Black Shaved Prius II

In a couple of days I'll be sixty eight years old. I rue the day that cars become just an appliance. Personalization of my car makes me happy. I've owned many really fine and fast cars but just can't control my right foot so enter the Prius. Some folks scoff at the modifications I've made to mine but I remind them "it's not your car".

Now if Whatis224 and I can get some really nice wheels/tires we will be nearly complete.

Love the black shaved car!

 

kinda shaped like the aztek

 

That sounds more like a Britishism than an age thing. I like most Britishisms, but they do sound different to us USians.

50 years ago in the US, nosed was taking the shiny bits off the hood, decked was taking them off the trunk and shaved was taking them off the sides, with some variations in terminology depending on what part of the country you lived in.

 

You just made me throw up in my mouth a little bit.
Now I know how my friend with the Chrysler Crossfire feels. I told him it looked like a dog taking a dump from the rear, two years later he occasionally reminds me that he can't get that image out of his mind when he looks at his car.

 

Go ahead Whatis224 paint em. I did.

 

This whole "modding" business is purely a matter of personal
sense of style, and "One man's fish is another man's poison."

I painted, well actually powder coated, my rims too.
I've considered painting/coating my front brake calipers as well.
But if I do, it will be in black, so they have less visible presence,
not more -- I just don't "get" the red painted caliper look on any car.



I guess there's just no accounting for someone else's taste.

(The BMW side lights are my answer to covering the left and
right side unique, asymmetrical !@#$% mounting holes when I
shaved/debadged the HybridSD badges.)

 

Anything you can do to individualize your ride is great! It isn't like you are making us do it too. I like the debadged look. That is a great look with the red wheels. I don't know if it would make your brakes look any better to paint them black. The silver stock look is pretty good.

 

Whatis224,

I have about 25K miles on the coated wheels, ~1-1/2 years driving
mostly on urban/suburban roads, with an occasional ramble to Maine or
Florida.

The job came to ~$600 for stripping; ScotchBrighting the rim; masking;
base, metalflake, unmasking, and clear top coat.

I coated vs. painted the wheels because I'd read that paint, even with a
clear overcoat, was prone to chipping/scratching.

I'm yery, very careful when reversing/parallel parking...
I know for a fact, I never meet the DMV licensing test requirement of
ending up with both curbside wheels less than 6 inches from the curb.
Fat chance!

I just went out and ran my fingers over the hubs, spokes, and rims...
nary a scratch or pit. Maybe it's because I never drive at over 65
MPH... I'm not kidding.

Needless to say, I'm happy I took the time/trouble/expense to do the
wheels 'right.'

The chromed plastic center caps are OEM Toyota. They are still smooth
and shiny. There are lots of threads on the 'cap's part number, IIRC
~$18 apiece, less on the 'Net.

 

The brake caliper painting is a piece of cake. Look in google for it. There are various companies that make the paint for them and they also have instructions. I did mine with yellow paint on my 2004 TBird and I always intended to change it but never got around to doing it. I may still do it, I have black, silver and red paint in case I ever get energized.

The important thing is to clean the calipers a couple of times and to use brake caliper paint after you have masked the rest of the wheel. It is not hard and it isn't like you are painting the Sistine Chapel. If you screw up, I doubt that anyone will notice. All that they will see is the color you chose. If you drip or overspray on the disc, it will take about three minutes for it to wear off, although you probably should avoid a lot of paint getting on the pads.

 

Hey Whatis ..The center caps I got off ebay and installed them after ripping off the cheapo covers.

The paint on the calipers I did with a little artist-type paint brush and some leftover rattle can red. Did the same thing on another vehicle years ago and it still looks fine. So lasts forever.