View Full Version : Has anyone attempted to paint the vents behind the front wheels?


nomopistons
05-13-2005, 09:45 PM
I have a Nordic green and they can't be seen. I was thinking about painting them silver

army_rx8
05-14-2005, 01:04 AM
hmmm i haven't seen them painted anywhere.......i have seen a replacement for them tah is carbon fiber.....but they aren't cheap....and still dark.

you could alwasy accent the color it is now with some strakes ?

rex
05-14-2005, 01:11 AM
I painted the vents on my Nordic Green silver and it looks awesome! The black vents really get lost against the body color unlike on lighter colored cars. I used a can of silver hobby enamel paint and then being the paranoid type sealed it with a clear coat.

I'm considering casting aluminum replacements for the door handles to match the strakes, but that might be a step too far. Time for photochop!

I post some pictures tomorrow, rain willing.

truemagellen
05-14-2005, 03:07 AM
I painted the vents on my Nordic Green silver and it looks awesome! The black vents really get lost against the body color unlike on lighter colored cars. I used a can of silver hobby enamel paint and then being the paranoid type sealed it with a clear coat.

I'm considering casting aluminum replacements for the door handles to match the strakes, but that might be a step too far. Time for photochop!

I post some pictures tomorrow, rain willing.

pics...yes thank you...I'm thinking about (since I'm sun silver) taking out the vents and doing some light sanding...then putting a gloss piano blackish paint on it...then clear coatin it...have it match the b-pillar piano black rotary covers :D

apotocki
05-14-2005, 09:34 AM
Pics please!

I also have a Green and recently added strakes.....I thought that the strakes really added enough 'silver' to the vent area highlighting that area. I'm curious to see if the strakes get 'lost' when the vents were also silver.

Razz1
05-14-2005, 12:22 PM
I have seen a cheap silver job, and a real nice one.

There is one problem dust and dirt.

I have also seen someone make them out of wire mesh with black rubber at the ends.

LiL BenNy
05-14-2005, 09:20 PM
ive seen them in red on a red... yellow one yellow ( i think) and silver on a blue or black?i dont think they look that nice... idk where pics are somewhere on the rforum

rex
05-15-2005, 01:01 AM
OK, I took some pictures of my NG with the silver vents. I also have strakes, so you can see what they look like together. I'd originally planned to paint the vents gunmetal so that there was some contrast between the vents and the strakes, but now that I've painted them I think silver works best. I particularly like the way that it pops the vents and how the clear corners, stock wheels and vents seem visually related. This is why I was thinking of adding aluminum door handles or the metal fuel filler cover. That might be a bit too OTT for me though. Perhaps the piano black window pillars with the RX-8 logo might be better.

BTW, with the black plastic vents I found that they almost always looked like hell because of water marks. I don't have that problem now that they're silver, but perhaps clear coating them would have had the same effect. Saves a lot of time with a q-tip!

My car has finally started turning heads. This color is a bit of a sleeper in terms of people noticing.

I'd love to compare my car's look with pictures of other 8's with painted vents.

rex
05-15-2005, 01:02 AM
One more, full side view.

truemagellen
05-15-2005, 01:33 AM
Rex! that looks great :D

nomopistons
05-18-2005, 11:32 PM
I Think I'm Gonna Try Just Painting The Screen Area Of The Vents-the Whole Vent Seems A Tad Too Much Silver.

rex
05-19-2005, 12:46 AM
Be sure to post a picture when you do. Good luck!

EZZY
05-19-2005, 04:40 AM
i have coloured coded my vents to burnt orange

shinka213
05-19-2005, 07:17 AM
Im not sure I like it yet....seems like you loose the beauty of the strakes if you have them....

truemagellen
05-19-2005, 04:46 PM
EZZY show us some pics...I've seen your car before many times I just can't remember the details :p

EZZY
05-20-2005, 06:00 AM
EZZY show us some pics...I've seen your car before many times I just can't remember the details :p

just got it out of the spray booth last friday, put it together and off to a car show for the weekend.... its a special colour mix and i reckon it has 3 colours..... deep red on a cloudy/overcast day, burnt orange under indoor lighting and sparkly orange under the sun :D

http://www.ezzy-style.com.au/esm2005SAS/esm2005SAS74.JPG

truemagellen
05-20-2005, 07:25 AM
beautiful!

olddragger
06-15-2005, 07:01 PM
where did you get those upper vents?
olddragger

mirricleboy
06-16-2005, 08:41 PM
i love the burnt orage car, with the SL500 style vents. Stunning!!

question for the guy with the NG silver vents, did the vents unclip formt he car, how sis u spray them etc?? thanks

Jump120MPH
06-18-2005, 08:04 AM
The vents just pop right out. You have to pop them out from the inside.

8 is enough
06-20-2005, 08:49 PM
Got any idea what color to paint the vents on a Vred. I have tried white. White is way to bright and over powering. I then tried a gray/silver color did not look good at all. I do not want to paint the vents red, because it will be to hard to match colors. Got any color ideas. Maybe a glossy black?

Mugatu
06-20-2005, 09:09 PM
that upper vent does look pretty cool.