[MrsBaker]

It's been a while since I posted my E, so I thought I'd share it's progress.

Picked up the E in February of last year. Here is how it looked when I bought it.

Then in December, disaster strikes! I hit a deer. $5k+ in damage. It was in the shop for a month! It pretty much got an entire new front end, bumper, hood, radiator, fenders, windshield. I really went all out and did a number on the poor thing.

And as it sits now. I recently painted the stock wheels until I can find an aftermarket set I'm happy with. The Carbon Fiber hood should go on soon and I'd like to find an aftermarket exhaust.

 

[Jojo]

She looks great, but after doing battle with the deer, I'd advise against taking on that tank!:neutral:

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[MrsBaker]

She looks great, but after doing battle with the deer, I'd advise against taking on that tank!:neutral:

Perhaps the element would do better as an urban assault vehicle than it did as a hunting tool?

 

[Xbox]

Like the stock wheels painted. Did you paint them or have them painted? Did you mask off the out lip when you painted them? What paint did you use? I know lots of question but you do you have any pictures of the wheels close up?

 

[MrsBaker]

Like the stock wheels painted. Did you paint them or have them painted? Did you mask off the out lip when you painted them? What paint did you use? I know lots of question but you do you have any pictures of the wheels close up?

I actually documented the whole process. I'll post a write up, soon, with pics.

It was actually really simple, although I'm not 100% happy with the results. The OEM wheels were in pretty bad shape; the clear was peeling and they looked awful. I used aircraft remover to remove the finish, this is the only part that fudged up the results. After 4 or 5 tries, it was so splotchy. I had to continue with the process, as my element was on jack stands and I needed it for work the next day! Only a few weeks ago did I learn the secret was to heat up the aircraft remover. It doesn't tell you this, I learned it from a friend who does body work.

After I got off what I could of the finish, I taped off the lip and the tire. I used primer, hoping that would even it out and hide the left over clear (it didn't) then I painted the wheel black, removed the tape over the lip and cleared the hell out of them.

I used all Duplicolor wheel paint. And other than the uneven finish, they look awesome. The paint has held up well so far. Once I find an extra set of wheels, I'll sandblast these and do it again. Even though they're not perfect, they still look miles better than they did to start with. And I'm really glad I used flat black rather than gloss black. I think it really matches the trim of the element.

EDIT for pics: Sorry for the awful pics they're from my cell phone.

And side note, I should have taped off more of the tire, but the overspray came right off.

 

[Dawn66]

Lookin' good!

 

[LMntGuy1982]

I like what you did to the grass