I would be interested in the chrome bars.

 

yeah, it is a hard call isn't it? i thought it'd certainly be "different" but it does take some getting used to.....almost like the hummer's wearing a "mask"!!haha

anyway, my take is that while the glossy seems topop a bit better, the "flat" might be a better choice because the relative flat color of the both the front bumper,black steps, etc. hmmmm.......

well, now i'm looking to add the STARR HID's with the black inserts.......black (MANIK) tail lamp guards.......still have the dealer running down the black "tactical" H3 wheels.

 

Hi Northerner. I actually decided to keep the side steps because I thought of something I can do with them. Besides, after driving around with them off for the past few days, it just doesn't look the same. I used to be more into functionality then looks but these people on here with their mods are infectious

 

That would look sweet. I'm not one for the HID lights (because honestly, they annoy the hell out of me when they are shining in my eyes [:@]), but with the black inserts that would be really nice, especially if you get the smoked tail lights. I was going to just put a low layer of tint on mine, but I have some other ideas for them.

Those wheels are going to be nice but you'll probably have to sell your first born for them. I hope you have hook-ups at the dealer.

 

HG, how about popping off your chrome pieces at the hood on either side of the wiper assembly and painting those black as well? or, here's an idea, anyone with a black H3 want to swap for some red pieces?

 

I thought about that but I'm going to keep those. Basically, I'm going to put a coat of high-gloss paint on the bars, and TRY to put a layer of chrome on the plastic steps themselves. This way, the bars will hopefully be high gloss and reflective and since nobody really uses the steps, the chrome accents of the plastic steps should look nice with the chrome. The bars have absolutely no rust and are powder-coated, so that should make a nice base coat for the gloss black. The chrome is another story. I know they sell spray-paint chrome, but I hear it's very hard to work with, ie, if you don't spray it perfectly even, it will not look right. I'm going to apply a thin layer of silver paint as a base coat and then spray the chrome on it. Hopefully it won't look TOO bad. If it does, then just go with a flat-black for the steps, but I at least want to try.

For the rear tire cover, I'm going to put a coat of this on as a base coat:

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/effex.html

Then, I'm going to use this as a clear coat:

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/nitelites.html

I'm getting a custom-made Criss Angel decal made for that area, so in theory, the rear tire cover should illuminate at night when light hits it and make the Criss Angel logo appear as light is glowing around it. The decal will also have a "special" coating on it that should look awsome at night.

I already painted the exhaust, skid plate and rear axle with a semi-gloss black, so it looks dark under there when you see it. Everything from the front and rear of the truck looks blacked out which is what I was going for and it actually worked (to my surprise). I haven't painted the leaf springs yet but will probably do that tonight or tomorrow morning since I won't be driving the car at all until tomorrow night at the earliest.

As for the windows, I was going to put a layer of tint on them, but I have some other ideas I want to try.

My friend I work with has a new technique he has where he sandblasts a VERY small, almost microscopic layer of glass off of your windows and can create images from it. You'd have to see pictures of his work but it's awsome. Nobody as far as I know has ever done anything like it because I have never seen it, but the images are etched directly into the glass, so I'm probably going tohave the HUMMER lettering etched into the front windshield right at the top. After some of this talk about the windshields cracking though, I may rethink it. The stuff this guy has done to his Vette is awsome. I'll get some pics and post it if you guys want to see, but it's definitely something no other Hummer has out there. He has it down to an art and is very good at it.

I already customized the hub caps but that was just to make them stand out a little more. I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do with the off-road lights. As much as people don't seem to care for them, they make the truck unique, and they are VERY functional in the dark. Unfortunately I have only needed them a couple of times, but I was very grateful I had them. For those, I may either remove the bar completely, or paint it flat black and keep the lights chromed. I'm still trying to decide what I want to do with them.

I'm also thinking about painting the black roof rails/plastic a high-gloss black. I want to have a nice mix of gloss black, red and chrome. As far as the windows go, well I'm still toying around with some ideas for those.

The whole point is you dont have to spend alot of money to make something look unique and give it your own personal touch. I am a very visual person, where I can see

 

HummerGuy thanks for the reply. I am in the market and just haven't brought myself to paying the bucks for a set of chrome nerfs.

Actually after reading your post and the others who have ditched the chrome, I am not sure which way I should go anymore..

Looking forward to your new look!

Mark

 

Uhm....CHROME!!!

 

shut up bob



I'm still going back and forth ; "To Chrome, or NOT to Chrome? That is the question.."

I'm still debating it to be honest. After having a change of heart about getting rid of the nerf bars, I actually started painting them gloss-black this morning. I got one done and hopefully I'll get the other done sometime today once the humidity goes down a bit. It turned out pretty good, but not as glossy as I wanted them to. I bought a can of REAL chrome paint to paint the plastic steps on the bars, but I saw something there I may do, which was RED Chrome. Apparently they have Red and Blue chrome paints as well as silver. I may paint the steps red chrome instead of silver but I'm not sure. I'm thinking about it.

What I might do is paint the front chrome grill the red chrome to match the body, but I'm not sure how that would look. I wish I could see what red chrome would look like on there but I can't.

I decided not to do the Criss Angel logo on the tire cover, but instead cleaned it up and put a coat of this glossy reflective silver topcoat that basically spakles silver/chrome when light hits it, but since it's a topcoat, it can be applied to pretty much anything. It takes hours for it to dry so it's hard to tell right now how the full effect of it will be, but hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to see it in the sun. I'll try to snap some pictures of it.

I'm probably going to apply a coat of high-gloss clear coat to the nerf bars after the steps are painted.It says on thecan it takes 7 days for the paint to cure, so I'll wait until next weekend to apply that. Hopefully that will prevent the bars from chipping or fading with all the road dirt and grime.Again, I'm not sure how the red chrome will look on those so I'm not sure if i'm going with that or silver, but nobody has gloss black with chrome steps, so it should look different (I hope in a good way)

I'm still thinking about what to do with the windows and the light bar, but I'll figure it out. I MIGHT put a coat of this reflective silver leaf flake stuff on the three back windows, but I'm not sure. I did it on one of my other cars and it actually looked pretty cool at night. Everybody thought I was crazy until they saw it and it's a pretty unique look.

I do know that I'm going to buy one of those brakelight trailor hitch chrome steps they have. I AM going buy the third row of seats this winter. I wish I had the money to do it now, but I may just buy the plate and install it and get the seats one by one. My wife's family is full of short people so they would fit back there believe it or not It would be awsome to have a third row with 2 more seats, and that step can be used to get in and out. We all go out alot and we can rarely use the hummer because we don't have enough room. I never use the back for anything so it would nice to do. That will be the last part though, but I will get that step (Although I'm going to drill new holes so it can go further in and doesn't stick out far.

I have no idea why I'm keeping such a big diary of crap I'm doing here, but I guess it just helps me figure out what I'm looking for. Hopefully when it's all done, it will not look like any other H3 out there, but it won't look like I just bought 2454 eBay parts to throw on it either.

 

Here are some pics of what I've done so far: