Super VXer
dude, that is o-mazing
And I am with you vehigaz...it looks beyond good. I seriously thought it was a pro job. I was surprised that for a spray there was no streaking, running, or globs. Great job man.
And FTR, the contrasting bolts are 1337. Don't lose them!
VXer in the Sky
Awesome!
Super VXer
Cool
Nice job! Like you, I strive for the deep black look on the cladding.
As noted in earlier posts, please keep us posted on how it holds up and takes to the various cleaning products...
oh, and the contrasting bolts look great.
VXer
Beautiful! I've always wanted to do that, but wasn't sure how. I'm doing it this weekend on my Ironman. I can't believe how great that looks.
By the way, what kind of paint did you use on the bolts? I'm not sure what BBQ paint is. I'd like to paint mine white.
Way to go!
Super VXer
BBQ Paint is high temp paint. I painted mine (Silver) about 6 months ago w/High Heat Paint (Just because I had some laying around) and they still look great. My method was I took a long 2x4 screwed them all into with a fair amount of space between each one, then scotch brite each one (top/side) and shot them...dry/re-install
Note::: The high heat paint covers fast also so you have less buildup
Good Luck...
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
" Jeeps are nice, Barbie has one"
VXer
Thanks VCrossfan. I'm gonna tackle that job this weekend.Originally Posted by VCrossfan
Super VXer
Total SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET-ness!
Now I know what my first project is going to be next Spring
"This trail is so bumpy, it's knocking my bra straps off!" - Miss Kathy
Super VXer
Very nice write-up and good job. I'm curious about the caliper paint. What type and how hard was that task?
Many thanks.
VXer
Thanks Guys and Gals!
And a thanks goes out to everyone who has posted on this site, I did a lot of searching on what people have already done to get ideas and learn the tricks. Thanks.
I will keep you guys posted on how it holds up.
I’m still amazed when I walk out and see the VX with the black bottom.
The Bumper paint is a satin paint so it is more forgiving than gloss paint and the cladding was near perfect before painting.
I went ahead and did the wheel wells also.
The two front bolts might have nuts on the backside, didn’t come right out so for time sake I left them in.
On the caliper paint, I used ford red high temp engine paint, under five dollars.
I sanded them down with coarse paper, careful the metal edges are sharp.
I taped off what I didn’t want painted on the caliper and wrapped a plastic bag around the rotors. (make sure vx has been sitting for a while, them rotors get hot!)
I always do two mist coats first, the calipers tend to want to bubble if you don’t. Then I put on two thick coats. Have some black paint ready to cover some of the overspray and to make some rust disappear.
As I was doing the calipers, I did take the stickers off the center hub caps. I used a razor knife backwards to lift up the lip of the sticker all the way around (careful the knife can scratch the caps) then sprayed them with carb cleaner(let them soak a little), it breaks the glue up very well.
Then peal them stickers off, spraying carb cleaner when needed. Have a big roll of paper towels handy. When the stickers are off, use WD40 to get them glossy.
Three stickers came off great, the last one had sun dried cracks all in it, pain to get off.
Super VXer
looks really nice even up cloase! the front two cladding screws have little metal squares behind them, they might also be screwed a little into the padding, they should just unscrew like normal but be careful to catch the little metal piece, or the screws wont hold themselves in place when you go to put them back, i lost one of mine because i didnt know about it, ended up taking the cap from a 20oz coke bottle, cutting it down to the same size as the other one (there is a groove behind the cladding it fits into to prevent turning) and screwed through that, worked like a charm, the screw is firmly in place for about a month now..
Super VXer
Well I guess I shouldn't try to sped my day off today on Using Armor-All?... Wasn't sure how good it would work.
Clint
Just bought a 1999 (Traded in a cavelier... phew much better)
Super VXer
CrnCnn, you should go to AutoZone or PepBoys and pick up a can of Meguires Exterior Trim Detailer:
I can't remember who suggested this product to me, but it does work really well on our cladding. I like it better than the Mother's Back To Black product...
Personally, I would not use Armor All on the cladding.
Bart
Super VXer
Awsome
I really was planning on doing this little project. My only problem is that i have a nice crack around the passenger turnsignal and also a bad dent that was heatgunned and pushed out in the back. I wonder how hard it would be to get ahold of some new front and rear cladding....
Anyways, that really looks sweet! "lightly smoked sidemarkers and turnsignals would also look awsome!
Now i wonder how that would look on a Kaiser Silver?
Super VXer
this is the first cladding job i have seen that i REALLY want to think about doing... Looks great!
My only concern is that I used something very similar some years ago on an old jettas trim and within a year it was looking worse than it had before and had some flaking... Just keep an eye on it.
I'm not 100% on the bolts yet but they are growing on me... It's good to see because i had though about trying to find some stainless ones.
My brother does line-X or something similar and I'm wondering if you used the thin version of the stuff in black if it would get somewhere close to this. I think I would just trust the liner to last a more.
Looks friggin great though, man.
Thanks for the write up too.
Technocoy
macintosh man
VXer
Still holding up great, I live on a dirt road also.
Something else you can do before you use the wax remover would to use a Scotch Brite pad and rub down the cladding.
They also make an adhesion spray, like bulldog, which can be sprayed before the paint.
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