I had a go at turning the chrome grille surrounds on my Zed black over the last couple of days, in between a few other little jobs. I was going to vinyl wrap them but in the end decided to do them in a similar way I used when I de-chromed the badges on my MX5. This involves using a vinyl dye, which gives a nice satin finish. It never came off the Mazda badges in over 12 months driving - including a 3 week European roadtrip and another weeks trip to Scotland when we got back, so I thought I'd give it a go for the grille surrounds. I'm a better painter than I am a wrapper, which also had a lot to do with the decision.
The dye I used is quite good stuff, according to the makers blurb it's not paint, it's a dye which penetrates at molecular level. I'm not sure if that's true when it sits on top of scuffed up chrome plating but we'll see, and as I say it stayed on the MX5 badges ok. If it starts coming off I'll think of something else - probably wrapping
A few photos:
Getting the grilles off the car and split into two pieces is a doddle, just be careful of the tags on the surround, they're very delicate. Don't ask me how I know this - but thank god for Araldite
This is the stuff i used:
Not a brilliant photo , took it in the garage late last night
Before shot
The dye I used is quite good stuff, according to the makers blurb it's not paint, it's a dye which penetrates at molecular level. I'm not sure if that's true when it sits on top of scuffed up chrome plating but we'll see, and as I say it stayed on the MX5 badges ok. If it starts coming off I'll think of something else - probably wrapping
A few photos:
Getting the grilles off the car and split into two pieces is a doddle, just be careful of the tags on the surround, they're very delicate. Don't ask me how I know this - but thank god for Araldite
This is the stuff i used:
Not a brilliant photo , took it in the garage late last night
Before shot
