Death Before Dawn

The first was a mod the previous owner did of painting eyelids on the headlights. I imagine it looked good at one time but it is chipping in spots and the lines they did aren't straight at all. What could I use to remove the paint without damaging anything else around it.



The second thing im not sure if it came on the car or if it was something the previous owner did. There are Clear Plastic Stickers In front of the Rear Tires. Do these come one the car originally and if so what is the point of them? They look horrible as they have collecting dirt around the edge and have faded. How Can they be removed without damaging the paint?

200.mph

iTrader: (9)

your second pic are from the factory. they are there to prevent chips or something. idk about the headlights tho

Death Before Dawn

Thanks for the quick reply. I figured they were from factory, has anyone had any issues with chips after taking them off that you know of?

Chris

iTrader: (10)

you can wet sand the paint off. start with 800 grit, gradually bump up to 2000 grit. Then polish. will look new again

Death Before Dawn

I just restored the headlights about 3 months ago and I taped it off. Should have done it then but I didn't even think about getting it off that way. Thanks man!

Death Before Dawn

Ok I got the "chip Guard" off. But there is some paint discoloration where it was. Its not noticeable here in the garage, but when I took the picture It showed up.



Any Ideas as to what could cause this and how to remedy it?

After getting the glue off i clayed it, used compound on it, polished it, and waxed it hoping it would blend...any other ideas?

Easy_E1

iTrader: (2)

Is the clearcoat missing? Did it come off with the sticker? It looks like it from your pic. Is the surface still smooth? Can you get a close up pic at an angle and one straight on?

WreakLoosE

ouch... Should have left it on.. Not sure if its paint or adhesive. But if Adhesive get some goo gone, a rag, and some good ol elbow grease..

stinksause

iTrader: (5)

Op ... Why???

Death Before Dawn

It was still smooth so I dont think its the clear coat, although that is what I thought looking at the picture when i first took it, As i said It dont notice it in person, but it bothers me that it shows up in the picture. as to why, they had dirt embedded around the edges and looked horrible, I planned on taking off now and replacing later. Ill pull it out of the garage and get some more pics.

Death Before Dawn

More pics taken outside garage

Death Before Dawn

As far as getting a close up pic of the paint...I tried a bunch and they all come out looking perfect, it doesn't show up in them

Arca_ex

iTrader: (10)

Dude that clear thing is a factory part, all RX-8's have them. It's been on the car since it was made so my guess is you lifted the clearcoat off and the only way to get it to look good again is to repaint that entire panel...

Matrx8

iTrader: (2)

It's probably the paint around that is faded, when you took the protective plastic off it revealed what the paint used to look like when it was stock.

Death Before Dawn

It looks better than it did before and the car is going in for paint in August and it gets waxed once a month so I'm not really worried about it. I don't think its the clear coat though.

Death Before Dawn

I did a little more research and it appears although the clear coat is there it lifted it off of the paint in those spots...not removing it just creating a space between the two layers. so as someone stated before repaint that panel. Im gonna let it be till august, but if anyone else out there was thinking of doing this...be extremely careful taking it off and use a lot of adhesive remover through out the process so there is no pull..or be smart and just dont do it...Lesson learned!

monchie

You shouldn't have...

Death Before Dawn

Yea I know this now lol...seemed like a good idea at the time

SamPappas

iTrader: (1)

you could have just tried to clay bar the area around it.. and even still, dirt looks better than screwed up paint.

Death Before Dawn

I tried claying, but to no avail. Its really not as bad as it looks in the picture. They would have had to have come off in august one way or another anyway, at least its out of the way. On another not though, I just went over the eyelids with some plasti-dip to straighten out the lines and cover the chips, It came out looking pretty nice.

SamPappas

iTrader: (1)

he should have just gotten real eyelids

EricB

iTrader: (7)

got mine new for $30 shipped and painted. Its really a no brainer.

200.mph

iTrader: (9)

link eric?


sam i love your sig pic. moar pics please

EricB

iTrader: (7)

i cant seem to find it, i think they stopped relisting it on ebay.

I got it from e.autoshop.2008 or maybe e.auto.shop.2008

it was one of those. maybe shoot them an email. Its obviously a straight copy if you werent sure.

It came from thailand if i seem to remember correctly, and it arrived in 7-10 days i remember. It still smelled of paint when i opened the box. No imperfections and the color matched the car (not the hood, aluminum vs frp)

I dont know what it is about my color but eyelids look amazing on our car on every color except mine, they are hardly noticable according to my friend with the same eyelids on a VR, i think eyelids look alot better on brighter cars, even on black cars it stands out, maybe its just the gray making an illusion with the eye.

SamPappas

iTrader: (1)

please excuse the fact that i didn't preload my megan racing springs