Blacken up...but not out.
 

While I like the 'blacked out' look...I'm not down for smokin' my lights and lenses; so I'm going for the 'blacken' look...courtesy of Line-X.

My latest addition is the grill and brush guard...I just got the parts back today.

Here's some quick pics:





Next will be the powder coating on the stock rims, then the door handles and all the quasi-chrome will be gone.

Re: Blacken up...but not out.
 

Looks Awesome !! Gives it a rugged look. :jump:

Re: Blacken up...but not out.
 

Thanks...I must admit, the more I look at it, the more I like it.

One of my favorite mods so far.

Re: Blacken up...but not out.
 

Looks great, like how you removed the letters so they are sunk in.

Re: Blacken up...but not out.
 

...a flat head screwdriver and some patience; then a little solvent to remove the excess adhesive.

Re: Blacken up...but not out.
 

Are there any holes under the letters?

Re: Blacken up...but not out.
 

Nope. No holes. The letters are just hard rubber double-sticked inside the recessed letter. They peal right out once you get something under them.

CAUTION: I think you'd be hard pressed not to scratch the grill though when working these out. I wasn't concerned too much 'cause I knew I was spraying the part with Line-X and that the coating would cover any scratches I made; but if you're looking to have the recesses be nice and shiny like the rest of the grill, you'd have to be VERY careful.

Re: Blacken up...but not out.
 

Thanks for the 411. :)

Re: Blacken up...but not out.
 

I just got parts on my black H2 Linex sprayed as well. I did the grill, the plastic bumpers, the front bumper for the winch I just bought, and the rear metal bumper. I kept the brush guard the factory black to offset it a bit. I gotta say, I wasnt sure what to expect, but it looks bad ass in my opinion. Gives the truck a nice rugged look, without going too far.

Which linex shop did you use?

Re: Blacken up...but not out.
 

The closest shop to me is in Frederick, MD. Where are you at? MD?

I'd like to see some pics. Have you gotten anything else done? I had most of my interior sprayed and all of the bumper, trim pieces done all the way around the truck.

Re: Blacken up...but not out.
 

How much do they charge? There's one here in CT I wanna go to. Not sure how they come up with pricing...

Looks schweeeet!

Re: Blacken up...but not out.
 

I suppose they charge by how much spray they figure they'll have to use...and the prep work involved.

I've had mine in on three separate occasions:

• About a $1,000 for the interior pieces http://www.elcovaforums.com/forums/s...ghlight=line-x
• Another $600 for the bumpers and side trim (same link as above)
• And the recent work (grill and brush guard) was $350

It would have been about $300...but they had to get my guard sandblasted to remove the chrome.

Words of advise:

...any plastic pieces should be 'encapsulated' (sprayed on both sides) to toughen them up. Be certain to remove all your clips (and that silly white, cottony insulation on the interior pieces) from the back first...and you may have to do some trimming (opening up the slots where the clips fit) to get overlapping bits to fit together nicely.

...real chrome needs to be sandblasted (as mentioned above) so they'll be an additional cost.

...take it apart yourself and haul the pieces to Line-X if possible. All of my costs were merely for the spraying. I disassembled and reassembled the parts myself.

Re: Blacken up...but not out.
 

awesome..thanks!

Re: Blacken up...but not out.
 

Do you happen to have pictures of the tear down in the back or manual pics? I need to pull my back end apart but I am a little worried about breaking pieces as I do it. Those panels are a ripoff beyond words to buy them new...

Re: Blacken up...but not out.
 

Unfortunately no. But I can give you some guidance by memory...

To take out the cargo area interior pieces I find it's best to:

• Pull up the plastic door sill from both the rear passenger doors (3 clips...the one toward the rear is a little tricky because the sill locks into the rear side trim where the rear seat belts retract)
• Firmly grab the rear side trim which hide the seat belt mechanism and pull (these should pop off with no problem). You can pull the weather stripping away from the door jam to give you room for a better grip on the pieces too. NOTE: If you need to completely remove them you'll need a torx wrench to disconnect the seat belt from the body of the truck.
• Remove the speaker trim from the rear of the cargo area (pulls right off) and disconnect the speaker wires
• Remove the trim from above the rear side windows (again, pretty easy)
• Remove the sill from the rear hatch door (2 screws and some clips...easy)
• Pop the storage trays out of the big pieces covering the wheel wells; this requires a little gentle prying with a flat edge. The trays have little molded clips all the way around; once you get a few of them up it's a piece of cake to pull them free with your hands. This will let you get your hands inside the interior trim to find the clips on the big piece and better support the sections of these pieces as you tug the clips free.
• Remove the trim over the top of the rear hatch way and you're done.

The trim on the rear hatch itself is a bit trickier. I would recommend having a trim-clip removal tool for that.

Start by removing the interior handle strap; then I believe there's two 'plugs' on the bottom of the door that you need to remove first. You'll then be able to pry the trim down enough to see the other clips inside the door. Use the tool and pop one clip at a time...and take your time; maybe even have someone assist. It's all one piece and becomes a little unwieldy when trying to support the whole thing while carefully searching for clips.

All in all, everything comes off with a nice sturdy tug. I've had mine out on several occasions to run wires, have them sprayed, etc. and have never broken even one of the clips; but get that tool!

NOTE: It basically goes back together in reverse order, BUT I would highly recommend putting the storage trays back in the wheel-well pieces prior to installing them. To get the trays back in nice and snug all the way around you really need to have a hand on both sides of the trim or those last few clips will be a b!tch.

Hope this helps...let me know if you have any questions.

Re: Blacken up...but not out.
 

Nice man, thanks. As soon as I can park the ride for a couple days, I'm tearing apart the back! So sick of weak trim pieces breaking and wasting money to replace them. I am going to start with each piece and have them line-x'd if possible.

Re: Blacken up...but not out.
 

Love the look man! It was your truck that inspired me to do my grill, front and rear bumpers in Rhino Line :jump:




Total cost for the grill and both metal bumpers (blasted and primed prior to coating) was $500, this included the shop doing all the work of removing and reinstalling the parts. I'd love to do the black molding around the truck but my Rhino guy is wary of trying it, he is worried about the parts not fitting/not fitting as good as they might now.

For anyone who is considering this... DO IT! Cleanup on the liner is so easy, it looks great and chrome is for the ladies anyway!

Re: Blacken up...but not out.
 

Regarding the fit for the side moldings...it all fits together fine...tight...but fine. I had to open a few of the holes up a bit with a drill to get the fasteners back through...other than that it was good to go.

Re: Blacken up...but not out.
 

I'll get some pics up this weekend...gotta wash her first.

I got the grill, the lower grill insert, all of the plastic bumper pices front and rear, my winch front bumper and the rear metal bumper valance done. It ran me $535 for all of it.

Re: Blacken up...but not out.
 

Line-X is where it's at! Can't wait to see the pics!