I plan on buying a 2010+ Sport grille and blacking the outside trim and emblem. Should I have it wrapped in vinyl or have it painted glossy black?

I'm not sure Which way looks the best and which way would withstand my highway driving and stay looking good the longest.

Also, curious how you guys are blacking out the chrome accents around the door. I'd like to get that done as well, any DIY write up around here?

 

I'm interested in this as well; leaning towards paint instead of vinyl for the chrome outer border of front grill and window trim (painting glossy black) along with painting door handles and rear chrome strip on trunk the same color of the car (metallic slate KBC color code).

As for your grill's front emblem, you can pop it out, mod it, and pop it back in when complete.

You can always plasti-dip as well:

Window trim:


MAXIMA letters, NISSAN badge and chrome strip on trunk:

 

Get it painted.

 

I plasti dipped my grille and it has held up perfectly! I would imagine that vinyl would chip etc due to rocks and all.

 

My plan was to try out PlastiDip to see how I would like the look, and then paint when the dip was showing wear. Well, so far the PlastiDip has held up very well.

 

Helpful vids, thanks! I'm not really familiar with plastidip but would imagine it would collect all kinds of fibers from towels when cleaning. Am I right, does it have a texture to it?

 

maxipad2011 & 1996blackmax, how long have you had your grille done in plastidip? They both look great!

Also, pretty easy to do a clean job?

 

My two cents....

It's "all in the preparation".
I PD'd my wheels last year just playing around and they held up excellent.
I triple cleaned them before applying the first coat and had great adhesion.
After that it's applying adequate coverage without getting any runs.

 

I agree dr_2010SV, from what I've read so far preparation seems to be key as well as light even coats.

I think I'm going to stick with the glossy paint for now as I'm really hoping for it to last quite a while without me having to respray it, like if I went with plastidip.

What are some of your opinions on this:
Painting the outside trim of a sport grille glossy black, then plastidipping all the emblems including the front emblem black?

 

paint or go with vinyl

 

Hey Ghozt, did you paint yours glossy black? How did you do the chrome around the doors?

BTW, where abouts in MD are ya?

 

Thanks

I've had it on there for about 10 months maybe a little more. Yup, pretty easy to do. Just make sure you clean the grill very well. I used dish soap, then followed that with alcohol after I let it dry.

 

And it's holding up well? Did you take off the emblem or just platidip right over it?

 

Cheapest bang for the buck is dipping the trim. I think it looks good and has held up well. Good luck.

 

Same.

 

I think I narrowed it down to one of these two choices, what do you guys think would look best:

1) Use a 2012 regular grille & paint entire thing glossy black including the chrome border/trim.
OR
2) Usa a 2012 SPORT grille & paint just the chrome border/trim glossy black, leaving the center of the grille with OEM black chrome/gunmetal look.

 

Loks great MEINEKEMAX! I may play around with PlastiDippin my emblems to get some experience then hit up the window trim.

 

Just had my buddy do mine. He sprayed it with an epoxy primer then painted it with trim black paint which is in a can. Came out perfect, i didn't think it would be as nice as it is. Now to see how it holds up.

 

Turned out great man. In person, do you think it looks much better than the OEM look? I still have yet to see a blacked out grille in person.

BTW, my car is same color as yours so it gave me a good idea what mine would look like, thanks.

 

It absolutely looks better than stock. I just compared it to another pic of my car stock and it makes such a big difference for something so small especially on a lighter colored car like ours. Silver and white are always the easiest to change the appearance with subtle things.

 

Yea, good point with the lighter cars. Cool I'm looking forward to getting it done soon. Then I may get a stillen lip, I think I convinced myself after looking at so many max's on this site.

 

grille is now painted gloss black on outer border and emblem is gloss black also. Waiting on OEM paint to arrive before painting Nissan letters on front grill same color as the car (KBC color code)

center caps on wheels painted gloss black, drilled & slotted rotors with ceramic pads installed (hit the rotor hats with black high heat paint prior to installation) and calipers painted gloss black

low beams upgraded from stock 4300k xenon to 5000k d2s morimoto xb35 bulbs and fogs upgraded from stock to 3000k hid kit all from theretrofitsource.com

will try to post pics after I get her cleaned & gussied up (I don't even know how to add pics on here like y'all do; just know how to upload to my garage)

all in all, a very good weekend

 

Use Photobucket and just copy and paste link.

 

You can't go wrong with the Stillen front lip, short of a drop it transforms the look of this car more than almost any other mod.
You will need to be cognizant when parking, those dreaded cement curbs and walkways can do a number on the lip.

 

Sounds like you had a very successful weekend bro! Definitely would like to see pics! Did you do all the painting and do you plan on painting the NISSAN on the emblem? Good idea with the rotors, hopefully that'll last because unpainted looks like ish.

Like Racerbox77 said, use Photobucket.com, upload the pic and above it there is a button to get link codes, copy the IMG code and add it into your message here and bam.

 

I'll get to it and poke around when I'm on the laptop later (wow who knew laptops were used for other stuff than the obvious!) hahaha

Shadow speed roof wing just came in also and the paint is a dead-on match as many other .org members have stated, very happy - - I'm just wondering if I should clean and prep the spot tonight and get it done but it's in the 20's for temp... or if I should wait until at least 50 degrees + to do it

 

I'm planning on getting mine roof spoiler from him too but plan on waiting till it gets warmer out, I'd imagine it'll stay on better.

 

Your right, it really does transform the look of the car significantly! When I got my Max I told myself that I wouldn't do all the mods to it for better peace of mind. Because I get so mad hitting those damn parking curbs! My Z had a full body kit, rims and the whole 9 yards. Looked great but you have to be extra careful all the time, have to be careful who drives it & where you take it to be worked on. No one is careful with cars like yourself.

 

i am not sure if anyone said this...but all, PD or paint, will chip eventually, unless the chrome has some texture added to it. With that said vynil is technically your best option...as it has flexibility and adhesion. but even that over time will dry out and crack
for me it was both - the paint and PD...or actually PD then paint...that way i can peel it all off and re-do it when the pitting/chipping will start...
Will be peeling off the front end this spring and recoating or CF vynil it...not decided yet

 

any pics how it turned out?

 

^ who you asking ?

 

I've never had a problem with Plasti dip and I've used it on many cars.

 

Its all a function of time and conditions.
I drive 100 miles a day january through december.
I have to repaint my entire front on yearly basis due to "sandblasting" during the winter months.
With that said the PD has held up for 2 years now..and only slight pitting/small holes are showing through.
I also tried to PD the wheels...white...white over time became a color of rust and looked like the temperature, from braking, got to it as well...so when you PD them black you dont see that

The problem here isnt PD...the problem is that the grille has the smooth chrome texture...or no texcture at all...so its only a matter of time where it will start coming off.

 

I vote paint.

 

Makes sense what your saying eesjunin. I have a pretty long commute myself and hate what it does to the front end. I was actually thinking about what I'll do for touchup paint after I get my grille painted glossy black from the autobody. I'm assuming all glossy black aren't the same but I'm sure I'll be able to match something up at Pep Boys.

eesjunin, did you vinyl your front end yourself? Is Vinyl difficult to work with?

 

 

also those are just water spots on the emblem as photo was taken immediately after car wash this a.m.

 

Nice

 

thanks man, car has come a long way in short order but still lots to be done

Just STILLEN front lip spoiler & side skirts and shadow speed roof wing left to be put on, door handles and chrome strip on trunk painted same color of car and chrome window trim to be painted gloss black or vinyl wrapped (still undecided)

I'll prolly get quote on paint w/ and w/out window trim inc'l and go from there. was quoted $175 for vinyl which is fine

 

i did the plastidip thing years ago, it was ok. didnt hold up real well i saw lots of rock chips in it after a summer of driving. got it re-painted at a body shop and its held up great for over a year and a half now