Reflecting On My Pillars

Anyone with a car usually ends up having issues with the pillars. Whay are the pillars you say? Well theyre the peices or plastic or metal that are between your windows along the side of your car. Example:

Behold my PT's Lowly Pillars... They are discolored and sad looking. Since Im all DIY I decided to paint them versus buying pillar covers. Now while the original pillars were a glossy black, I think it was dumb cause well... nothing else on the car is glossy black... So im going to paint them to match the side mirrors, Flat Black.

To do this I bought a can of adhesion promotor (from an auto store) and Krylon Fusion Flat Black Spray paint for Plastics (I sware by this stuff). Basically I did what I did for the bumpers when I painted it and covered the car with newspaper to catch overspray. Then I applied Adhesion promotor (which is optional but I had some left over from the bumpers) Then I started painting.

Dont be alarmed that wet paint reflects! It will dry flat trust me... So while its drying I did the other side. After I was done I removed the newspaper and was just about floored at how amazing of a difference the PT is with the newly painted pillars!

This made me so excited that I decided to paint my antenna bezel chrome! While I was planning on buying a chrome ABS plastic cover for it, I figured why not try chrome paint first before coughing up the money for a cover!

So once again tape and newspaper...

The trick with chrome spray paint to make it atleast a little convincing is to spray it with glossy black first. then with the chrome enamel. Spray Enamel comes out thick so be careful to avoid runs! Once it was done and dried I was happy with the results! While its not as realistic as a cover wouldve been in recreaing a chrome look, It will do for now until finances allow. Note my short antenna! My fiancee had to have a short one.

The other day when I was at the junkyard getting the shelf for the shelf mod I also got a rear view mirror out of a 2001 PT. While my current mirror is fine, this one had something I wanted... Map Lights!! While my PT has map lights and a overhead console I want to add mood lighting to the car eventually. And while most people change out their map lights with colored lights, I still wanted white light if I actually wanted to read something. So Ill hook up the new mirror one day eventually and post the results of it. And if it turns out great then ill tint the lights so the map lights on the mirror can be part of the mood lighting while retaining the factory consoles white light. The new mirror is pictured below and its the one on the left, mine is on the right. I like the oval shape too!

Im so pumped for Cruizin Clarion this year. Im hoping my PT holds its own amongst all the other much more impressive PT's!