[Derek]

Lately I have been toying with the idea of spraying the grey looking plastic bits black. I did a quick Photoshop to show what the results would look like. Feel free to comment.

 

[Stan]

Looks nice...they'd also be immune to that wax stain effect many cars exhibit, especially near the engine/trunk lid.

 

[J-Son]

do all the plastic vents pop out easily for the Krylon fusion painting?

 

[Derek]

do all the plastic vents pop out easily for the Krylon fusion painting?

The only onces I'm not sure how to remove are the side vents. The rest look like they will be simple to remove.

 

[huggy bear]

paint them? just more of a hassle to maintain. They'll chip.

 

[Lotus F1]

paint them? just more of a hassle to maintain. They'll chip.

Considering that they are already pretty dark to begin with I doubt you will notice when and if they do chip

 

[offroadr35]

i'm waiting for someone to sell the Exige mesh kit

 

[huggy bear]

i'm waiting for someone to sell the Exige mesh kit

dealers can import them or contact http://eliseusa.com/ and they can import them. some modification is needed in order to fit them. they said that they might produce a mesh grill kit if there is demand for half the price of the exige mesh grills. forgot the quoted price. I think the scoops alone are about $400. i'd only want the mesh to replace the fins anyway and not the whole scoop.

i think shinoo is also creating a mesh grill kit.

i'll probably try my hand at creating the grills as soon as my damn car gets here.

 

[zvezdah1]

Where have I been, I don't believe I've ever seen this company before?

Chris

 

[wallabyguy]

Mesh sounds interesting. I'd be interested in seeing the end product. Listening Shinoo?

 

[Thomas Praetzel]

Can you just remove the front deck and side vents altogether, and run like that. The vents are probably the only cosmetic part of the car that I don't care for. The Exige has a much cleaner look, besides that, the grillwork is a real pain in the okole to keep clean.

Aloha,
Thomas Praetzel

 

[Ridgemanron]

The only onces I'm not sure how to remove are the side vents. The rest look like they will be simple to remove.

What about some form of metallic look?
Can chrome or steel or aluminum be
applied to plastic?

 

[ChrisH]

How likely will painted vents chip? I have been toying with the idea of painting them as well to avoid the wax problem and keep them looking nice. It seems that they are no more likely to chip than the paint on the body is (except that they aren't covered with starshield).

 

[Miguel]

At one time I thought about painting them white, it would give a great contrast with racing green, maybe add white stripes too.

Or, maybe yellow stripes and paint them yellow as well.

... maybe later

 

[MattG]

What about some form of metallic look?
Can chrome or steel or aluminum be
applied to plastic?

Yes, you could get a chrome look, but it probably wouldn't be very durable (though I suppose you could clear coat it). Vacuum metalizing.

 

[Vantage]

I think chrome/polished/metallic looking vents would look positively terrible. Almost like those chrome fender accents you see in the back of Road and Track.

 

[xclusivecar]

Does someone have a service manual to check on how to pop the front grills off? I was messing with mine but can't seem to pop them...I certainly don't want to break them! This was discussed recently on another post and a bunch of us are waiting to hear from eliseusa.com on an Exige front and side kit.

 

[huggy bear]

Does someone have a service manual to check on how to pop the front grills off? I was messing with mine but can't seem to pop them...I certainly don't want to break them! This was discussed recently on another post and a bunch of us are waiting to hear from eliseusa.com on an Exige front and side kit.

http://www.elisetalk.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6464

 

[Lotus Fury]

Derek - you might want to try it out on another bit of plastic you have about or order a small part, like the smaller air dam vents, from the dealer. See if it looks ok before you try it on your car. Test wax on it, see if the white stuff comes off easy and try bending it some. If the the wax is hard to remove or the paint flakes off alot might want to try a different brand. Also, are you going flat black, semi gloss or high gloss?

 

[Derek]

Derek - you might want to try it out on another bit of plastic you have about or order a small part, like the smaller air dam vents, from the dealer. See if it looks ok before you try it on your car. Test wax on it, see if the white stuff comes off easy and try bending it some. If the the wax is hard to remove or the paint flakes off alot might want to try a different brand. Also, are you going flat black, semi gloss or high gloss?

I think a semi gloss would look good. I know I don't want those parts to be really shiny and smooth. I just want them to look black instead of grey.