[Onoitna]

Hey there guys, I have seen a few Beetles pass around town that have the lower indention (if you will) of the rear fender where the two reverse lights are at in a black color and I find that to be a very nice look for the car.
I wanted to see if anyone has done anything like this and how to do so. I've received suggestions from friends as to who I could go about doing it, but I want to know anyone else has and if you could share your wisdom on how it was done.

Note, that is not my car, it is actually one I found online.

 

[OmahaTDI]

I recently did that to mine, but since I wasn't 100% positive I'd like it, I used Plastidip. I do like it now and plan to peel off the Plastidip & paint it matte black this coming Spring.

It's pretty simple to apply the product I used, simply clean off the area really well, tape off around the area outside of the indentation and reverse lights, clean one more time and apply

 

[Onoitna]

Better safe than sorry for a small experiment I'm sure.

And well I guess I plan to paint it then just so its more "durable". Of course this would be my first time to use pain on my car and I'm really not sure what to look for, how to do it, or how much it might cost.

Plus I might be looking toward painting my hood and the roof black just so everything is somewhat color coordinated and just a bit more of a personal vehicle.

 

[MDDG2020]

I did mine with plasti dip. Just taped off the bumper with masking tape and newspaper, Turned out good, and looks nice and I have went through a car wash and it stayed on.

 

[OmahaTDI]

I forgot to post a pic of mine. Like I said, I plan on painting it this Spring.
Here it 'tis:

 

[Onoitna]

Yep, that's exactly how I want mine to look, along with the front valance like you have in that mostly black color. Also since I followed the link on the pic, I wanted to know what size wheel and tire you're running on your Beetle, I have time yet until my tires need a change but I wanted to change the wheels as well and just wanted to see what sizes might fit.

 

[OmahaTDI]

Yep, that's exactly how I want mine to look, along with the front valance like you have in that mostly black color. Also since I followed the link on the pic, I wanted to know what size wheel and tire you're running on your Beetle, I have time yet until my tires need a change but I wanted to change the wheels as well and just wanted to see what sizes might fit.

Wheels are: 17x8 38mm OS (stock OS is 35mm)
Tires are: 245-45-17 (these are the stock tire size for NBs with 17" wheels)

 

[Bandi]

I did mine a few weeks ago using satin black vinyl.

 

[imertens]

I like! Nice job!


Herbie's Nurse Dude

 

[Onoitna]

Wow, that looks great Bandi! I like it especially since my car is that same color. How would vinyl work though? I'm guessing you'd have to glue it on, right?

Also, Omaha, I see that your car seems lowered, am I correct? And if so, how did you go about doing it? I've been contemplating oh whether I should do the same and how might I go about doing so.

 

[OmahaTDI]

I'm on ROKKOR coilovers. Allows me to dial in the height I want. During the Spring & Summer I lower it quite a bit. In the winter I raise it back up for my snow tires and road conditions. Of course it does not sit at stock ride height even in the winter, LOL

 

[Onoitna]

Oh I see, well I'm running Bilstein B8s on my car at the moment, and I was just thinking of maybe just getting a spring kit to maybe lower it a bit. Do you use any camber kits? I've heard from people that if you drop it over 1 inch you should.

Dude, I know what its like in those conditions, my cousin drives a lowered Jetta and it would scrape the ice on the road that was not compressed by traffic. Just sounded nasty.

 

[bryantoski]

Hello there my car does have it painted, but you can also use plastidip if your not sure or you are planning on removing it.

 

[OmahaTDI]

Oh I see, well I'm running Bilstein B8s on my car at the moment, and I was just thinking of maybe just getting a spring kit to maybe lower it a bit. Do you use any camber kits? I've heard from people that if you drop it over 1 inch you should.

Dude, I know what its like in those conditions, my cousin drives a lowered Jetta and it would scrape the ice on the road that was not compressed by traffic. Just sounded nasty.

I didn't need a camber kit but my rear tires to have a little camber to them, but they are only on 8 months or so out of the year. I just rotate them every time I make the switch. The roads can get bad here for sure

 

[007]

i did my grey turbo-s and im going to do it to my silver one too.

-jd

 

[Jimithin7000]

I am digging the look, may have to try it soon.

 

[OmahaTDI]

I'm on ROKKOR coilovers. Allows me to dial in the height I want. During the Spring & Summer I lower it quite a bit. In the winter I raise it back up for my snow tires and road conditions. Of course it does not sit at stock ride height even in the winter, LOL

Winter mode with stock 16" wheels painted satin black and big ol' 205-60-16 snow tires! Still lowered, but not as much





Lower front grill also in black

 

[Onoitna]

I'm liking the way all these bumpers are looking. I'm going to try this out as soon as the weather begins to get better here in Texas.
Man, those are some thick tires Omaha, does handling increase in the snow with them? Pretty sick though. I also saw that front valance painted when I followed the link on one of your first pics and I've actually considered doing mine the same, however I need to replace it since the previous owner broke it along with a fog lamp.

I've got to ask though, since I just happened to be in the paint isle at AutoZone (probably not the best place to obtain painting supplies) yesterday while waiting on my dad, how do you go about doing it with paint? I know I'll have to obviously mask the area around the indention, but I'm not sure what kind of paint to buy, if I need to sand the current pain down etc etc. I'm hoping to use of the advice I get to maybe paint the roof and possibly the trunk.