Vantage Black Front Grille
Discussion
They really easily come off.
I would suggest wrapping it! They are really easy to wrap, although I am not sure if they will get loose due to engine heat lol.
Very cheap and easy try and you can do it at home.
I am considering doing this first to see if I like it before making it permanently.
I would suggest wrapping it! They are really easy to wrap, although I am not sure if they will get loose due to engine heat lol.
Very cheap and easy try and you can do it at home.
I am considering doing this first to see if I like it before making it permanently.
simonpa said:
As they are currently anodised, wouldn't it be better to anodise in black?
Powdercoat chips pretty easily in places like the grille.
Nope - they are either polished or paintedPowdercoat chips pretty easily in places like the grille.
Polished ones can go milky and stain VERY easily
Painted ones chip VERY easily
I've used lacquered powder coating on grills and wheels before it is a pretty durable
Black anodising tends to have a purple hue to it and is a lot more costly
All wait.... My black one is badly chipped. I have found a chap who has brought a new system from the States where a liquid rubber compound is sprayed, just like paint, on to the car/part and it dries like a vinyl producing a thin rubber coating over the part. I will be having my chipped from grille done shortly and will post pictures and report back. (With costs). I do know it will be much cheaper than a new front grille.
I took one apart and had it satin black powder coated, it only cost a few pounds to have the bars done. It looked much better than the original milky silver finish. Can't say how durable it was as I sold the car around a thousand miles later. IMO the black only suits a lighter body colour.
northernmedia said:
Was thinking of doing the same.
I like the look of the darker ceramic tailpipes too but doubt you could just paint the chrome ones to get a similar effect?
Just take the tailpipe finishers off and take them to a shop that does powder coating. You can get them done in black chrome (like on the N420) or a textured matte black (like on the V12VS). I like the look of the darker ceramic tailpipes too but doubt you could just paint the chrome ones to get a similar effect?
Edited by KarlFranz on Friday 21st March 17:29
I bought a 'Carbon Edition' 6 Bar Version and fitted it myself.
Once it arrived I realised the mistake I made, I should have just taken the front grille off and dropped in to a competent body shop (or just dropped the car off) to have the vertical plastic bits sprayed in matt black and horizontal bits matt black powered coated...
A few nuts hold the grille in place and the horizontal slates really do just push out of the plastic vertical bits!
Ok so I went from 8 to 6 bars but who would know... Sold the shiny one on eBay and came out even so not really so bad!
But be careful as Black & Carbon Fibre can be very addictive... ;-)
Once it arrived I realised the mistake I made, I should have just taken the front grille off and dropped in to a competent body shop (or just dropped the car off) to have the vertical plastic bits sprayed in matt black and horizontal bits matt black powered coated...
A few nuts hold the grille in place and the horizontal slates really do just push out of the plastic vertical bits!
Ok so I went from 8 to 6 bars but who would know... Sold the shiny one on eBay and came out even so not really so bad!
But be careful as Black & Carbon Fibre can be very addictive... ;-)
Yeah. One of the things that bugs me about the Carbon Black grille from Aston is that the vertical spacers are still the crappy grey plastic as on all the other grilles. Considering how beautiful the horizontal bars are in very strong metal, it is a wonder that they chose to make the spacers so cheap. That is why I wrapped each of them in matte black vinyl when I wrapped the bars. The first picture I posted above is one of the grey spacers already wrapped.
Also, powder coating is very tough if done properly. Whoever said it chips easily must have had a bad job done. It is tough as nails and way stronger and more chip-resistant than painting. Anodizing is just a light oxidized coating on the surface. If it scratches, it will show the shiny metal underneath. Just ask anyone who bought one of the "space grey" iPhone 5s what it looks like when it scratches.
Of all the approaches, I would say wrapping it is the best. It is inexpensive, non-permanent, protects the surface, looks great, and is easily repairable.
Also, powder coating is very tough if done properly. Whoever said it chips easily must have had a bad job done. It is tough as nails and way stronger and more chip-resistant than painting. Anodizing is just a light oxidized coating on the surface. If it scratches, it will show the shiny metal underneath. Just ask anyone who bought one of the "space grey" iPhone 5s what it looks like when it scratches.
Of all the approaches, I would say wrapping it is the best. It is inexpensive, non-permanent, protects the surface, looks great, and is easily repairable.
Edited by KarlFranz on Friday 21st March 23:36
There seems to be an awful lot of unnecessary effort going into making a silver grille, black!
Rub the grille down with some 1200 grade emery to take the shine off and spray it black, matt, satin or gloss from a rattle can.
If it gets chipped, you can redo it yourself in half an hour.
If you like the finish you choose, then getting it powdercoated the same would only cost about £60.00 and would be far more permanent.
Anodise will only look good if the aluminium is pure and a wrap will be impossible to repair stone chips easily, and both will cost far more and take longer to do.
The other option is to laminate it properly in real carbon fibre.
Rub the grille down with some 1200 grade emery to take the shine off and spray it black, matt, satin or gloss from a rattle can.
If it gets chipped, you can redo it yourself in half an hour.
If you like the finish you choose, then getting it powdercoated the same would only cost about £60.00 and would be far more permanent.
Anodise will only look good if the aluminium is pure and a wrap will be impossible to repair stone chips easily, and both will cost far more and take longer to do.
The other option is to laminate it properly in real carbon fibre.
8Tech said:
There seems to be an awful lot of unnecessary effort going into making a silver grille, black!
Rub the grille down with some 1200 grade emery to take the shine off and spray it black, matt, satin or gloss from a rattle can.
If it gets chipped, you can redo it yourself in half an hour.
If you like the finish you choose, then getting it powdercoated the same would only cost about £60.00 and would be far more permanent.
Anodise will only look good if the aluminium is pure and a wrap will be impossible to repair stone chips easily, and both will cost far more and take longer to do.
The other option is to laminate it properly in real carbon fibre.
I disagree. One of my self-imposed rules for every modification I have done to my car is that it has to be 100% reversible back to original condition. To that effect, I have either bought spare parts from wrecked cars, or made new parts so I can keep the originals intact. Rub the grille down with some 1200 grade emery to take the shine off and spray it black, matt, satin or gloss from a rattle can.
If it gets chipped, you can redo it yourself in half an hour.
If you like the finish you choose, then getting it powdercoated the same would only cost about £60.00 and would be far more permanent.
Anodise will only look good if the aluminium is pure and a wrap will be impossible to repair stone chips easily, and both will cost far more and take longer to do.
The other option is to laminate it properly in real carbon fibre.
Wrapping the grille allows me to change to color to anything I want, while leaving the original finish protected. If it were to get a stone chip, I can repair it myself for a few dollar's worth of vinyl and a few minutes of my time.
If I followed your suggestion, the only way to get back to the original shiny look if I don't like the results or when I get tired of the matte black would be to buy another one, which costs more than $800 US.
Edited by KarlFranz on Sunday 23 March 14:39
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