paint options-whatdya think?

Tomorrow I am going to see the painter. I am definately painting the car . Too much clearcoat doom for my liking. Not to others, but to me...if it isnt as clean, and glossy as it should be, I aint satisfied.

So, I am going to run a few things by you folks, hoping for some opinions.

First, I have always wanted a Black/Black gen 1 LSC. But since I have a clean, straight 94, and they only offered base(chrome-clad) cars in 94, I have decided to "black out" my chrome strips. This means the bumpers, and side moldings ONLY. I am keeping the chrome grill/eyebrow/cornerlight/tailight/window trim chrome(obviously), but plan to replace the side and bumper moldings with black, or paint over the existing ones.

Here are some "now" shots, and some "how I want it" shots.
'
Opinions, please.

NOW:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v425/Blackicelsc/srap5.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v425/Blackicelsc/srap4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v425/Blackicelsc/srap3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v425/Blackicelsc/SRAP1.jpg

THIS is what I want:






http://www.markviii.org/~blackicelsc/SRAP7.JPG

I will be seeing the painter tomorrow folks. Thanks for your help in this matter.

RE: paint options-whatdya think?

Definitely black out the trim. IMHO I would black out the chrome grill and brow as well as the rear chrome strip above the tail lights.

RE: paint options-whatdya think?

You would not be the first LSC poser, black it out, it looks better.

RE: paint options-whatdya think?

Ditto on the grill, make all chrome black.

RE: paint options-whatdya think?

well, that was one thought as well. But since the chrome trim on the doors/bumpers is so easy to "reverse", I thought I'd start there. If I like it, then I'll go full "black".

I took a few pics to my "paint", and blacked out all the chrome...cant say I liked it one bit. Grill, yes. Eyebrow, yes. tailights...I dunno. we'll see.

Thanks guys.

RE: paint options-whatdya think?

I vote paint it all, that's what I did. Totally changes the car's appearance, much meaner looking. Put a set of rims on and you have a totally different car.

RE: paint options-whatdya think?

[div class="dcquote"][strong]Quote[/strong]
... If I like it, then I'll go full "black". I took a few pics to my "paint", and blacked out all the chrome...cant say I liked it one bit. Grill, yes. Eyebrow, yes. tailights...I dunno. [/div]

I think if you do a search, you should be able to find a few pics of 'dechromed' paint jobs. Ken(14.6@96)?, comes to mind. Eric's(95blklsc) is another. IMHO it looks super stealth. Somehow, it looks even better than the real LSC. Even leaving the chrome window moulding and 10 spokes.

I'm seriously considering the same in a year or two, just not now. In the meantime, I'd like to land a deal on a used grill and brow piece to play with off the car. The side/front/rear moulding would be easy enough to deal with. That leaves only the trim around the turn-signals/tail-lights.

RE: paint options-whatdya think?

I think it looks great that way,a little chrome is good ,it goes with black nicely

RE: paint options-whatdya think?

Yes, as mentioned above, I painted my whole car in 2002. I went with all black (except the chrome around the sunroof). I had the chrome around the windows painted flat black and the door side molding replaced with LSC molding. I had the chrome strips around the bumpers, tail lights and side-marker lights painted.

Make sure you painter knows how to paint the chrome. Mine is flaking off in some areas.........it doesn't look too bad with touch-up paint. The chrome strip above the grill is taking the worst beating.

I'll e-mail you some pics. I haven't posted pics in a while and my web-site to host it isn't working very well.

Ken

RE: paint options-whatdya think?

You can buy LSC side trim. That's what i did. You still have to paint it, but when you're done you can't see where the chrome was.

RE: paint options-whatdya think?

Ditto on what Ken said about making sure the painter knows how to paint chrome. I did the same thing on my old Celica and it peeled....

Personally, I prefer the chrome. I think it makes the car stand out more...not many have chrome anymore.

RE: paint options-whatdya think?

I'm planning on doing a complete "de-trim" and custom paint on my green '94. Will probably go with a black color, and refinish the jambs and all chrome trim in body color. Mono-color is the way to go!