I had some spare time this weekend and painted the headlight surrounds, upper and lower stock grill, S side vents, and the gas cap. I will be doing the door handles soon. I took the headlight surrounds off to paint. Just heat up the 3 or 4 little spots of double sided tape and pry a bit at each retaining clip. After that It just pops off. Here are some pictures:

 

Looks good might try it on mine.

 

Though not a black MINI, and the photo doesn't do it justice, the black aero grilles on the stock S bumper look good too. Top part is a snap (5 screws actually), but the bottom takes a bit of dremel tool cutting to fit nicely, though.
Attachment 10506
I am interested in painting the side marker/turn signal, and possibly the door handles, in my dechroming efforts.

 

Come on! You can do better than that...what about the chrome belt line? Easily blacked out. Tint the front and rear indicators, replace the side marker lens with the smoke one. Also put tint on the fender markers. You can do it!

 

Dont worry, I'm not done yet.


I do like the look of the aero grille on a stock S but I chose to go this route instead because I like it more. It's also cheaper and I havent seen alot of minis with stock grilles painted.

 

Sharp!

 

i did everything except the headlight trims, because mine is a HB, would not look good. Welcome to chrome haters club

 

beltline is very important, it really changes the pic, lemme know if you need assistance

 

...and I thought you were my friend!

 

Great job!

You should have take pictures of how to remove the headlights rings. I'm sure a lot of people here would have love to see how to do so

But great job!"

 

how do u black out the side grill? using sand paper and spray paint it? well, actually what method u used to black out all the parts? i need some thoughts, i'm thinking of blacking out mine too.

 

Parts that are actually chrome plated such as the gas cap and door handles I glass beaded, then prep the surface with some mineral spirits, then apply a self etching primer , then paint. For the plastic parts, I removed them completlely and used a red scotchbrite pad as this scuffs the surface well without leaving any marks. Then used a plastic primer followed by a few coats of paint. I used rustoleum flat black that I had lying around.

There is a small clip on the back of the s grills that needs to be pryed up and off then the mesh backing comes off. I did not paint the backing mesh as this is already black.

As for the headlight surrounds... I guess I could have taken pictures but I didnt think it was too much trouble. If you have access to a heat gun or even a blow dryer it is only a matter of seconds and the tape is released. Just be aware that there are 3 or 4 clips as well as the tape which is kind of hard to see under the surround.

If anyone has some of that beltline tape I'd be happy to purchase some since I'm sure it doesnt take a whole roll.

 

Here is mine wih CF headlight rims and M7 grilles.

 

Blakc,

What type of paint did you use to paint the headlight trim and the side marker vents?

 

of course we are

on my sidevents JSBF3 used flat black spray paint.

 

Very, very sinister. I really like it. I like the blacked out stock grille better than the aero grilles or the aftermarket mesh grilles.

The satin black contrasts subtly with the gloss black of the body.

Keep going, and please share pics with us.

 

For some reason I want to start singing 'Chrome' with Trace Adkins . Nice job, keep us updated as you progress.

 

looks great!

I just received my black cooper side vents in the mail. I don't know how much chrome i am taking off, we'll see where it goes!

 

Thanks for all the positive comments. Round 2 will commence this weekend. That will include door handles and possible beltline. I will be sure to post pics of my progress.

 

As far as spray paint goes, find a good powder coat shop around and have them powder coated. That way no paint chips or such.

I did the fuel caps on both of my cars, having the headlight surrounds done on one car (not sure about LY w/black surrounds)

One question though, I did black out the beltline chrome with 3M tape, it looked great. However, after time (close to a year) the tape developed cracks and the top clear layer started to peel. I've stripped most of it and am going to reapply when the weather warms up a bit. Any suggestions?

 

Sounds like the layer of protective film that is on top wasnt removed. Its job is to protect the tape until it has been applied, then remove the clear layer. The clear top layer will crack over time due to temperature and weather. My $0.02

 

love that look!! Where did you get the CF headlight rims, how much do they run for??

 

Land of the rising sun...

 

After seeing your side markers, Minsian and I painted ours a semi-gloss black with no clear coat. No pics yet.

After 4 straight weeks of Mini mods, im surprised the fiance isnt upset with us always taking her 06 TL out of the garage. Cant convince her to get a mini yet tho.

 

I painted the door handles today. It's too dark to get decent pictures tonight, but I will post some tomorrow. I also removed the cooper s chrome lettering from the rear. Not much left to dechrome.