How To: DIY s13 hatch center garnish lettering

[jaysgottaredtop]

i've had a lot of people aking me about my taillight center garnish, so i figured i'd post this in case anyone wants to find/follow my process in the future.


go from this...
http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/jaysgottavtec/240sx/0902102044.jpg

...to this...
http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/jaysgottavtec/240sx/0903101923.jpg


...but with any lettering you can think up. SIL80, POS13, SOS13, ASS13, S1337, POO40, PIGGY, ZENKI, CHUKI, KOUKI, DUMPD, E-BRK, TURBO, BOOST, NAWSS, BROKE, 4SALE, PORSH, FRARI, 86LOL, whatever, you get the gist. feel free to post your own clever garnish ideas!



1 ) unbolt the center garnish. 6 lil nuts.

2 ) preheat the oven, anywhere from 200˚ to 300˚ will do the trick. i baked it at 240˚ for the lulz.

3 ) pop it in for a few minutes to warm the glue.

4 ) pull it out and use a flathead to ease the red cover off the black housing. glue will be nice an soft. takes very little effort.

http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/jaysgottavtec/240sx/0902102332.jpg

5 ) flip the red cover and look at the back side. from this side its all silver, with the 240SX lettering raised. time to sand it.

6a ) be a dumbass like me and spend 4 hours sanding it by hand as smooth as possible.

6b ) be smart and spend a couple minutes using an electric orbital, or some equally fancy sander, to get it as smooth as possible.

7 ) using 1/8" grid paper, draw the letters. each letter is 1" tall, and 2" wide (except for the skinny "1" of course). 1/8" between each letter. vertical strokes are 1/2" wide, horizontal strokes are 1/4" wide. curves have a 1/4" radius. just look at pictures of 240SX, 180SX and RPS13 garnishes, it'll be obvious how to make the letters/numbers. oh and it lines up PERFECTLY with the factory letters. general idea:
http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/jaysgottavtec/240sx/0902102255.jpg

8 ) cut 'em with a ruler and exacto knife.

9 ) use a glue stick to glue the outlines of the letters to the INSIDE of the garnish. (painting the inside keeps your paint clean and out of the weather. and looks wayyyy cooler and more OEM.) tape everything else. all you can see from the back is the backwards POS13 in red, everything else is covered in paper or tape.

10 ) swipe your housemate's spray cans. paint those letters black.

11 ) remove the tape and grid paper, and inspect your edges. use the exacto to remove bled paint, make those lines look straight and clean!

http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/jaysgottavtec/240sx/0903101826.jpg

12 ) tape the edges of the garnish and bomb the entire back with silver paint.

http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/jaysgottavtec/240sx/0903101855.jpg

13 ) reassemble. don't worry about adding fresh glue. the plastic clips hold it in plenty fine. and it's not sealed all the way around from the factory, so don't bother trying.

http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/jaysgottavtec/240sx/0903101903.jpg?t=1327343738

14 ) reinstall. get lulz from all your pals.

http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr353/jaysgottavtec/240sx/0903101923.jpg

15 ) spend your RPS13 tails money on something other than RPS13 tails.

:w00t:

Edit: 7/18/17, 6-ish yrs later and this center garnish is still on the car. No paint fade or anything out of the norm.

[Walperstyle]

admire the honesty behind the name, lol!

[S-Nation S13]

Nifty idea you got there !!!!!!

[Mishkin_707]

Lol, love the POS13, makes me wish I had a hatch, awesome job! Way to think outside the damn box

[z3us]

i had this thought about 2 months ago but stopped at the glued garnish. But your post has inspired me to continue my thought. And that is to keep the 240sx but make it illuminate! im working on it now.

Sample pic:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-WrTV6CTLcaA/Tx7t30_Gn9I/AAAAAAAAAQ4/GR4PKhjW62Q/s912/IMAG0057.jpg

[jaysgottaredtop]

finally a non-crappy picture

http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/9720/dsc3327t.jpg

[ray666]

thats rad. mos def gonna try that on my spare garnish

[jamg]

hahaha that's really cool.

[davidpham]

very nice!

[Bushido]

damn...
if i ever spend this much time on some stupid shit like this punch me in the face plz.

[Bushido]

but forreal tho..

this nigga lookin looking like gollum all hunched over in his moms house tracing out letters on shitty taillights.

my preciousss
get real.

[KevinniveK]

Thank you for sharing!

[jaysgottaredtop]

damn...
if i ever spend this much time on some stupid shit like this punch me in the face plz.

but forreal tho..

this nigga lookin looking like gollum all hunched over in his moms house tracing out letters on shitty taillights.

my preciousss
get real.

forreal tho. you sound mad.

it's also worth noting that you get mad at other people for "hating" in other threads. funny how that works.
http://zilvia.net/f/chat/153667-pic-thread-post-pics-your-cars-here-no-pics-no-post-stop-quoting-pics-531.html#post4685511

[Nikeboy355]

Good job man...

I guess you have one of those "morbid" senses of humor with your car... And put on a shirt!...

[KiLLeR2001]

What will these ricers think of next?

Oh and now you need to match your quarter windows.

[Silentoreo34]

POS 13

Very classy sir.

I guess you have one of those "morbid" senses of humor with your car... And put on a shirt!...

+1 on the shirt.

[jaysgottaredtop]

i'm sexy and i know it. mods edit for NSFW thread title? :naughty:

....but actually it was hot as balls that day. my apologies.





and c'mon guys, i KNOW someone out there has tried this too. i wanna see your version!

[RandallSharp]

i'm sexy and i know it. mods edit for NSFW thread title? :naughty:

....but actually it was hot as balls that day. my apologies.





and c'mon guys, i KNOW someone out there has tried this too. i wanna see your version!

I'm going to be doing this pretty soon.

P.S. I really want some Starion rims now :werd:

[sloganish]

What will these ricers think of next?

Oh and now you need to match your quarter windows.

This makes sense coming from a Cubs fan.