air vent rings - chrome vs brushed alluminium

[JSE]

im looking at blinging up my interior...so i thought i'd buy some of the air vent rings just like everyone else. i'm still unsure whether I like the brushed aluminium ones or the chrome TT style ones better...anyone post some pictures of both so I can make up my mind...also anybody else got some other bling things like speaker rings and hazard light ring?

[Alex]

you could just make some with some chrome spray and sandpaper

[JSE]

or i could buy some quality products that will last

[marcusus]

^^^
That's what I did. Came out alright, although they spray paint comes off fairly easy if you haven't prepped it properly and finished it. My vent rings are fine after doing them ages ago, although some bits of the centre console have managed to get slightly scratched, revealing the black underneath. Easy enough to fix, but just requires time.

[green_comet]

Im interested in the installing brushed in mine, does anyone have pics of them??

Like JSE, im not interested in painting my ones..

[marcusus]

Where can you get the brushed ones from anyway? I've only ever seen chrome ones for sale.

[JSE]

Mania orders them in from I.L Motorsport. You could order them in yourself from IL Motorsport direct from Germany. Here are the normal style ones and the studded TT style ones.

http://www.ilmotorsport.de/shop/article_detail.php5?aid=2017&oid=681&depth=2&page=1&count=20&PHPSESSID=abf974a1ec5d366cf1aeaa8d6cee28d6

http://www.ilmotorsport.de/shop/article_detail.php5?aid=2015&oid=681&depth=2&page=1&count=20&PHPSESSID=abf974a1ec5d366cf1aeaa8d6cee28d6

I was after some better photos though...the photos on the IL site don't do them justice and I would like tos ee the TT ones without the chrome ball vents inside. anybody got pics please?

[broady]

Those TT style ones are horrible!

Brushed all the way... Chrome can look really tacky, IMO

[JSE]

if there is enough interest we could organise a group buy

[meanmx]

Don't know if it helps but I have a picture of the plain chrome vent rings. I was a bit worried that they might be over the top but they fit in well. I was going for satin but they didn't have enough other satin bits if I decide to buy more in future.


Ben

[Gazbo]

Brushed aluminium vent rings from ILM
Pearl Voodoo knob and handbrake


Extra chrome instrument rings from MX5Parts.co.uk (ILM) (around fuel/oil pressure/water temp gauges)


MX5Parts.co.uk don't carry the full range of bling in satin, but you can order the full satin range from I.L. Motorsport in Germany:
http://www.ilmotorsport.de/shop/article ... 45ebccf54a

Or try ChromDesign in Germany:
http://www.chromdesign.de/eframe.htm

I've only ordered from MX5Parts.co.uk - fantastic service, delivered from U.K. in less than a week, can't vouch for the other two.

[marcusus]

^^^
That's the sort of style I like.

Mine look like this (which were self done spray paint styles)

[Gazbo]

Mine look like this (which were self done spray paint styles)

Any special paint?
Any special preparation required?
Did you use a clear lacquer over the top to protect the paint?

MUCH less expensive to paint than buy trim I think!

[marcusus]

Paint = some random silver can of spraypaint. I also used it on my wheels' centre caps to get rid of the yellow.

Preparation = taking all the bits off (the vent rings were the hardest... I've pulled the centre console out at least 10x by now) and taping up the bits I didn't want spraypainted. The rings required no taping. The upper vents required a lot of small bits to get right into the flappy bits. The single DIN box slot thing required some very accurate straight taping with a lot of newspaper inside to not get any silver within the box itself

Finish = Nothing. I kinda thought about clear lacquer or something, but thought this would give it too much of a shiny look. I wanted to keep it brushed. The downside is that, as mentioned (I forget if it was here or somewhere else) I have a couple of small nicks on the centre console bit, from when I pulled it apart again and put it on the driveway face down or something stupid. Nothing another coat won't fix.

My vent rings are still in perfect condition.

If I could do it all again, I'd probably try and sand down the centre console or something to help the new spray paint stick a bit, and maybe see if I could get a matte finish coat on it. However, sanding it down might remove that sort of pebbley effect of the original plastic, which somehow seems to work OK with the silver spraypaint.

[Alex]

looks great marcusus so when u going to come and do mine for me
I'll help you out with making a MDF carpeted box for 6x9's