214 replies to this topic

[DSTR0YTHERUNNER]

Well, I figured I would start up a progress thread!

I bought her on 4/19/11. "Liana" (Lee-Ah-Nuh [French-Latin for "A Bond"]) is an Apex Silver 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer DE.
When I bought her, she had 5000 miles. I couldn't pass it up!

Anyway, I plan to start my modifications on her tomorrow, so I will be adding more pics very soon.

Here is Liana, The day I bought her!

[Marth]

Nice man, cant wait to see what you come up with

[Z3RO COOL]

Apex FTW bro. Look forward to another Apex progress thread =)

[kissmeblind]

Congrats on the ride I was never big on silver cars but apex silver lancers are soooooo sexy!! Can't wait to see your progress!

[DSTR0YTHERUNNER]

Front End Blackout COMPLETE!

Here is the pics in progress:

Before


All Prepped


Waiting for it to dry is the worst part!


DONE!





The first of MANY things to come! I did it all myself today! Let me know what you think!

[quickflips]

Front End Blackout COMPLETE!

Here is the pics in progress:

Before


All Prepped


Waiting for it to dry is the worst part!


DONE!





The first of MANY things to come! I did it all myself today! Let me know what you think!

Love it bro! The front blackout looks so good on our cars I can't ever think of going back haha

[kelzzrocka]

very clean bro

[khunter]

I agree it looks very good, plan on doing that to my apex gsr very soon.
nice job.

[DSTR0YTHERUNNER]

Tinted Tail lights COMPLETE!

I used VHT Nightshades, and I Highly reccomend the product. It was a pain in the ass to take the tails off, but once off and once all the prep was completed, spraying them was easy!

here is a before and after:




they actually didnt come out with AS SHINY of a finish as i wanted, any suggestions on how to fix that?

but i still think they came out looking very good for the price.

[Carter]

looks good, but real dark...and to make them shine...use clear

[DSTR0YTHERUNNER]

here is how i did it:

1. removed headlights
2. wiped them down with a microfiber cloth
3. wet sanded w/2000 grit sandpaper
4. wiped down headlights with 70% isopropal alcohol (i know its not the best thing to use, but its all i had)
5. sprayed on 2 coats of nightshades (15 min dry time between coats)
6. sprayed on 2 coats of clear coat (this is where i think i messed up)
7. lightly wet sanded w/2000 grit sandpaper
8. applied a generous layer of turtle wax rubbing compound
9. hand buffed the lights
10. put lights back in

now i think i messed up during the clear coating process, because the clear coat i used was called "Krylon for plastic" and before i sprayed it on, the lights actually looked very shiny and glossy, but the clear coat i used made them look more dull, but i figured the sanding and buffing would fix that... looking back, i realized i probably should have used a HIGH GLOSS enamel clear coat. do you think that this really made a difference?

and also in an attempt to shine them up a little more, do you think i could just wet sand them a little more and apply a high gloss clear coat? or do you think i should just remove the nightshades and try again?

they look great on the car, but just came out looking a little too dark and dull.

any and all opinions are appreciated. thanks.

[Sinestra]

Nice job keep it up man those tail lights are dark how much light is emitted when you hit the brake?

[DSTR0YTHERUNNER]

Nice job keep it up man those tail lights are dark how much light is emitted when you hit the brake?

you can see them pretty well. but they are not as bright as i want. im thinking if i can get these to polish up a little more, then the light will shine through better, but these kind of have a matte finish to them, which doesnt allow the light to come through very well. i will put pics up later.

i am considering taking this stuff off, and redoing it. has anybody removed this stuff before? i know some people say goof off will work, but idk if it would because i have a clear coat on it. i know that sanding would work, but i dont want to mess up the light completely.. has anybody actually removed this before? and if so, what did you use?

[quickflips]

Acetone takes it right off, not sure if itll w ork with the clear coat or not but make sure you wash and wax directly after using the acetone or itll damage the paint and light

[Marth]

Came out really good man! Thats exactly why I dont trust the clear coat part and skipped that step, maybe some compound and an electric buffer might do the trick, if not go down to your local paint shop and check how much they'll charge for a nice spray clear coating job, Ive heard its actually not that expensive

[DSTR0YTHERUNNER]

Came out really good man! Thats exactly why I dont trust the clear coat part and skipped that step, maybe some compound and an electric buffer might do the trick, if not go down to your local paint shop and check how much they'll charge for a nice spray clear coating job, Ive heard its actually not that expensive

well as i said above, i think i just used the wrong clear coat, so what im going to try to do before a local meet on tuesday is to take them off, wet sand them a little more, and spray on a good clear coat (high gloss kind) and then if they arent shiny as hell, ill very lightly wet sand them agian, and buff the hell out of them with some mcguires ultimate rubbing compound.

does anybody know if mcguires ultimate car wax is safe to use on tail lights? because it shines the HELL out of my car, but idk if it is meant to be used on tails.

[Carter]

Well your tails aren't really plastic anymore lol...they have paint on them now.

[DSTR0YTHERUNNER]

Well your tails aren't really plastic anymore lol...they have paint on them now.

so what would you suggest? maybe wet sand the tails again (just a little bit) and spray on another type of clear coat?

then after i do that would you suggest that i lightly wet sand again and use a rubbing compound on them?

[Carter]

IDK

[DSTR0YTHERUNNER]

IDK

lol jk.

could anybody please help me with this? thank you!