CHROMING the Kinetix plenum...

[ZPRESENCE]

Starting the process now as soon as I'm done with this first post so here we go.....

[Wren57]

Good luck :)

[2003z]

Rob, since the plenum flexes so much with variations on inlet air pressure, do you think paint cracking will be a problem?

[ZPRESENCE]

Mike this plenum is hard as a rock, feels like if you would knock on your stock plenum.

[pimp1911]

Rob is that a V2 plenum.

[Z CRUZN]

It's a version2 Kinetix

[ZPRESENCE]

Sanding as much of the texture out as possible where the pad would reach with the DA (Dual Action) sander.

[ZPRESENCE]

Hand sanding

[ZPRESENCE]

the texture that must be sanded "Smooth as glass"

[ZPRESENCE]

in the plastic, little pinholes which must be filled.

[ZPRESENCE]

polyurethane filler for the visible imperfections and pinholes.

[ZPRESENCE]

wait for it to kick and sand smooth.

[ZPRESENCE]

Florida sunshine to help the filler catalyze.

[ZPRESENCE]

Filled.

[ZPRESENCE]

Three times, 320-400-1000

[ZPRESENCE]

so no paint will be applied there that way when you tighten bolts you're not turning paint...tedious.

[ZPRESENCE]

/

[ZPRESENCE]

Ready to apply adhesion promoter.

[ZPRESENCE]

U-Pol adhesion promoter

[ZPRESENCE]

is amazing, yet very tempermental, I see why you have to wait 24-48 hours to clearcoat it, it right now, over an hour later is still just as wet as when I applied it.

[ZPRESENCE]

its clearcoated!

[ZPRESENCE]

lottta work and bendin' over a table all day but I think it will be worth it, and set us who do this apart from the rest.

[ZPRESENCE]

Very Impressive paint, must have a very slow reducer in the mix which takes it so long to cure, but it will be worth the wait, not rushing it.

[DjChazz]

Looking good Rob. So I did good on the Paint I Found. Do you think it will look like true Chrome when its done?

[ZPRESENCE]

I'm wondering what say a red or blue or even orange Kandy clear over it would look like?:cool:

[pimp1911]

Hmmm. Nice.

[DjChazz]

sounds like it might look cool.I will be sending you my CF Engine Finsher soon. I might just let you do what ever you want to it.

How long was the Prep on the Kinetix?

[flynnibus]

Definatly looks like from these photos surface prep is everything for this product. It still looks like a silver paint to me :( Maybe its just the camera.

The test subjects on the website they showed the demos on were mirror smooth to start with. Hopefully the clearcoat will give it some of the mirror look.

Love your work Rob.. I just don't know how you get anything done when you're taking pictures the entire time ;)

I only wish every shop had your attention to detail.. you rule

[flynnibus]

Originally posted by DjChazz

How long was the Prep on the Kinetix?

The photo sequence spans 6hrs :eek:

[ZPRESENCE]

it was very tedious, my back and neck are killin me Wah! da mn crybaby:crybaby: And I did this a day I devoted to just it. I wasn't at work today! I'm hoping it will be dry enough to take care of some minor things you could only see once paint was applied, then clearcoat. The pictures don't do the mirror finish justice, plus once its cleared its gonna gleam....

[Z CRUZN]

Amazing watching the transformation from what the plenum looked like when I saw it in person earlier this week. Completely "mirror-like" or not, it's going to be close and will look fantastic for those dressing their engine bay. Can't wait to see it after the clearcoat!

[NSANY]

VERY nice work. I can't wait to see the finished product installed. Plus, it'll be interesting to see if there are any mid or long term effects on the paint quality.

[ZPRESENCE]

the paint will hold up fine, look at all the engine covers taking the extreme heat, I'm gonna go all out on this plenum, I'm gonna try to clear it today, then re-wetsand the next time I get to work on it and spray a little more MirraChrome and re-clear again. Then it will be nasty, so far there's about half a bottle,maybe a little more, but in actuality I do see each plenum taking a full bottle:( I'm picking up my seats today at the shop;)(Thanks again Bonz and 2003z!) so It'll probably be later in the day,I want to set it out in the sun for a while, I just touched the plenum and it is dry yet if you were to lightly rub it it would come off on your finger and you would look like the tin man. This is also a few day job by itself, if it would just dry quicker :mad:

[dh1111]

Thats sure one expensive plenum!!!!!!!

[ZPRESENCE]

Its gonna be worth it!

[Z CRUZN]

To some of us, however, expense is just the price we pay for a special look. I'm beyond worrying about when "it" is going to stop - I now believe that customizing the Z will never stop for me - ha! I'm hooked.............

[ZPRESENCE]

That's with one coat of clear and its lookin da mn good! And I'm not done yet, to make it even smoother I'm gonna let the clear cure, sand it smooth with 1200 wet and apply more MirraChrome and clearcoat again, then you'll be in a frenzy.

[ZPRESENCE]

///

[Dr Bonz]

That's amazing. I would swear that it was metal.

[ZPRESENCE]

I let it sit in the sun all day for the clearcoat to cure, and tomarrow, I'll add about another half pint of Mirra Chrome then 4 good wet coats of clear and .....Watch out! your gonna flip, you'd swear it was solid chrome. It'll make the ladies go....

[Wren57]

Hrm.... I think I'd rather have her than the plenum, no offense :D

Work looks amazing! I don't want to even think about the cost...

[Z CRUZN]

Does that look sweet - even now! Can't wait to see it after the next round of work. Rob - You da man!!!!!!!!!:bowdown: :bowdown:

[Z CRAZY]

Wow, sweet man! I guess I'm gonna have to spend some money, hehe.

[ZPRESENCE]

I'm not posting any pictures today, you will see the whole process illustrated afternoon tomarrow, been in contact with alsacorp for some fine tuning tech support. As it stands the plenum has cured and is re-wetsanded absolutely smooth as glass and the results lets just say will be phenomenal, sorry to make you wait, but its my brothers birthday tom. and I gota make the mad dash! Trust me guys you're not going to believe your eyes.

[flynnibus]

Torture!!! :D

[pimp1911]

Noooooooooooooooooo. Will try to stay focused.

[ZPRESENCE]

Pix in a few!!!!:tongue:

[ZPRESENCE]

out of this thing, it is mirror smooth and I'm about to start spraying!

[ZPRESENCE]

This is in the sunshine BEFORE I am going to re-wetsand and re-clear. This paint has officially amazed me.

[ZPRESENCE]

ultrafine paper so its smooth as a river rock.

[ZPRESENCE]

with the help of Home Depot yesterday!

[ZPRESENCE]

to get smooth....

[ZPRESENCE]

hoping the other half-pint of Mirra Chrome will do the trick!

[ZPRESENCE]

say a prayer:D

[ZPRESENCE]

Would you look at this! Chrome, And I can't even imagine what it will look like with four coats of clear!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ZPRESENCE]

Unbelievable, I just wish I could clearcoat it and not wait 2 days!

[ZPRESENCE]

Because at application it really "Melts" the MirraChrome to a mirror finish.

[ZPRESENCE]

Bad part is it used a whole pint.:( I'll let you guys know what I'll have involved tomarrow when I clear it , it hasn't even been cleared yet!!!!!)and that florida sun reflects chrome so bad my camera won't take a good pic.!!! I'm still amazed at this paint and can't wait to soak it with High-temp clear tomarrow!!!!!!!!!

[Z CRAZY]

All I can say is "DAMN!!!!!"

Very nice, Rob. That thing will look fantastic in any engine compartment.

[ZPRESENCE]

Until I hammer it with clear, I can't explain how bad ace its gonna be.:bowdown:

[jtree007]

Originally posted by ZPRESENCE
Until I hammer it with clear, I can't explain how bad ace its gonna be.:bowdown:


:eek: :thumbsup: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon:

looks awesome even without the clear

[flynnibus]

Originally posted by ZPRESENCE
Bad part is it used a whole pint.:( I'll let you guys know what I'll have involved tomarrow when I clear it , it hasn't even been cleared yet!!!!!)and that florida sun reflects chrome so bad my camera won't take a good pic.!!! I'm still amazed at this paint and can't wait to soak it with High-temp clear tomarrow!!!!!!!!!

Ok.. NOW we're cooking with fire! That looks tons better!

So really it boils back down to ULTRA smooth surface doesn't it? I'm suprised by how that tape looks though.

Looks like a great product for smooth plastics.. or maybe.... air finishers?? :D

[ZPRESENCE]

Gotta pay the man tomarrow. D^MN tool payments :aimfire: Anyway I will be bringing home more goodies like another Pint of MirraChome, and a new mini-air powered buffer to remove fine swirls in the tightest spots, with whatever compound or polish you desire, pix tom.) Remember:D I can Chrome anything now! You Guys really gotta get to Z Fest!

Z FEST ARRIVALS

In order of appearance please!


1.

2.

3.

[Perth 350z]

Looks fantastic zpresence. Wish I was closer to your shop.... no, actually, I'm glad I'm not coz I'd end up handing you may pay packet every month to do some work LOL

[Rogue350z]

I will be down on Friday for the Z FEST. Will I find you at the Hooters?

Damn that cover looks awesome! Can't wait to see it....

[FB-350]

i'm planning on leaving miami around 10am-ish...
should arrive around 1pm ish on friday and my plan is to check in at the hotel, get the old lady's stuff and mine out of the Z, and hopefully find a hose somewhere to wash the car - after that - who knows... anyone else gonna be around at that time?

[ZPRESENCE]

cell phone #'s next week closer to the event!

[FB-350]

sounds good to me! looking forward to the weekend...

[ZPRESENCE]

For the final product? The tedious four days have paid off at this moment. So are you ready to see a completed, MirraChromed Kinetix plenum in the Florida sunshine?? Me too Here ya go, amazing! :cool:

[ZPRESENCE]

those reflections you see on top are from my trees!

[ZPRESENCE]

:bowdown:

[ZPRESENCE]

I'm satisfied.

[ZPRESENCE]

I sheeeoot you not.

[G-Spot Racing]

That looks crazy, you do great work. We all appreciate the work that you do.

LaterZ

[pimp1911]

Rob cant wait to see these in person at Z fest.

[Z CRAZY]

Originally posted by pimp1911
Rob cant wait to see these in person at Z fest.

Ditto!

[westpak]

I was thinking if it would be good to put a strip of clear bra material in the groove where the strutbar goes over the plenum, because when I took mine off after only a week the bar and the plenum had rubbed and actually marked up the paint on the bar and with the paint on the plenum now it might be a tighter fit.

Looks great by the way, can't wait for next week.

[ZPRESENCE]

maybe just a thin 3M clear plastic about two inches wide by three long I'll try to dig some up for you on the tool truck monday!

[ZPRESENCE]

I have about 14 hrs labor ( Actually more but I'm making an example) in this thing. If I would charge shop labor rate, forget it you'd pay over 600 bux for this service. It is very tedious work, which is why I'm getting a commercial mini-sander next week to help with the tighter spots. Lets not forget the whole pint of MirraChrome is required and here's the good part, they raised the price to $225 a pint, called my supplier he'll give it to me for 180 a pint.

So all this in mind, paint, materials and labor the final cost has to be...$385


Check the link to see the incease from 160 a pint to 225!!!!!!!!
They juggled numbers around so that people will spring for the whole gallon, now that its gettin' out there, a-holes


http://www.alsacorp.com/products/mi...mirra_price.htm

[Vicious350z]

Mad props ZPRESENCE, that's pure skill right there

[fairladyzca]

Whoa... looking good man. You just got way too much time for this. I'm just going to pay my fabricator $75.00 to getting mine to go through the same process as you and have the finish in black silver.