De-toning grill on Red

[Deluded]

I've got a THP155 Red edition (in black) and find the colour of the red a bit 'funny' in some lights.. Whilst the roof + mirrors look fine, the front grill can look a bit cheap - so if possible I'd like to change it.. The car isn't old, so any changes need to be reversible when I sell it on.

Current thoughts are:

Plastidip it in matt black - I think that will look good, but read that it's a pain to remove the grill.. Can you spray it whilst still on the car if you mask everything off properly?

Get someone to wrap it in carbon fibre pattern - not sure if that's possible?

Buy second hand grill and spray black then fit - probably the best bet but have to do a lot of work to swap over..



Any ideas? Anyone else managed to change the grill colour DIY?

[BeefMasta]

Welcome to the club

Ds3norwich has plastidipped his grill, have a look at his thread here. I'm pretty sure he sprayed it on the car.

[FLP]

Not sure what you mean, but I plastidipped the chrome surrounds of my grill without removing anything. I just masked everything off. It's a very easy job. Will post a pic when I'm home.

[WTF]

Welcome

Plastidip it in matt black - I think that will look good, but read that it's a pain to remove the grill.. Can you spray it whilst still on the car if you mask everything off properly?
Yep

DS3 PlastiDip Pimpin
As Beefmasta said - DS3 Norwich has done this - Ds3 Norwich progress thread

This might not be as easily reversable as wrapping it - essentially thats just a big sticker that you can peel off.

Get someone to wrap it in carbon fibre pattern - not sure if that's possible?
Yep, very easily done.
Another option that would give a really sleek finish is to get it Water Transferred on. Reforma are on here and have lots of info om their website. This would be permanent

Buy second hand grill and spray black then fit - probably the best bet but have to do a lot of work to swap over..
Info on removing the grill is here, post #4

Any ideas? Anyone else managed to change the grill colour DIY?

Lots have changed there's - I can't add many photo's as its all blocked at work.

[Chris_Blue]

Yep- I have a red DSport 155, and plastidipped the front grill black. Looks loads better
Easy to do in situ, liked it so much ended up doing the baguettes and other bits n pieces

Wrapping is cool too- just pricey

cost me £15 for a can of plastidip, and a mornings masking off and spraying
Will post up a piccie if you want- but not for a day or 2 as not on my home Laptop where all the photos are

ED- Search for "Bonnet vent modification" thread, post #74

[Deluded]

Cheers - yes, pics of the platidip look perfect... If it can be done without removing anything then even better.

Will give this a try and post any pictures when it's done (need to clear out garage first so I can do it out of the rain!)

Thanks for the help!

[WTF]

No worries, we're all here to help

Keep us posted!

[Deluded]

Managed to do it yesterday without removing bits - I did remove the 4 screws in the engine bay holding the bumper on so I could push some paper down to protect the radiators.

Spent a while cleaning + masking up and it mostly worked out ok - you really have to do thin coats (I had to start again the first time as it dripped everywhere!). Needed to do a little bit of patching this morning after removing the tape. I used 3/4 can of hyperlex which seems the same as plastidip.

I'm pleased with the results - it matches the colour of the other bits of plastic so doesn't look out of place, and the car now looks a little bit more manly!



Sorry about the reflections - thought I might as well polish the rest of it whilst waiting for the paint to dry!

[Chris_Blue]

Looks good work Deluded- whats next?

[NYBULLDOG]

That looks great. I always thought the front grill was too much red on these cars. I prefer this 10x more.