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MarcQuinlivan

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Thanks to matt beating me on a recent ebay item i've just saved about €194.

I was bidding on a set of S3 vents and would have gone up to €200. Managed to sort myself out with a set on Friday for the princely sum of €5.97. I also got myself a pair of small vents for the top of the dash at no extra charge!

so thanks matt!

Vents001.jpg

Vents002.jpg

Vents003.jpg

Vents004.jpg

Vents005.jpg

Vents006.jpg

Vents007.jpg
 
I was well impressed when I saw Matt's, a defo mod for next year! How did you manage to get £250 S3 vents for £3 and also did you sort the RNS-E chrome knob, as your dash looks complete!
 
lots of time and patience, masking tape and two coats of this:



I got it in a local DIY superstore, but Halfords do it too.

I had several people looking at the car yesterday and none of them could believe I had painted them myself - a perfect streak free finish and an almost perfect match for the existing chrome ring that was already on the vents. when i had the vents fitted again I decided to give the smaller vents a go and see how they looked. I think they came out quite well.

It's amazing how much the other chrome bits stand out now that the vents are chromed.

Yeah, I got the knob sorted too. had to file the inside of it down almost entirely and then cut some notches into the bit that was left to make it grip the dial on the rns-e as I had filed out the original bit that grips it. not sure if that makes sense, but if you have the knob in your hand you'll see what i mean.
 
Haha. Looks good mate - you need a steady hand for that. You've got me thinking about my RNS-E button now .... rather than replace it with a chrome one maybe I could enamel it. Mmm ....
 
MarcQuinlivan
i was thinking about the knobs myself,understand what you mean about the bigger one but how do you go about the smaller one?
top job by the way with the spraying but please please cut your finger nails:lmfao:
 
A mod I've always wanted, but not for £250. I think I may go down the £3.50 route though.

Marc - Did you remove the vents or paint in situ?
 
removed them. really simple - just turn the dial so the dot is at 45 degrees from 12 o'clock (you should feel it click to a stop if you move the dial slowly). they then slide out, albeit with a bit of force - i found the best thing was to insert a flat headed screwdriver in at the bottom and pull straight out. by that I mean insert the screwdriver poining towards the roof and then pull it towards the rear of the car. does that make sense?

once you have them out you need to mask them up along the chrome ring and cover the whole vent. no real need to cover the back of the vent as it will be buried in the dash, but I did anyway to give it that authentic look.
 
Looks brilliant Marc. If the finished product is pretty much identical to OEM S3 vents i'd consider doing this!
 
Marc this might be a dumb question but how exactly did you mask bits off? What did you find to be the most accurate way of doing it?
 
just masking tape, newspaper and a steady hand.

i ran the masking tape around the rim to cover the existing chrome ring and then covered the top of the vent in newspaper held down with masking tape - you need to make sure you have the top fully covered so you don't get any overspray leaking onto the vent itself.

i'd say it took me about 30-40 minutes to get the masking done. pain in the *** to do, but worth taking the time on it.
 
Marc....You had an S3 on a test loan didn't you? How well do your painted vents match up to the real thing?
 
in my opinion they are almost identical - the only difference is that the chrome ring on the standard vents is black on the s3 ones. the finish is as near to perfect as you can get - no smudges, smears, fingerprints or lumps and bumps.

certainly anybody who has seen them so far has assumed they were the real thing and didn't believe me when I said that I sprayed them myself.
 
marc
how do you remove the smaller knob on the rns-e, i sea you put pics up of some you painted but there not the ones on your car are they,as im looking at getting the newer ones and understand about the filing down on the larger one but havent a clue on the smaller one.
cheers
 
I used some of that Plastikote chrome stuff for a DIY project and thought it useless. I sprayed 3 coats to plastic following the instructions on the back of the tin. Yes it looked good but it didn't wear very well, the enamel rubbed off after the item had been handled for a week or so.

I personally think it would not be suitable for the items you have painted as they are touched quite often but i'm happy to be proved wrong!
 
1wheelonly said:
marc
how do you remove the smaller knob on the rns-e, i sea you put pics up of some you painted but there not the ones on your car are they,as im looking at getting the newer ones and understand about the filing down on the larger one but havent a clue on the smaller one.
cheers
Click to expand...

you can follow the first few steps of this guide to remove the front: http://www.native1design.com/rnse/RNSEmotherboard.pdf

and then you need to remove the circuit board from behind the front and the button comes off from the inside.

Sem said:
I used some of that Plastikote chrome stuff for a DIY project and thought it useless. I sprayed 3 coats to plastic following the instructions on the back of the tin. Yes it looked good but it didn't wear very well, the enamel rubbed off after the item had been handled for a week or so.

I personally think it would not be suitable for the items you have painted as they are touched quite often but i'm happy to be proved wrong!
Click to expand...

don't know about anybody else but i never adjust the vents - they're just always open so would never get pawed.

if you are concerned about it you could always coat them in a clear laquer to provide a bit of extra protection i guess. I didn't bother though because, like I said, they never get touched anyway.
 
Marc, do the vents not come off so the could be sprayed or painted off the car?? sorry if i am being nieve! i think you have done a blinding job by the way
 
Marc.... I did this myself last night and it looks brilliant mate. Doesn't look like a DIY job at all.
Depending how hard wearing the finish is, i would think is all down to the texture of the plastic you're spraying. I've never touched the vents in 7 months of ownership so i'm not concerned about that at all.

Also popped off the air con dial/switch facias and sprayed those. Going to rub them down with a bit of wet and dry and spray again to get them glass smooth then laquer them (obviously they get touched a lot more).

So yeah....a great tip, cheers Marc!
 
audi upgrades
PNH80 said:
Marc.... I did this myself last night and it looks brilliant mate. Doesn't look like a DIY job at all.
Depending how hard wearing the finish is, i would think is all down to the texture of the plastic you're spraying. I've never touched the vents in 7 months of ownership so i'm not concerned about that at all.

Also popped off the air con dial/switch facias and sprayed those. Going to rub them down with a bit of wet and dry and spray again to get them glass smooth then laquer them (obviously they get touched a lot more).

So yeah....a great tip, cheers Marc!
Click to expand...

like i said, if it is something that is going to get a lot of use then perhaps a clear laquer over the top would be helpful.

wouldn't mind seeing what you've done with the aircon - i still have a can and a half of the stuff left!! might pop in on the way home and see if I can pick up a small can of laquer.
 
I'll get some photos later Marc....

Basically it's just the facias that pop off. Just pull them, they won't break....Honest lol

Worst case scenario 'if' the paint started rubbing off the vents (which i know it won't).... I'd just apply some satin finish laquer. Hardly the end of the world!

Don't think i'll be spraying anything else though, just the vents and air con controls are a nice touch. I've got the satin chrome alloy gear knob so they match perfectly.
 
Sorry Marc i meant the knobs to turn the temperature up or down....
 
Not sure on the little fixed vents on top of the dash, look a bit cheap.

Rest looks ok though.
 
I'm not the type of person to do things unless i KNOW it'll look right. I made sure i did a good job masking etc and they do look OEM. No one would ever think it was a DIY job.
The finish is exactly the same as all the other satin chrome bits in the car.
 
Marc - is it possible you have every available mod going for the A3?!!

The vents look good.

PS how much are the Silver rotary buttons for the Sat Nav and are they easy to fit?
 
Wow Marc...that looks ****** OEM...!! Nice cheap mod too...

Do have any idea where I can purchase this paint and get it send to Norway?
 
Ian_C said:
Marc - is it possible you have every available mod going for the A3?!!

The vents look good.

PS how much are the Silver rotary buttons for the Sat Nav and are they easy to fit?
Click to expand...

I got them off ebay for about 30 euro, but I think they are about £40 from Audi. There's a bit of work in fitting them - the top one just pulls off, but the replacement one needs to be filed down on the inside to make it fit. The bottom one needs the whole front to be taken off the unit and the dial replaced from the inside. It should also be noted that we have since discovered that the dials are actually for the RNS-Low rather than the RNS-E which is why they are not an exact fit.

Dennis Moeller said:
Wow Marc...that looks ****** OEM...!! Nice cheap mod too...

Do have any idea where I can purchase this paint and get it send to Norway?
Click to expand...

Halfords here sell it. I got it in a local DIY superstore. If there is an equivalent to Halfords over there then they might stock it, or your version of B&Q or similar.

Failing that, there's a guy on eBay who does paints who will ship them worldwide. €5 a tin and then £5 shipping - I'm sure there'd be a good deal on combined shipping. You may get 3 tins shipper for £5.

http://cgi.ebay.ie/PLASTIKOTE-FAST-...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
 
audi upgrades
Dennis Moeller said:
Do have any idea where I can purchase this paint and get it send to Norway?
Click to expand...

Just had a look at the Plasti-Kote webpage and the nearest stockist to you is in Sweden. Somewhere called Hornbach.

Sweden
Hornbach
www.hornbach.com


Alfort and Cronholm
Alfort and Cronholm
Box 11043
161 11 Bromma
Johannesfredsvagen
Sweden
Click to expand...

Not sure what they are or how close to you they'd be, but it is another option for you.
 
Dennis Moeller said:
Just ordered it from the eGay link...sweet. Thanks...
Click to expand...

eGay?... Mate, whatever sites you look at in your own time is your business. We're not here to judge you ;)


Anyway, a quick photo of the painted vents and air-con knobs in my car. Apologies for the appauling quality....Didn't realise the resolution was set so low on my phone!! On the up side it means you can't see the covering of dust!

SP_A0694.jpg
 
i assume that is just glare, and you've not chromed your gear knob!

wouldn't mind a better quality close up of the aircon switches when you get the chance. what laquer did you use on them?
 
Haven't actually laquered them yet but they look totally OEM already. I'll laquer them just for wear purposes. The Plasti-kote laquer looks ok, probably pick some up this weekend and see how it looks.

The gear knob is an OEM solid alloy, satin chrome one i picked up off eBay.... £50!! £130 from the stealers i believe? The guy fitted it to his A3 and his mrs said it had to go because it made her hands cold....
 
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