painted plate surround, bedlinered gear selector

[skribe]

Thought I'd post a couple of small cosmetic mods I was happy with.

Painted the license plate surround. The little black TV always bugged me. Nobody wanted to do it for me, they said paint wouldn't stick, would come out a different color, etc.

I picked one up at the boneyard for $20, primered it, (roughed up the surface and used white plastic primer) masked the fogs off, and absolved the body shop of any responsibility for how it came out, I had them spray it when I had the front bumper redone. I think it came out great, and the paint is def stuck on there. I have the original black one if I change my mind. Oh, yeah, and I also covered the little vertical pillars in the mesh area by the tailpipes with black vinyl just to simplify the busy buttski a little more.

http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz73/droogie5/IMG_0347.jpg

Also, the silver plate on my gear selector looked pretty scratchy. Disassembled selector and popped the plate off thinking I'd sand it to a brushed finish, but had a WFT why not idea and sprayed it with bedliner in a can from autozone.

And it actually came out great. The black finish blends with the factory carbon fiber better, and it no longer needlessly draws/distracts your eye, the cabin seems way more cohesive with this simple mod. Also less obvious it's a slushbox, as that same silver plate is only on like fifty million passats and whatever.

http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz73/droogie5/photo.jpg

I have neither the time nor the stones to gut my downpipes this weekend (nice job pat) but, well, I give you this. :jlol:

[ben916]

I like the license plate surround, looks good!

O/T - how do you like the LED tail lights? Any warnings/chimes/display issues during start up?

[skribe]

here we go, giant O/T update post...

LED tails have been trouble-free. No warnings, no chimes, plenty bright. Also installed red led turn signal bulbs from v-leds:

http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz73/droogie5/IMG_0563.jpg

installed "switchback" 6000k/amber v-led front turn bulbs. you can also see the front bezel that I hit with a light dusting of matte clear while I had the lights apart for clear-corner mod. looks like brushed aluminum, adds definition to the lights. also 6000k blue phillips HID elements. if you do this, use quality bulbs. I first tried cheapo ebay 6000k elements, the quality of light flat sucked. the phillips 6000k's illumination is superior to stock 4300 elements inmo.

all 6000k lighting at night has a very modern look, makes car look like a robot that might kill you. corner lamps throw random white light around, does not seem to bother other drivers though, and adds quite a pop to road signs. LED lamp driving lamp state:

http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz73/droogie5/IMG_0552.jpg

turn signal state - flips back to white after deactivating turn signal:

http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz73/droogie5/IMG_0554.jpg

wired 30 ohm load balancers into taillights - one 30 ohm per side will cover front and back. increases load on the flasher to incandescent levels to stop turn signals from doing that ghetto double-time blink thing.

http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz73/droogie5/IMG_0565.jpg

installed plx-devices dm-100 multi-gauge with boost module. created photo-realistic RS 6 boost gauge with full 100 frames of animation... then my hard drive took a shit before i could upload it. for now, using numeric display... having a boost gauge has taught me to get the most out of the car. full-throttle is not always the best, as pat has mentioned before you have to kind of feather the pedal to generate max boost. gauge is only 1/3 inch thick, 3M-ed it to the column cover thing. can also display up to 4 other parameters, see inset. took it apart and put an anti-reflective sheet on the glass.

http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz73/droogie5/IMG_0548.jpg

sensor module under hood. tapped into FPR vacuum line under intake.

http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz73/droogie5/IMG_0551.jpg

and last but not least, refurbed RS 6 logos on the calipers. used dupli-color caliper paint, masked the parallelogram with tape, had to do the letters with a tiny brush. captain shakyhands really struggled with the lettering. but logos are no longer pink! hot damn.

http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz73/droogie5/IMG_0545.jpg

[snoopra]

Nice work! Especially like the "flip flop" turn signals. I didn't have to use the load caps on my LED tails, did you try running without them?

[SAF]

I'm liking the shift surround.

[skribe]

Thanks, snoop.

The tails have resistors built in -- I had to add the balancers for the socketed turn signal bulbs, which I replaced with LEDs. Even on the LED tails, the turn signals are normally incandescent.

[V8weight]

I'll admit, when I read the title I was expecting the worse, but I really like the shift surround. What made you think that it would be a good idea to spray bedliner on the shift plate in the first place? I don't think that would ever have crossed my mind, you Mr. Scribe, are not wired right ;) but it turned out fantastic!

[skribe]

I was looking at the shift surround, thinking that I wished it was black. I wished it was black, but had some kind of durable, textured finish that wouldn't chip... Then I remembered the bedliner in my old gmc Sierra pick up... Lightbulb moment. :)

[Aronis]

well done, both painted mods look great!

Mike

[as350]

skribe, did you buy a euro-spec headlight housing or did you bake the headlights, open them up and remove the orange reflectors? I'm trying to achieve a similar look with the LEDs and would appreciate any tips on how to remove the reflectors

<img src="http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz73/droogie5/IMG_0552.jpg">

[Beastly]

I used the heat gun method to open them up, search for "clear corner mod" for process details

[DHall1]

Hi

My name is Earl Scheib. I will paint any shifter surround for 99 dollars.

If I ever get a scratch on mine...I will call ya.

PLX gauge is sweet. I have a brand new Innovate LC1 with the remote gauge.....hmmm I may put it in the beast.

[skribe]

I used the heat gun method to open them up, search for "clear corner mod" for process details

Euro lights a major bucks for essentially the same look. Huge waste of money that would be better served spent on some go-fast in one form or anther...

I did the standard C5 A6 "clear corner mod" search that term, there's a wealth of info out there. You do have to pull your front bumper skin, but it's not as hard as you think if you've never done it. Follow the walk throughs and you're good.

Once you get the headlights out, use a heat gun to loosen up the butyl seal around the perimeter of the two halves of the headlight assembly and gently pry it apart. The amber reflectors just snap right out once you're in there. I modded the typical clear corner mod by pulling out and lightly spraying the chrome bezel that sits under the lexan with matte clear lacquer to give it a brushed aluminum look. I was very pleased with the result, it adds definition to the lights so they don't just look like a chrome blob.

I don't think it's a good idea to put your whole assembly in the oven, seems like you're subjecting everything to heat for no reason. If you don't have a heat gun, use a blow dryer.
_________

Dave Hall, I know you're just jealous of my bedlinered shift surround because it makes no damn sense but it worked. I am going to fedex you one for Christmas, mark my words. :lovl:

[V8weight]

Dave Hall, I know you're just jealous of my bedlinered shift surround because it makes no damn sense but it worked. I am going to fedex you one for Christmas, mark my words. :lovl:
LOL, You just made my day.