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Cardinal Fang
04-14-2008, 10:19 AM
I’ve been contemplating trying this little project for quite some time now and given how crappy the weather was going to be the past weekend I decided to give it a try. I’m still not convinced I’m going to keep it but it’s a change and more importantly I wanted to learn something new.

I bought from Joe at MoT a 2007 Leather Shift Knob for the Auto TX last summer. This is the one with the vertical faux silver anodized piece down the centre of the knob. I went looking for a colour that was close to matching my Copper Red Mica body colour. My car has the dash strip and door switch plates painted to match my body colour so I wanted to tie it in to these parts. I found a Dupli-Color product that could work. My first test was the “3” emblem that I had removed from my car when I put on the Axela emblem.

You see that Dave! You’re supposed to remove the “3” when you put on the Axela. Since you love the “3” so much I’m willing to sell you mine if you want. PM is the key dude.

Anyways, my test worked out fine and the colour although not completely a match was pretty close. Close enough that I decided to go with it. So here goes this is what you will need:



3M P400 Wet/Dry Auto Body sandpaper.
Duplicor Metalcast – Ground Coat for Anodized Surface Colour System.
Duplicor Metalcast – Anodized Surface Colour System (colour as required).

http://i32.tinypic.com/fuuseu.jpg

http://i29.tinypic.com/34pbea8.jpg

Duplicor Auto Spray – Clear topcoat.
A wife that doesn’t constantly call you to come up from the basement and help fold the laundry.
Patience.

The first step is to take apart the shift knob. There is a threaded cap below that screws off easily. Then carefully tape off the shift knob. I used the puddy knife to ensure the painters tape fit tightly between the leather and the vertical plastic piece. This took some time to get it right. Almost 45 minutes for me as I wasn’t happy the first time around and did it again. You really need to take your time when taping off items. The better the prep work the better the final outcome. Once complete I used the sandpaper (dry) to sand off the silver anodized finish.

http://i28.tinypic.com/2ic17qp.jpg

The shift knob should look black and more importantly scuffed up. The same thing was done to the threaded bottom cap. Scuff it up until it looked like brushed aluminum. Then carefully wipe clean both pieces with a damp cloth. I then applied two coats of the Duplicor Ground Coat.

http://i30.tinypic.com/21nk5sz.jpg
http://i29.tinypic.com/rs6dtc.jpg

The ground coat is the primer as well as the base coat for the “flek” of the final coat. According to the instructions I waited 5 minutes between coats.

After waiting for 1 hour for the ground coat to be ready it was time for the application of the color coat. Again only 5 minutes were required between coats as per the instructions. I used a total of 4 coats. With each coat the fleck progressively fades into the background the colour gets deeper so you really have to regulate how close you are to the match and make your decision.

http://i26.tinypic.com/2hxstc0.jpg
http://i26.tinypic.com/14lqyow.jpg

Now you’re ready for the clear coat to protect the finish. I waited 24 hrs for the paint coat to dry and harden. Using the spray and this time waiting for the clear coat finish to be “tacky” before reapplying I went with 4 layers of clear coat. Once complete I waited another hour for the clear coat to be dry and hard enough to remove the tape and put the bottom threaded cap back on. Use a paper towel when gripping the painted parts as oil from your hands can leave smudges that are difficult to remove. Tape came off and the end product wasn’t too bad in my opinion.

http://i29.tinypic.com/wsuujr.jpg
http://i32.tinypic.com/34pi1i8.jpg

The pictures I’ve included give the finish a “orange” tone when in actual fact it’s more of a red tone.

Oh and the Led Lighter flash light in the back ground was courtesy of CWP Sedan’s group buy.

3GFX
04-14-2008, 11:08 AM
Love it man, nice work. Probably looks even better in person :)

cwp_sedan
04-14-2008, 11:43 AM
Looks good!!! :)

mit-gee-mui
04-14-2008, 11:48 AM
Someone felt artistic this weekend......:hawt


Maybe I should recommend that you apply clearcoat to this as well.... Yes, I have an obsession with clearcoat.:chuckle:loco

Mafty
04-14-2008, 12:14 PM
nice, looks good. i like

Jeff-TheBiz
04-14-2008, 01:50 PM
too much of a closeup... lets see how it goes with the over all scheme of the car.. ie dash trim, window button covers.. etc