Well, I've been on a mission to get rid of all the chrome on my car, and since the IS and RC share a majority of their parts, I figured I'd ask here since the RC side of CL is quite unpopulated unfortunately. All the chrome on my grille, and around my windows have been painted. That topic has been beat to death here. Headlights are currently being built by Gerlicious Performance with a blackout housing, I just ordered one of the carbon fiber emblems from RR Racing for the front of the car. All my badges are painted(Again nothing new).
But what I'm wondering is what have people done to get rid of the chrome on the mirrors(Turn signal indicator on the mirror has a little "arrow" of chrome around the turn signal)? Then my last area Im wondering is the exhaust tips. I have an ark catback, I remember seeing somewhere some carbon fiber tip things that go over them? Not sure. Needs to fit my Ark. Any ideas?
After all this, there will be 0 chrome on my RC....
Why not vinyl on the side mirrors? Black vinyl would be what I'd use.
I did a headlight tint vinyl over my front emblem (and on rear badge temporarily) and it removed the "chrome look" but it was more like a black chrome because of its transparency.
Why not vinyl on the side mirrors? Black vinyl would be what I'd use.
I did a headlight tint vinyl over my front emblem (and on rear badge temporarily) and it removed the "chrome look" but it was more like a black chrome because of its transparency.
I've toyed with that idea, but the piece of chrome on the mirrors is so small that im not sure the vinyl would stick long term...
I don't actually use the stuff myself, but I feel like a lot of members on here have used plastidip for small detailed exterior items, like badging, etc.
Regarding the tips, if you have the Ark Grip exhaust, I believe your tips should be removable and you can either have them flat black ceramic coated, or replace them. You may even be able to contact Ark and see if you can purchase just the tips and swap them out with their carbon fiber tips (which look more flat black then carbon fiber from what I can tell in pictures).
I don't actually use the stuff myself, but I feel like a lot of members on here have used plastidip for small detailed exterior items, like badging, etc.
Regarding the tips, if you have the Ark Grip exhaust, I believe your tips should be removable and you can either have them flat black ceramic coated, or replace them. You may even be able to contact Ark and see if you can purchase just the tips and swap them out with their carbon fiber tips (which look more flat black then carbon fiber from what I can tell in pictures).
Wondering if I can just buy those sleeves. My tips im 99% sure are welded to the axelback. I guess Ill double check tonight. As for the plastidip, im steering way clear of it. Not a fan of it at all, used it in the past, never again lol. It also fades very fast, especially in the AZ sun...
Wondering if I can just buy those sleeves. My tips im 99% sure are welded to the axelback. I guess Ill double check tonight. As for the plastidip, im steering way clear of it. Not a fan of it at all, used it in the past, never again lol. It also fades very fast, especially in the AZ sun...
You might want to try contacting Ark directly. Assuming they actually fit your current tips directly, they might be willing to sell separately. I know they've worked with me in the past on things for another car that were one off and were willing to communicate openly, unlike some other brands that "support" the Lexus community (*cough* RSR *cough*).
You might want to try contacting Ark directly. Assuming they actually fit your current tips directly, they might be willing to sell separately. I know they've worked with me in the past on things for another car that were one off and were willing to communicate openly, unlike some other brands that "support" the Lexus community (*cough* RSR *cough*).
Just sent them a DM on IG. They're usually responsive on there.
upon closer inspection, the chrome is actually underneath a lens of clear plastic. no way to mask it. could just VHT nightshade over the whole thing, but i’m not a fan of that idea... was going to just straight paint the chrome but... anyone know how to remove this piece from the mirror? may be able to disassemble that piece.
as as for the exhaust tips, thinking about vinyl wrap. why wouldn’t that work?
upon closer inspection, the chrome is actually underneath a lens of clear plastic. no way to mask it. could just VHT nightshade over the whole thing, but i’m not a fan of that idea... was going to just straight paint the chrome but... anyone know how to remove this piece from the mirror? may be able to disassemble that piece.
as as for the exhaust tips, thinking about vinyl wrap. why wouldn’t that work?
Personally, I think that's such a small amount, I'm not sure it would be worth the effort... BUT, you could probably take that piece apart to get to the chrome. Take apart the side mirror unit (there are some DIY videos on how to if needed for people that swap out their puddle lights), then remove that piece, and I would imagine you could disassemble it. I remember some Hondas used to do that to get rid of Chrome accents in their Headlight units. If its a sealed lighting unit, you could probably bake it for a little to loosen up the glue and take it apart, similar to how people remove and dechrome their headlight units (PLEASE youtube first if you are attempting this and unfamiliar). That was big when I was into the Infiniti scene since a lot of them had chromed headlight units. But again, that seems like an awful lot of work for the tiny bit of chrome that kind of blends in with the marker unit. You may also want to check Ebay for inexpensive used units to experiment on.
Regarding vinyl, is there a vinyl that can handle that high of a heat? I know there is caliper vinyl that can take brake heat, but I'm not sure if that's enough for something that handles the amount of heat that an exhaust does. Someone else probably has to chime in on this.
