Black on Black

nanafagis

nanafagis

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I know it's old news now but I like the 'black on black' look, so while I've got a limited budget I was thinking of making a couple of cosmetic modifications to my car......

- Joey Mod or tint headlights with Lamin-X
- De-Chrome around windows
- De-chrome around lower votex grille (infact i need a new set really)
- Buy one of those ebay votex bonnet grilles with black rings
- Leon Cupra R Splitter
- Interior - Black roof liner & pillar trims (I miss that from my old Leon)

The wheels are fairly new so I'm a bit reluctant to get them powder coated black until they need a refurb.

I was planning on doing the work myself to keep me busy and I reckon it could be done for £100ish if i don't replace the votex grilles.

So, got a couple of questions....Would black spray paint work on the chromed bits or would it need to be powder coated?

Anybody got any thoughts or reccommendations on any of the above? I can accept criticism if people think it will look cack :blush:

Here's a pic of my car as it is.

3113229339_d62de12313_o.jpg


Cheers,

Mark
 
Car looks sweet Mark :icon_thumright:

I sprayed my grille surrounds and front rings and they're fine. I just used Hammerite or Halfords satin matt black I can't remember which. I would recommend a satin varnish over the top as mine have got a bit chipped over the past year.

The window trims would need to be done with a trim tape of something as I don't think it's very practical to spray them.
 
Nice looking car mate, i'm in the middle of going black on black on mine too..

I've got black 19" gallardo reps, black rings, cupra splitter and doing the grill and lower sline grill this week.

AFAIK as long as you sand the surrounds well black spray can paint would work fine, luckily for me the window surrounds are already black but i can see why they wouldnt be the same

As for your headlights i like the look too of the lamin x way but im more swaying towards some black devil eyes
 
Thanks for the replies - All_Torque it seems we have similar plans with our cars. The gallardo reps sound good. re: headlights i was always swaying towards the joey mod until I saw dannyFR+tdi's avant in the members photos thread and saw his lamin-x'd lights.

quattrojames said:
Check out dannyFR+tdi's Avant in the pictures thread.
Click to expand...

It was this exact car that made me decide that the chrome had to go! I hadn't thought about tape for the window trims though. Your grille is the exact kind of thing i'm looking for, you've made some nice mods there. The splitter looks good too. Did you need to modify it much to get it to fit?
 
nanafagis said:
It was this exact car that made me decide that the chrome had to go! I hadn't thought about tape for the window trims though. Your grille is the exact kind of thing i'm looking for, you've made some nice mods there. The splitter looks good too. Did you need to modify it much to get it to fit?
Click to expand...

Thankyou :icon_thumright:

The splitter was dead easy! The splitter needs some trimming, it will be obvious where when you hold it up to the car. I just then started in the middle and using self tapping screws worked out to each side, the hardest bit is getting each side even where it meets the wheelarch.
 
Thanks, it sounds easier to fit to the Audi than when the I had a Leon Cupra R and the splitter came off. Was a right pain to pop back into place - and that was a standard part!
 
I fitted mine to a standard front bumper, your's has a Votex front by the looks of it so i don't know how it will fit with that. It's going to be pretty low too.....
 
Yea know it will be low, but at £20 a pop if i lose it then it's not much of a problem (provided it didn't rip the votex bumper off with it) Somebody on the members cars thread has fitted it to a votex. Might PM him and see what he did.

I'm hoping I can fix into the standard bumper which sits just behind the votex skin. Failing that i'll probably fix it securely, but not so much that it will break the votex bumper off......

Got a free afternoon friday so will see what happens when I break out the hammer and duct tape!
 
Nanafagis, is the votex centre lower grille with a chrome surround genuine Audi or has it been modded?

I have just fitted a votex kit to mine and seemingly opposite to anyone else I want to keep the chrome front :ohmy:

I bought the Votex bonnet grille from ebay and modified it to take the chrome from the standard bonnet grille but now I am feeling it is missing the chrome in the lower centre grille.

When I got the votex front I had to buy a new centre grille from the stealers for silly money and did ask about a chrome one and they said they didnt know of a genuine one?

If you can give me any info/pics I may be very interested in a swap for mine if you want? It's only been on the car for about 20 miles from new!!

As for the cupra R splitter. I bought one to go on the bottom of the votex front but it just doesnt look right so I have not fitted it. The centre dipped section with the 2 uprights is about 2 inches shorter than the raised section of the bottom of the votex front so it just looks out of place. I fitted one to my R32 fronted Mk4 Golf that I had before and it looked spot on but I'm just not feeling it on the Audi. Wherever I place it it just looks out of place.

I'd be interested to see one fitted to a votex front though if you do come across any pics

Guy
 
Garfie, that's the one I was on about - I wasn't fully sure myself either but as a £20 experiment i figured why not?

I would love to swap my chrome centre grille with you but all 3 of my grilles are damaged. Last year I had a front end bump, it went into the body shop with only one damaged grille and came out with 3 broken grilles. It looks like they just kicked them out of the bumper before spraying and broke the plastic tabs off. I didn't notice until about 3 months after when the glue started to go brittle and the grilles came loose. Gutted as the only place I can find a replacement set is a website and it's about £175. Been on the look out for over a year for a set.

If I do manage to find a cheap new set of 3 grilles i'll happily post you the centre grille if you want to have a play with the chrome trim. As far as i'm aware the full kit is/was fitted when the car was new so they could be OEM parts.
 
Gutted for you about the grilles mate. I can't believe they are so expensive. Typical Audi lol! I got stung £63 just for the centre one from Audi and that was with discount.

The ones I bought for my R32 front the VW ones were under £40 for the whole set.

So is the chrome on yours a trim that goes over the top of the grille surround or is the actual grille surround chromed?

As for the LCR splitter, mine is going to have to live in the garage until my next car comes along. It just doesnt fit the votex bumper well enough for my liking and looks out of place like it is not supposed to be on there. I will have to keep looking for what other alternatives there are. Possibly something DTM styled?
 
quattrojames said:
Check out dannyFR+tdi's Avant in the pictures thread.
Click to expand...

Woohoo my car got a mention :wub:

If you ned any help or advice on doing anything of what you have mentioned nanafagis drop me a pm, its all really easy if you take your time with it

As for grills try a breakers yard before going to the dealer, especially if your going to be spraying them. Find a rear ended A4 and make him a stupid low offer

Danny
 
Last edited:
Garfie said:
So is the chrome on yours a trim that goes over the top of the grille surround or is the actual grille surround chromed?
Click to expand...

It's supposed to be a fixed part of the full grille, but it's coming away from the honeycomb bit following the "repair." It was glued back on with silicone, hence why it's coming off. A more heavy duty bond would probably hold it on permanently but to be honest I can't be ***** since i'm already missing one grille anyway. Don't want to keep going on about the repair but it needed a further £1000 worth of work to correct the original repair, so a couple of grilles were the least of my worries at the time haha.

Danny, thanks for your comments and advice, I'll probably need a bit of guidance if i decide to do the lamin-x.

I do pop in breakers now and then for a look but the B6's still seem to be on the borderline of being knackered enough to scrap or worth repairing so there's not many around up my way.

It will be just my luck to buy the set for £175 then stumble across a set on ebay for a £10er!
 
nanafagis said:
It's supposed to be a fixed part of the full grille, but it's coming away from the honeycomb bit following the "repair." It was glued back on with silicone, hence why it's coming off. A more heavy duty bond would probably hold it on permanently but to be honest I can't be ***** since i'm already missing one grille anyway. Don't want to keep going on about the repair but it needed a further £1000 worth of work to correct the original repair, so a couple of grilles were the least of my worries at the time haha.

Danny, thanks for your comments and advice, I'll probably need a bit of guidance if i decide to do the lamin-x.

I do pop in breakers now and then for a look but the B6's still seem to be on the borderline of being knackered enough to scrap or worth repairing so there's not many around up my way.

It will be just my luck to buy the set for £175 then stumble across a set on ebay for a £10er!
Click to expand...

Lamin-x would be safer than a joey mod i think, look online at breakers most take paypal and are decent douglas valley breakers usually have some decent stuff in
 
dannyFR+tdi said:
Lamin-x would be safer than a joey mod i think, look online at breakers most take paypal and are decent douglas valley breakers usually have some decent stuff in
Click to expand...

there's a burnt out RS4 on that website - i want it. I don't mind if it has no seats or glass and stinks of burnt plastic i'd still have it!

Did you go for the darker gun smoke film?

How did you trim the film? Do you trim it once it's on the light or do you make a template first? I'm no stranger to a scalpel but that's another story really :think:

Also any problems with MOT?

Lots of questions there but i don't want to mess anything up
 
nanafagis said:
there's a burnt out RS4 on that website - i want it. I don't mind if it has no seats or glass and stinks of burnt plastic i'd still have it!

Did you go for the darker gun smoke film?

How did you trim the film? Do you trim it once it's on the light or do you make a template first? I'm no stranger to a scalpel but that's another story really :think:

Also any problems with MOT?

Lots of questions there but i don't want to mess anything up
Click to expand...

I went with the darkest film, easy to fit jus heat it with a hairdryer, stretch it over the light then trim around the edge with the knife provided in the kit, if you mess up you can easily pull it back and start again

I have hids behind the film so hopefully will be mot friendly or itll pull off and go back on after the test
 
Nice one, I was thinking the darkest one and i've got HID's too. I have 4500k's which are more on the white/yellow end of the light output scale than the blue so that should help. It says on the website that all of their films SHOULD be MOT safe but if it has to come off then it's no big deal :icon_thumright:
 
nanafagis said:
Nice one, I was thinking the darkest one and i've got HID's too. I have 4500k's which are more on the white/yellow end of the light output scale than the blue so that should help. It says on the website that all of their films SHOULD be MOT safe but if it has to come off then it's no big deal :icon_thumright:
Click to expand...

Im using 6k and there fine at night, they film does restrict them abit but there still better than oem bulbs
 
Well, I had a bit of spare time this afternoon so thought i'd have a play with my bonnet grille to get things started. I figured that if I screw it up I can easilly get a new one. I'm still looking for a new set of votex grilles to replace the broken ones in the pic. I used halfords own paint and tested it with a proper jetwash and it all seems to have taken to the chrome parts pretty well.

4518011783_495ff92090_b.jpg


And below is a photoplop of the black lower grille surround and tinted lights that I plan to do (or maybe joey mod)

4518705868_aaa022d74b_b.jpg


Just wondered what people's thoughts were.

Cheers
 
Looks good!

Joey mod over tinted lights anyday for me :icon_thumright:
 
Woooooh we got some black on black crime going on in here I see!:eyebrows:
Grill looks great - Its making me think whether to stick my old black grill back on!
Defo gotta be a Joey mod involved but tint still looks good.
 
Cheers for the replies. been looking through some archive pics and I'm still undecided which one to go for. One of my lights has some white crap on the inside of the lens which has annoyed me for ages! So if i do the Joey mod I could clean it in the process. The main battle is finding the motivation to do it. Bring on the sunny weather when I can tear my car to pieces in the garden inspired by beer and boredom
 
wallacr said:
Love this one, looks more mean :)
Click to expand...

Thanks, I prefer the all black look too and when done properly like dannyFR+tdi's it looks something special. I'm pleased with how the top grille went so it's inspired a bit more confidence to blacken some more bits. Just don't want to make a mess of anything.

I'm going to have a go at the joey mod tomorrow as i've found some cheap headlights.

I'm toying with debadging the back purely because the A4 and SLine badges are covered in black stains which don't seem to want to clean off. Might even put a new set on if it looks wrong without. I'll leave the the quattro badge on though because it's still clean.

On a similar note does anybody know if the 4 rings on the boot are stuck on or if they clip in like the front grille ones do? these could do with a proper clean too.
 
Stuck on!
Good luck with the Joey Mod, once your done, you'll be proud!!!:icon_thumright:
 
Well it's dark now and there's still a bit of that sticky foam stuff where I took the Quattro badge off. The A4 badge and SLine badge came off easilly but I don't want to knacker my paintwork in the dark for the sake of 10minutes work tomorrow. But you know what it's like once you start messing with your car.

Shame the rings are stuck on.

Looking forward to the joey mod - my main issue is patience. If something goes wrong I can see me volleying a headlight over next doors garden, taking a bow and going inside to sulk :applaus:

Quick question, is silicone strong enough to hold the full unit together or do I need something more heavy duty?
 
Haha, yes the patience plays a veeerrry good roll.It is a lengthy process but damn worth it.
Silicon is fine - just make sure you get a decent quality silicon because the stuff I been using lately actually Splashes beleive it or not.

I wouldnt do the oven trick - too hot to handle and the plastic will start to set hard again before you actually get around the headlamp. Use a HeatGun, not too close and keep an eye on the plastic/rubber.
Dont stab away getting frustrated (...as its easily done....which I actually did myself....and cut my thumb....), take no shortcuts and you'll get a proper result.

It wont be as bad for you because you are using doner lamps, its worse when you know you gotta get the lamps that you took off your car right the first time.
You might want to wear some protection gloves aswell, can get quite messy!

....oh and not too many beers!!!:puke2:
 
I wasn't aware of an oven trick anyway so I was planning on using the heat gun method. I think my dad has one somewhere in his garage, likewise with the silicone gun so i should be well equipped.

The mrs is away this weekend so i've got 3 full days to mess about without feeling guilty. I just hope it's not raining soot up north all day like the weather forecast reckons from this volcano nonsense.

Final qustion....Does the joey mod reduce the light output at all? Cos the lights on the A4 are already the worst i've ever had in a car, even with HID's. I wonder if taking that horrible frosted lens out would help or whether it would make the lights illegal :think:
 
From what i've heard the Joey mod does not reduce the light, as the bits you're darkening are not the actual reflectors for the headlights. But, since I haven't done it perhaps someone else can cast some pearls of wisdom on it?

I had a smash in my car recently, and I'm considering seeing if the garage will give me back the old broken headlights so that i can get the internals out on them, and have a practice. Infact, I think i'll get in touch with the garage owner right now! :)
 
It's pretty much finished now, just little stuff like re-gassing the air con and testing. I'm off work next wednesday looking after the little girl, so gonna go collect it then. I'm so flippin excited!

I haven't even seen it in about 5 weeks now. I kept meaning to pop over to see it, but could never get the time. My mate was at the garage and provided me with a pic of it, with no front end attached. I will upload it, and update my other post. It's nothing exciting, but it made me smile.
 
cool glad its back on the road nice and shiny new paint :racer:
 
Just time to joey mod the headlights now, hehe! Just uploaded a couple of pics to the original thread, rather than ruining the black-on-black thread. :)
 
crazy88 said:
From what i've heard the Joey mod does not reduce the light, as the bits you're darkening are not the actual reflectors for the headlights. But, since I haven't done it perhaps someone else can cast some pearls of wisdom on it?

I had a smash in my car recently, and I'm considering seeing if the garage will give me back the old broken headlights so that i can get the internals out on them, and have a practice. Infact, I think i'll get in touch with the garage owner right now! :)
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about yours. Just read your other thread, hope all is well when you get it back.

Not sure what i'm doing awake at this ungodly hour on my day off so i'm off outside to make a mess
 
Nope, No light reduction at all! HIDs from your projectors and you dont code the sidelights anyway.
Come on 'Joeys' get it done!!
 
Haha Scared?? Get a stiff brandy down you and you'll be well away. I was going to say Stella but better not, might end up smashed in peices.
It wont go tits up if you take your time fella's
 
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