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Topic ClosedBlacked out grill and made a hidden light bar

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Alocatelli View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Blacked out grill and made a hidden light bar
    Posted: September/07/08 at 12:25pm
I finally had some free time today to work on the MINI.  I painted the upper and lower grills, including the hood scoop satin black and it looks great.  I also made a hidden light bar that is mounted to the aluminum bumper structure and come through the front end.  I have two Hella 500 driving lights in the middle and I have two Hella fog lights on order that will be mounted to the left and right and slightly lower of the center driving lights.  I love making my own parts and the savings in cost is great.  Also I was able to mount the lights so that they are not blocking any airflow into the bonnet on the carWink.  Sorry the picture is not better but it was already getting dark when I took it tonight.  I will of course update the photo when I get the rest of the lights mounted on the bar. 


Edited by Alocatelli - September/14/08 at 5:50am
'03 MCS JCW PPG Rattlesnake/BlackPearl-Way too many mods to list here ;)
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/07/08 at 1:32pm
Very Sharp!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/08/08 at 2:57am
Looks great! Did you paint the lower grill in place or did you take it out? Mine is also currently painted black (done by previous owner) but is in need of re-paint. I was thinking I would mask and paint in place rather than taking the whole thing apart.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/08/08 at 3:55am
Originally posted by BMWR53 BMWR53 wrote:

Looks great! Did you paint the lower grill in place or did you take it out? Mine is also currently painted black (done by previous owner) but is in need of re-paint. I was thinking I would mask and paint in place rather than taking the whole thing apart.
 
  I ended up taking the lower grill out since I already had the whole front off the car, the upper grill I did spray in place and just masked it off.  You should be able to do both on the carWink 
'03 MCS JCW PPG Rattlesnake/BlackPearl-Way too many mods to list here ;)
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/14/08 at 5:53am
I finally got it finished, now you can see me coming from about two miles awayLOL.  Between all the lights and the 2000 watt stereo going in, I think I am going to have to beef up the electrical system next.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/14/08 at 7:53am
I've been considering a blacked-out grill in the same manner.  Don't know if the 3M clear bra is able to be removed and reapplied, since I'd love to put it back into place to protect my handiwork.  :)

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/14/08 at 10:50am
Originally posted by phydeaux phydeaux wrote:

I've been considering a blacked-out grill in the same manner.  Don't know if the 3M clear bra is able to be removed and reapplied, since I'd love to put it back into place to protect my handiwork.  :)
 
I'm pretty certain that once you take off the clear bra it pretty much wrecks it and it can't be used again.  I had to take one off of my Cobra when I bought it and it destroyed it.   This might not be the case with yours, but I'm not sure.  Hope that helps.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/14/08 at 2:22pm
Well, I can't say that it's the answer I was hoping for...  ;)  does make sense, though, and is pretty much what I figured would be the case.  So now I just need to evaluate whether that is an acceptable risk or not.  :)

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/14/08 at 2:45pm
phydeaux - If you want to mess with a grill and see how it looks you can have mine off my 03.  I was going to throw it on NAM but it's yours if you want it.
 
Todd
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/23/08 at 6:00pm
Nice, How did you do your wiring?

John
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/24/08 at 2:24am

I mounted the two switches next to the factory driving light switch, the rest of the wiring I have not had a chance to hook up yet.....trying to get my stereo done at the moment.  When I do finish it up I will most likely wire it so that I can turn on or off the lights at any time I want, not wiring them into the other lighting circuit.  I know this is technically not legal but I have never had a problem in the past ;)

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/24/08 at 5:49am
I LOVE the 4 lamp set up! Well Done!
Tristan
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