Side Grill Blackening

jhjacobs

jhjacobs

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I just got some brand new chrome side grills and my coupe is freshly painted. Now I need some advice on backening behind them. Generally I've seen coupes with nothing behind the grills at all. However, I seen a few with black behind the grills and they looked nice. Unfortunately I don't remember exactly how and where the color was applied.

I've created some diagrams showing different options I'm considering. I'd appreciate any advice on what might be appropriate / common / correct and any suggestions on how. I'm currently thinking about cutting some thin aluminum to fit neatly behind the grills and painting it black. I am not crazy about actually masking off the area and painting the car.

On my old grills someone seems to have attempted to paint the vertical grill sections black (like last image).

I suppose this is a bit of a vain topic. However, the grills serve no purpose other than styling so why not make the most of them! :oops:

1c4a54e72e24285d9a2dec548ca469c0.jpg
 
side grills

The area behind the grills should be blacked out as your last design. I used back duct tape and you'd never know it.
 
I think I like the black duct tape idea. I was a bit worried about adding even a thin painted metal shim. Many thanks!

I think it's a bit strange that the photos in the link show the black extended further than forward vertical connector piece. I think I'll cut the tape so there is no exposed tape edge.

I'm getting closer and closer to being back on the road. I just installed new headliner material on my sunroof and the panel behind the front windshield - what a painful process! With any luck I'll get the main headliner installed in the next few days and then the glass can go back in. After that she'll be able to drive again after 14 months of striping, derusting, straightening, and paint.
 
Black backing as # 2 is correct

To conform with the set in section on the fender--I used vinyl electric tape-two strips--the grill covers the seam-easily applied and looks as original and is easily changed--holes made with exacto and pins of grill aecured with windshield sealant--so no breakage that is all too common with fasteners and then followed by the attempt at screwing them on.

HTH
 
I have banned myself from using paint on anything important. Even if I masked the area perfectly, completely covered the rest of the car, and used a tiny model brush I would wind up with black paint inside the car, in my hair, on the dogs, and tracked on the carpet in the house. It would also probably run and form little balls that would prevent installation of the grill. Nope, paint and I do not get along; I'm sticking with a sticker of some type! :evil:

David PM’ed me with this really great treatment:
[Broken External Image]:http://38csi.com/images/exterior/exterior6.jpg

Unfortunately it involves paint. I may try with one of my two old sets to see it I can do it justice; I’ll lock the dogs in the house when I do.

I bought some black duct tape that seems plausible. I'm going to try cuting out some templates. I may try putting the tape on some film and securing the whole arrangement with the mounting pins. This would keep it away from the pain just in case ...
 
I used self-adhesive vinyl tape that I bought at one of those do it yourself signage stores. I made my own templates out of cardboard, filling the recessed area completely. Not sure if there's any good pictures of my car close up on the cowpokeracing.com website, but I'm happy with the appearance.
 
My side trim grill is black on my Polaris. Why are some black and some chrome? Even if the grill is black, should it be black under the grill, or the paint color as mine are?
Thanks
 
Black underlay-cleanest is vinyl electrical tape

ALL CS, CSi & CSL originally had the black underlay--whether with chromed or black grills--iin original form it was like black vinyl.

Let me repeat ny earlier posting:
Black Vinyl electrical tape is a no-brainer--icorrect texture--simple to apply or remove--the grill covers any seam--and when finished the appearance is indistinguishable from original.
 
Lots of great information here. I have come up with my solution which is a variation on several ideas. I found a Pandeflex folder (model Essselte 52264) that was made with some heavy matte black vinyl. I was able to cut some very nice thin yet rigid underlays for my side grills. The patter was made with a ruler and a razor to mark and it could be cut with scissors. For the guide holes I used a razor to cut out little rectangles which line up perfectly with the alignment pin offsets; the vinyl is exactly the thickness of the offsets.

As I put Amélie back together I'll be sure to post a few pics of the side grills with treatment. :p
 
The Black Backdrop behind your grills--last post

The end result looks very nice--although:

If seeking to duplicate the original treatment--the original application of black vinyl covered the entire surface of the fender depression--but none was applied on the sloped edges--and as I was led to understand--the treatment was to resemble an open vent through the fender.
 
original application of black vinyl covered the entire surface of the fender depression--but none was applied on the sloped edges
Click to expand...
Yeah, I saw how this was done but I decided that this would leave an exposed vinyl edge to warp and fray. As such I decided that I would hide all vinyl edges under the chrome; not original but in my opinion a bit neater and not any less functional :wink:

It's a bit hard to describe the little standoffs under each grill. On each of the fingers there is a little ball which lifts it neatly off the body by about 20-30mil. Also, under each mounting post there is a similar raised area (about 1/8" by 3/8" which keeps the chrome from bottoming out by 20-30mil. I figured that this was intended to provide a mechanism to help align original underlay or to prevent water build up. Either way, by cutting out equivalent notched I used it to hold my 25mil vinyl perfectly in place.
 
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