ChasWG Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 One of the first modded Gen 5 cars I saw was ikonosin's black on Satin Pearl White 3.6R. What a great looking car. And I'll admit that his car was one of the reasons why I bought a White Gen 5 Legacy. So talking with him and discussing a few things I finally started doing some of the mods that I've been thinking about for a while. First on my list was the Clear Bra and window tint. Done and Done. Next was blacking out that large chrome, mid 50's Caddies like grill! ikonosin told me that to remove the grille I'd have to first remove the front bumper skin to get at the fasteners holding the grill in place. You can do that and probably should if you also need to remove the headlamps, but I ran across a thread that had these directions buried in the thread. They come from GrillCraft and are the guild I used to remove my grill. Thanks to Deere3020 for posting this: http://www.grillcraft.com/installs/install_detail.aspx?install_id=257 So I pulled the grill pretty quickly and started to take it appart. There are several clips on the back side that need very gentle persuading to get them out in one piece. The chrome parts are actually plastic and you can damage the grill if you're not careful. I found that by using a thin, flat blade screw drive I could get the clips to pop out and release the chrome from the black plastic. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5134/5474949434_89ef8d3e62_z.jpg Then came the clean up and painting. I used the same product that ikonosin used on his grill. It's called Plasti Dip and its available at Home Depot. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5054/5474950694_2ebfcd2c12_z.jpg It's simular to a regular spray paint, but it comes out in splatery blotches. It needs to be applied in thick coats allowing at least 30 minutes between coats. Make sure that you coat all the way around the grill as there are lots of curves. After a day or so of curing (night time temps here got down to 28 degrees or so) it was ready to put back together. The Plasti Dip takes 4 hours to fully cure. I needed to give it much longer because to the temperature http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5293/5474355855_77cea3919e_z.jpg The dried Plasti Dip has a rubbery feel to it and a slight texture. I think it looks great and should wear very well. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5211/5474952458_a326bd66a5_z.jpg Then I painted the A/C condenser and hood latch black so that the white and silver wouldn't show through the grill. Yeah, I finished it up and painted all the way down, totally covering everything. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5054/5474949218_2110252b85_z.jpg Once everything was dry I started to put the grill back in by re-attaching all the pop clips and the two screws at the bottom of the grill and it was done! http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5217/5474357065_3194c99a70_b.jpg Oh, I also added in my HIDs while everything was torn appart. Man, what a PITA that was! http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5260/5474357765_7fe7f585b6_b.jpg Thanks to ikonosin and Deere3020 for thier ideas and knowledge! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuBiElOvEr Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 nice clean looking ride. congrats on the successful mod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stupidaznmunkey Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 i like it - tell us how it is say in a few months - with rock chips and weather etc did u apply clear coat on it afterward too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChasWG Posted February 24, 2011 Author Share Posted February 24, 2011 As I said above in the original post, the Plasti Dip is a spray on rubber matterial. So I think this will wear a lot better than the factory chromed plastic parts. My car has only 750 miles on the clock so far and already it has pits in the chrom grill parts. And ikonosin has had this on his car for a while now too. He says it wears pretty well. I did a quick test with some clear coat over a sample piece I sprayed, it didn't take too well to the Plastic Dip and it made it shiny. I didn't like either effect of the clear coat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpecBGuy Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 wow you did a good job, no drips or over painted spots. i used the same spray paint for my front lip which has paint chunks or over sprayed areas but its ok since no one is going to look down and close on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChasWG Posted February 24, 2011 Author Share Posted February 24, 2011 I've been messing around with cars since I was 19. Back then it was a 1963 MG Midget that got turned into a Vintage Racer. I wish I had that car back! But you tend to gain certain skills when you do car stuff for a long time. Painting with a spray can came to me when I was trying to paint a rear deck spoiler myself years ago. I finally had to clean it all off and take it to a paint shop to have them do it right. But I learned from that disaster. Keep an even hand and start spraying before the piece as well as after the piece. That way you don't get large amounts of paint puddling up where you first start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shribob Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 This is something I am thinking of attempting in the summer. Actually a few mods similar to yours in one: -Paint grill black -HID's -Possibly Change horns BTW what vendor did you choose for your HID's? Job well done btw! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChasWG Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 The HIDs are a set that I already owned and were last used in 2007 in my VW Passat. They've been sitting in my parts bin of my tool box. I just got some H7 bulbs from DDM MotorSports. They sell a HID kit that seems to be quite popular and very, very reasonably priced. The technology has reall changed since I got mine. I paid $250 for my HID kit back in the day. But because it was so well built, its still fine! It's a re-name McCulloch brand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clark687 Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 i gotta redo miine, road salt kills it!! i like this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
km580 Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 That looks great, did you asnd the parts first or can you just spray this stuff on? Fat people are hard to kidnap!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChasWG Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 I just cleaned the parts with some 3M General Purpose Adhesive Cleaner to remove any wax and then a quick bath with hot water and soap to remove anything left over. Dried it and sprayed it. This stuff can be peeled off to return the grill to it's natural chrome state. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
km580 Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 OK cool thanks. Fat people are hard to kidnap!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mclovin Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 did this mod about a year ago and the plasti-dip has held up pretty well...however regular driving throughout the year and this winter thus far have shown that any rock that comes in contact with the "coating" stand out way too much. it still looks good and from far away it is the easiest and cheapest answer to getting rid of all that gaudy chrome. good luck with your mods, looks good so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChasWG Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 How thick did you paint your grill? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burnout8488 Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 god yes that looks perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ppettit2005 Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 hey that looks good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sydtron Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 That looks great -- I love the design of the grill, hate the chrome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChasWG Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 god yes that looks perfect. That's what I was thinking too, especially on a white car! Thanks guys. Next up on the black-out hit parade: Headlights! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikonosin Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 That's what I was thinking too, especially on a white car! Thanks guys. Next up on the black-out hit parade: Headlights! I'm not going to see a black roof or black Prodrives on your car anytime soon am i? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChasWG Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 I'm not going to see a black roof or black Prodrives on your car anytime soon am i? Naw, well... maybe. No. The wifey wouldn't let me paint the roof black. It looks great on your car, but it's just not for me. And I won't be slamming it either. We get too much snow here for that stance. Again, it looks killer, but it's just not practical. I do want some black or darker wheels as I do like the black on white look. The headlights for sure though. It just has too much chrome! This isn't a 1950's Caddie! But hey, maybe I should have gone the other direction and totally chromed everything! Gas tank door, door handles, mud flaps, shark fin antenna, rear spoiler and then throw on a set of American Racing bling-bling chromers with moon hubcaps! POW! Zip! WOW! :icon_mrgr Where's that puking smilie when you need it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shribob Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 :rolleyes:Honestly, the panda theme on our cars looks amazing as we saw with your car ikonosin. I plan on doing something similar to you guys:lol: , in no particular order(pending funds): -black out grill -black out lights + HIDs + may some LEDs from lightwerkz -darker rims (may not be fully black) -possible black vinyl roof -small drop -tune -call it a day The only difference will be I got the GT, you guys got the 3.6:rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChasWG Posted February 26, 2011 Author Share Posted February 26, 2011 That sound great shribob! Another Panda in the mix sounds cool! It's been a good week of modding for me. Got the grill blacked out, HIDs installed and just a little while ago I got my 19mm RSB installed. These cars should have had this bar from the factory for the 2.5GTs and the 3.6R cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sydtron Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Just starting this now -- very easy, except the grill slides out forward. I got the impression it was to be pulled out. turned out well, though it's far better on the white cars: http://i52.tinypic.com/2vilh5y.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legacy360 Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 :rolleyes:Honestly, the panda theme on our cars looks amazing as we saw with your car ikonosin. :lol: are you guys making a group? panda family? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChasWG Posted February 26, 2011 Author Share Posted February 26, 2011 Maybe we are! Its just a great look on these cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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