Faux Euro Trim (i.e. sidemarker delete)?

[TexasTerp]

I'm wondering if anyone has tried to fabricate the euro trim look using the stock US trim. I'm going to color match my trim and have a few extra trims from my parts car laying around. Here's my hypothesis on how to do this:

1. remove sidemarker assembly
2. cut plastic filler plate from another trim
3. LiquidNails/GorillaGlue/etc to adhere thin metal mounting plates to plastic filler.
4. Adhere mounting plates to main trim piece.
5. Epoxy or Body Filler to seal openings.
6. Sand
7. Prime and Paint

Now the biggest obstacle is that there is a decisive crease in the contour of the trim which could cause problems unless you build that up using body filler.

What's everyone's thoughts on it? If it works it could be significantly cheaper than buying euro trim. On the other hand if not done correctly it'll come out looking like crap.

[kamotors]

or you could just smoke your side markers.

[Desaevious]

Someone has using fiberglass. I've seen it somewhere before. You could buy smoked ones on ebay too if you wanted.

[JasonC]

I found the writeup, http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/show...ight=euro+trim

[TexasTerp]

I found the writeup, http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/show...ight=euro+trim

Perfect, I had to be typing the wrong search words because I didn't find that. Thanks!

[Desaevious]

Tigerhair/fiberglass can be a bitch to work with. If you hadn't used it before, I sugget you try it on something you play with it and its durability for a while. Make sure your room is well ventilated if you do it in a garage too. Good luck.

[TexasTerp]

Thanks for the advice, I haven't used Bondo Hair before so it'll be interesting. I do have extensive experience with fiberglass mat and weave and hopefully it'll be an interesting project!

[dashboardmonkey]

Fiberglass on plastic?

Fiberglass is not flexible and does not change in size with heat/cold, plastic does. Wouldn't this be a problem?

[Desaevious]

Fiberglass on plastic?

Fiberglass is not flexible and does not change in size with heat/cold, plastic does. Wouldn't this be a problem?

I had a front plastic bumper that was backed into and the bumper cover was broken. I used various screens and then put tigerhair in between and painted it up. It lasted for a New England winter and during the summer I found a replacement bumper and the bondo still stuck to the cover and only came off when I pried it with a flat head...and it came off as one big piece.

Your best bet, OP, would be to PM the guy that tried it in that thread Jason found and see how his results have been.

[talltorontoguy]

I followed the writeup for mine two years ago. Worked flawlessly. Couldn't find any closeups but trust me, you cannot notice it.

[TexasTerp]

Yeah I'll definitely pm that guy on the other thread.

talltorontoguy - that looks like a great job! Two years? well that sounds like a good confirmation this will last to me!

[e34john]

That looks good and sees easy enough if you take some time and be careful.

You are going to match the trim to the color of your car? What color is your car?

[Desaevious]

Good to hear it'll hold up. Good luck guys.

[SpecRaceM5]

Wouldn't the time and materials involved in doing this outweigh the rewards? Euro trim is not that much. I'd sooner put my time towards something else and spend a couple extra bucks on something that won't degrade as quickly.

[TexasTerp]

That looks good and sees easy enough if you take some time and be careful.

You are going to match the trim to the color of your car? What color is your car?

The car's original paint is alpineweiss, at the moment it's two tone because I pulled a bunch of body panels from a Delphin-Metallic 325is. At the moment I'm torn between repainting it in lachsilber or staying with alpineweiss. Weiss is harder to keep clean but it looks awesome with shadowline and a blacked out DB's! I've seen a couple cars on here that color matched to weiss and it looks great IMO.

Wouldn't the time and materials involved in doing this outweigh the rewards? Euro trim is not that much. I'd sooner put my time towards something else and spend a couple extra bucks on something that won't degrade as quickly.

Materials are going to be pretty cheap. I don't know what BondoHair costs but overall everything should be about $50. After tax and shipping Euro Trim from Abrahms would be more like $160 and I doubt that small of an area would degrade that quickly. I've done a lot of work with fiberglass (did freelance custom car audio for 2 years, got bored, started a web design company) and I'd be more worried about paint fading.