Door Lock Facia, TIDY UP!!

[Sudesh]

So over the weekend I decided to tidy up the door lock facia. The black alloy tends to fade and can also be scratched with the key if people have used that method rather than remote, but I guess most of us have used the key entry at some point.

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/icongroup/NSX/100_3182.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/icongroup/NSX/100_3180.jpg

Anyway I decided to try a diferent method rather than going to the hassle of removing the lock and painting etc.

So here is whats needed,
Some black vinyl
Scissors
Crafting knife, [best to get one with a fairly sharp point.

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/icongroup/NSX/100_3184.jpg

Take the black vinyl and cut out a square, roughly 2" by 2"

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/icongroup/NSX/100_3186.jpg

[Sudesh]

Take the square and place it over the entire door lock including the rubber seal. At this point you need to start moulding the sticker to the contours of the door lock, squeezing out any wrinkles or air bubbles. Vinyl is quite easy to work and if you make a mistake just lift an edge of the vinyl, peel back and start pressing it back into the contours until your happy with the lines etc.

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/icongroup/NSX/100_3187.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/icongroup/NSX/100_3188.jpg


Once your happy with the mould, take the crafters knife and very carefully and lightly cut the vinyl in tight against the line of the rubber seal.

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/icongroup/NSX/100_3189.jpg

[Sudesh]

The key is to get it tight to the rubber so you can then tuck the line of the vinyl into the rubber seal. Once your happy with the cut start peeling off the square, take your time incase you missed a cut.

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/icongroup/NSX/100_3190.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/icongroup/NSX/100_3191.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/icongroup/NSX/100_3192.jpg

[Sudesh]

Once you remove the square. Start to filter out the lines and squeeze out the wrinkles to the rubber seal. I used my thumb and nail to get it all pressed in to the edges. And with about 15mins of kneading the vinyl, the job was done.

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/icongroup/NSX/100_3193.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/icongroup/NSX/100_3194.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/icongroup/NSX/100_3195.jpg


I didnt bother cutting the key slot on the passanger side, but I did cut it out on the drivers side incase the batteries went on the remote entry.

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j77/icongroup/NSX/100_3196.jpg

[Sudesh]

Another tip I learned after.

Best to clean out any polish that you may have around the rubber seal lol

Just looks much better when the white polish line is cleared away:)

[SILVER BULLET]

Sudesh,thank you for taking the time to share this tidy-up with the rest of us,very helpful,
Cheers,
Ian

[Sudesh]

No problem Ian! Thanks for the comment.

I'm really happy with the look and its much better in the flesh, especially after I cleaned out the polish lines that can be seen in some of the pics.

[mutley]

Did you ever think of trying body colour? ( I know to get a propper match wouldn't be that easy though).

Jim

[Sudesh]

Hi Jim,

I actually thought about body color after I done this! I dont think the color match would be hard to get as the guys I used are pretty good with there stock of vinyl colors. It may not be 100% exact but would be close.

The only issue though would be the black rubber seal and trying to get it moulded in with the rest and making it neat so there are no wrinkles or air bubbles etc. Plus the cut off point would be between the door panel and seal, so alot more care would be needed to get the edges tucked in and not to leave any marks on the door panel.

Its definately something I'm thinking about and might experiment with a few different methods using the vinyl, as I think the locks in body color would be so much better and lift the dated look of the black ones.

[mutley]

Yeah I agree with all of what you said. I think it would be fairly tricky yet not impossible.
I am really tempted to go for the de-lock look, but if you don't have a manual way to unlock and the battery dies, big problem.

I also intend to get rid of the ariel on the rear wing, oh if only I had the time to do everything I want, fingers crossed from next month I'll beve better facilites.

Jim

[Sudesh]

Doing a de-lock would be the best route but obviously involves alot more work. Personally I wouldnt be worried about access to the batter, as
1: access to the batter from under the car is quite easy! But obviously if your battery died while you were away from your garage or in an awkward location, then getting the jack out would be the problem lol!
But 2: you could filter out a positive and negative point to a hidden spot somewhere under the car thus giving you a jumper location should the battery die.

I done away with my aerial some time ago and fitted a hidden antenna. I plugged aerial hole with a color coded grommet.

[mutley]

Yeah I'm looking at something similar for the ariel.

As for the door locks, I know what you mean about a "hidden" way to get some power, and I suppose it wouldn't be too difficult to plumb in cables attached to battery terminals that could be hidden under a bumper, but with easy access to be used to attach jump leads from another car. But another idea I would like would be the TVR hidden idea.

OHHHH sooooo many ideas.

Another little gripe I have it the door mirrors, would prefer something mounted on the little black triangle on the door, rather than where they are.

Jim

[NSX 2000]

As for the door locks, I know what you mean about a "hidden" way to get some power, and I suppose it wouldn't be too difficult to plumb in cables attached to battery terminals that could be hidden under a bumper, but with easy access to be used to attach jump leads from another car. But another idea I would like would be the TVR hidden idea.
Jim

Jim you may have hit on something here. If I have my TVR's correct their wing mirriors are not that differant from ours so you could go with your idea above. I think this would be a very cool mod :cool:

Or you could just respray the whole car black to match the door locks like I did :D

Paul.

[mutley]

Jim you may have hit on something here. If I have my TVR's correct their wing mirriors are not that differant from ours so you could go with your idea above..................
Paul.

That's my train of thought. Should be possible
Jim

[Silver Surfer]

:

Or you could just respray the whole car black to match the door locks like I did :D

Paul.

Or you could try 'wrapping' the car black to match the door locks..;)

SS