Playing with some Crayons

For a while now, I have been trying to add splashes of red to my black car, as seen in my engine bay. From the get-go, I didn't exactly want to make this car a full blacked out car. You know, full window tints, black wheels, blacked out lights. For one thing, it would be too hot over the summer lol. But the real reason is, I like contrast. I think blacked out cars are awesome, and they look so stealth you sometimes wonder what car it is. One time I was driving home on the highway, and I see in my rear view mirror, this shadow of a car. I really had no idea what the make and model of that car was, and this intrigued me. It wasn't till the car passed me, that I realized it was a Mazda 3. From that day on, I realized what a blacked out car can look like, and it looked good.

Personally, however, I wouldn't want my Camaro to be a full blacked out car. I think there is beauty in its lines and shapes, and to black it out would be sacrificing some of that edge. So far, I have left all of the chrome trimmings in place, just so I could have some contrast. Well, like I have mentioned in the beginning, I have been wanting to introduce red to the car. I plan to paint the brake calipers red for sure, for that sporty look, but I also felt like it needed more. I came across an old website, Camaro Decal Store, where I originally got my tail light black outs, and the side marker black outs. I remember dealing with the vendor, Reggie, and he was just an awesome guy to work with. So I decided to check and see if he had any new inventory. Turned out, stripe kits were available now! Then I saw it... he had these fender stripes that would be perfect in my mind. You see, while I want some red on my car, I also want to avoid putting too much red. The OEM style rally stripes was a no-go for me, they occupied too much space. These fender stripes, however, were perfect for my needs. I made a concept drawing on what I hope the final product would look like.

The red stripe on the door isn't part of the package though. I just added that to balance out the fender stripes. Also, I took the liberty of painting the calipers in this concept. Personally, I think it looks more aggressive, but at the same time, it looks like a completely different car. That's what's stopping me from doing this, I'm not so sure I'm comfortable with different yet...

In the meantime, I am still waiting for that mod I purchased a couple of weeks ago, so stay tuned.

Black and Chrome

A couple of weeks ago, I met up with a friend who owns an Inferno Orange Metallic 1LT 2010 Camaro. He has owned his Camaro for about a year, so the number of modifications done to his car are far more than mine; both performance and cosmetic. One of his mods was a tail light black out kit. It really made his car look more aggressive. I asked him about it, and he told me it costed $30. A small cost for a lot of gain. So I go to eBay, and bought the black out kit from the Camaro Decal Store. If you are planning on buying a set, please hold no reserve. It is an easy install, took me around 30 minutes for all my lights. The seller, Reggie, is very trustworthy and has gotten a lot of positive comments ;)

Take a look at the picture. For a black car, I kept all the chrome pieces the way they are. I just like the contrast of the black and chrome. Some people I noticed, can't stand the chrome. So they sanded down the chrome and painted it. However, if you are an owner of a BLACK Camaro, I highly recommend you keep the chrome. Black may be one of the only colors that doesn't make chrome look tacky.

But I should give fair warning, that shouldn't give you the impression you should OVER chrome your car. I admit, when I first got the Camaro, I wanted to chrome a lot of the car... it would have been a big mistake, and thankfully I did not go down that road.

As you can see in the close up shot, the blackout isn't a typical tint job. It is actually perforated cling on vinyl. The install job just requires you to clean the surface, heat up the vinyl, and stick it on. Don't worry about making mistakes, because the backside of the vinyl is not adhesive, so you can re-do it as many times as you want. Once you get the product in the right position, you just rub a towel over the blackout to create a static charge. So far, it is held on quite nicely. I really just love the new look.