DIY Paint Your Own Bowties, Front and Rear (2 Tone, black and red)
 

Sorry I couldnt really upload the pictures in the right order, or put the text with the pics, but hopefully this helps some people who may want to attempt this themselves.

I chose to do the rear bowtie on the car, you can take it off using adhesive remover, a blowdryer, and fishing line or dental floss.

1. Remove front bowtie
2. Scuff or sand lightly
3. Prime the entire bowtie
4. Mask off the inside applying painters tape over the entire bowtie, and run a fingernail along the edge to get an outline of where the razor blade needs to go, then cut along the edge with a razor or xacto knife. Then peel off the excess
5. Paint the outer part of the bowtie
6. Following directions on cans for drying times and coats, let the outer coat dry.
7. Mask off the outside using the same instructions as number 4, except removing the inner tape.
8. Paint the inside with a few light coats.
9. Following the directions on the can, spray a few coats of clear to protect the base coat and make it more durable.
10. Allow to dry for a while before trying to push it back on or you may leave finger print impressions, in the clear.


Some masking tips for doing it on the car
- I used trashbags to cover the area
- Cover any horizontal surface, since this is where overspray will settle for the most part
- When doing the immediate area of the bowtie, I used a flathead eyeglass screwdriver to help push the blue painters tape behind the bowtie.

Removing the front bowtie is tough, reach behind and pull the big horizontal tabs down a little, and pull one side at a time, working it back and forth, you will have to pull harder than you think.

Helpful tip I can give you is to go slow and follow the directions, the more careful you are, the less chances you have of runs, or messing up the finish with the razor blade. Excuse the dirty car and bugs, Im cleaning it tomorrow

Nice!!!!!

what type of primer did you use??? I am going to do this.. I was thinking adhesion promoter. This can be done to the tail light bezels right?? I want flat black so just flat black with no clear coat tight??

Looks mean.

I actually used the rust-o-leum gray automotive primer that is carried at wal mart, lowes, etc. Scuffing it up more would have made it stick better as well. I do recommend adhesion promoter as well, I have a kind that goes on, then you can spray primer, then the color coat.

If you want flat black, you will still want to do a clear, just a matte or satin clear. I think its Gloss, Semi-Gloss, then Satin. The point of the clear is to protect it, if you just put flat black enamel, after it dried, you could still just pick it off with your fingernail, no matter how well you prepped it.

A few coats of clear will protect it like the rest of your car, where you can wash it, wipe it, pick bugs off it, etc without worrying.

Alot of people use Plasti-Dip, to get a flat black look, although it is single stage, plasti dip is more resilient than normal spray paint, but not as tough as a black coat with a couple clear coats over it.

But satin clear is what you need, I think it looks almost the same as flat, if not just a tad bit shiny, but you could buy it, and spray a piece of wood or a bucket or something to test and make sure it gets the finish you want.

And yes, the bezels are even easier because you can take them all off the car, and they are one color, so you really dont need to mask anything off if you dont want. Just be sure to follow the can directions, dont douse it with paint and clear, keep the can moving and do light coats.

Thats what I thought! Makes the car look a little more serious than the gold/chrome ones.

Couple more pics

cool.. I will look into the primer.. so you recommend to use adhesion promoter then gray primer then paint and then clear, right??

what did you scuff and sand with?? will the primer fill up any scratches???
Sorry if all this questions are stupid but i dont know much about painting

:w00t:

Great job! Nothing like doing it yourself and thanks for the instructions on this i may do this myself

I use a fine grit sandpaper, or a scotchbrite pad, scuff pad, etc. If the sandpaper you have is too rough then just rub it against itself until its not so harsh.

I say yes to the adhesion promoter, then gray primer, paint, then clear. But be sure to clean the surface with alcohol, and try testing that combination on a piece of plastic, because sometimes using different brands can make the different stages react differently.

Nice DIY. :clap: This has been one of the projects I have had in my mind for a while now.

Very nice! How did you know I am about to do this? Thanks for the tips, I have been wondering about painting the chrome. I bought some self etching primer...do you think that would be fine? i am testing right now on some electrical conduit to see how it all works. I like doing things myself...I get to learn, it's fun and less expensive! Great job.

Just an FYI... the center of the bowtie is removable. Be careful that you dont break it when you remove it, but if you do, you don't even have to tape it off, just spray it and put it back together with some more 3M tape.

Yes, a primer specifically made for that purpose will work, id still scuff it up. Prep is very important, but the clear will make it all solid, and resilient, just be careful and follow the directions on the cans.


Yes, this is an avenue people can choose, but I chose to mask with tape and razor blade, just to be sure I didnt break the inside, as Ive heard its easy to do. I also did not remove the rear one, so I couldnt have safely removed the inside for that one.

Good tip for people removing both bowties!