight trim rings. If it's "scuffed" where you can see it, it's probably good enough for paint.
Personally I would let the scuttles sit for a day or two.
Took more attempts than I expected, but I'm pretty pleased with how these turned out. Going to keep them in the house overnight so they can cure where it is warmer.
WTF?!!! 
I'll have you know this is a proper British (by way of Bavaria) sports car, woman!!! 
