I came across this silver XKR on the web and, although I generally prefer the stock look, I quite like the blacked out mesh. Not a great fan of the hood vents, but I'm tempted to have a go at the mesh. What do you think?

 

Hi wonder if the grill is matt or gloss would it show stone chips?Might look good with certain colours.Don't like the hood vents though.
All the best Al

 

I agree with ALAG, you'll be doing some touch up now and then unless you can have it blackened a more durable way.

 

I was thinking of using satin black stone chip paint and then a few coats of satin clear coat, though I don't know if the latter actually exists...

 

I like the blacked out mesh ..not a fan of the vents being black and the mirrored cover on the headlight washer stands out too much against the black headlights (but I like the black headlights)

 

Agreed, the vents are too much. The fog lights also appear to have been blacked out. Wonder what sort of light output he's getting?

 

This is what I was planning to do (sans the vents & light covers) if I had decided on an XKR instead of the XK8. I hope that I don't offend anyone here, but I really don't care for the stock wire mesh, at least not on a car painted black, as I think it stands out a bit too much and detracts from the elegance of the rest of the vehicle, particularly on the '05-06 models. The mesh doesn't stand out quite as much on lighter colored vehicles as it does on black.

I think a very dark charcoal grey might look a bit better than black; and certainly a satin finish rather than gloss. Not sure if powdercoating might be a good alternative to paint for this application? Perhaps just using a different shade of the body color might look good on some cars.

 

Don't do it. It looks wrong.

Also, SS mesh will shed almost any paint that isn't etch primed first.

It's wrong.

Sorry, but did I mention, silver and silver is good, silver and a half arsed paint job in black, is wrong.

 

Hehe, too late, I've already started the job. I did a quick Photoshop on my car and liked what I saw.

I've keyed, etch-primed and applied one coat of black stone chip so far. Tomorrow I'll put another coat of stone chip on and then a couple of coats of ordinary satin black paint.

I figured I can always return it to the original SS if I don't like it.

 

Interesting...be sure to post up a pic, even if you hate it and decide to go back to silver.

I'll agree with OhioXK and say that, for me, the silver wire mesh can sometimes look better in photographs than in reality. I'm not sure I've seen my perfect solution for that area yet. But I'd like to see how this looks on your car, Frog.

 

FROG! You have one of the most beautiful XKs I've seen just the way it is! It needs no improvement.

 

Finished the paint job this afternoon and put the mesh back. It's too dark and wet to take pictures now, but here are my honest views:

The black mesh on my pale blue car looks

- slightly more aggressive/sporty
- more modern
- different

I wouldn't say it looked better or worse than the SS, just different. I like it enough to keep it that way for a bit. We'll see if I tire of it in which case I'll just strip the paint off.

I'll try to post pix next time the sun comes out.

 

I wouldn't mind doing my grille.

I did replace my side and front running light with whites and it looks so much better.

Actually, I'd like to blacken and then recess my grill, but eh. I'm pretty happy with how she looks now.

 

Frog,
You're keeping us in suspense. Pics please

 

The only thing that stays on the mesh is powder coating, done it many times

 

OK, here's a quick picture in the garage. I'll probably wait to see how the paint holds up and if it starts coming away I'll return it to the original SS.



Before anyone asks, the car on the left is a Ford Fiesta I am in the process of tidying up for my step-daughter's 21st birthday.

 

I like that look, actually. At least in the photograph. Nice work...now you just need to get rid of that license plate up front. Thankfully, here in South Carolina there is no requirement for front plates.

 

Thanks Frog, looks great. I think it's a big improvement on an already nice example of this model.

 

Fat chance of that here in Europe: number plates are compulsory back & front and here in France we're not even allowed personalised plates like they have in the UK

Thanks. TBH, I don't really think it looks that different, but as I said, I like it enough to keep it black for the time being

 

If I am really honest..... I prefered it shiny, it just went better with that color of XK.

Regarding the number plate, if you ever have to have the front painted for any reason just lower it, moving it down an inch has a great improvement on the looks.

I do know someone who actually makes a nice plinth and a set of grilles