Wow, you're up early. Anyway, yes it is bare aluminum polished with some paste wax on it. It matches all the other silver trim in the car perfectly and looks like it came from the factory that way. It kind of frames the shifter to make it look more important. As it should since manuals seem to be disappearing by the minute.

 

I couldn't sleep. Up all night worried about your project.

IDK about the rationale here with the bare metal, because these pics make me think otherwise. But I'm certainly looking forward to seeing how it all comes together with that new **** installed. I'm also curious what you do about height on that STS, if anything.

Have you decided which thread to do that in, or will you be creating another? I vote for a new one, but please keep the others updated, just in case. LOL

 

It's ok. You can go to sleep now that you know it turned out awesome. It really ties all the chrome trim together well, but it does make the shift **** stick out like a sore thumb. Difficult to get a good picture as it is so shiny like the other chrome trim.

Height should be easy since the shift **** is adjustable height and not much taller than the current shift ****.

Well, I really wanted to create a new shift **** thread, start of install thread, and finished product thread. But then I decided not to make your head explode. You're welcome.

 

Wow, that took some dedication, would think vinyl wrap would be the easiest route.

Also not a fan of the shift pattern being on the trim rather than the shift ****, and the shift **** design itself is pretty weak IMO

Would really like something simple and factory looking, like this, but with "stone" interior, would be nearly impossible to match

 

I've tried vinyl wrap before, but it just ends up looking cheap compared to actual metal. I thought about a carbon fiber wrap again, but thought it would make the interior look too dark.

You might be able to have a local leather/custom interior shop replace the leather with a matching color. It is such a small amount of leather that it should not be too expensive.

 

Subbd. Need to refer back when i tackle this summer.

 

Aside from the effort, there are a few downsides to doing this. When you remove the coating the part becomes extremely shiny so when the sun hits it at just the right angle it can get in your eyes. It will also show fine scratches easier. That being said, I am still glad I did it and really like the shift **** I have now with the shift pattern on top. Had I found a shift **** I liked without the shift pattern on it, I would have gone that route.

 

thanks for that. My plan is to give it a brushed look with some fine sand paper and not polish it.

 

I don't know that your idea will work as it is a dull coating on top of shiny metal.

 

Have you considered wrapping it?

How about approaching a local body shop for advice and options? Better yet, a Tint shop.

Or how about sending it out to be hydro dipped?

In working with my shifter and boot over the last few years, my trim has a tiny deformation in one corner. It's really nothing, but I see it, and that makes it less than perfect. Is there a part number for this thing? Having two of them certainly mitigates the pressure if it became a project, and I think messing with the trim ring could be a project.

 

I am almost positive you can buy the trim piece separately. I swear I looked into this before attempting to melt the trim off of it and not thinking it was too terribly expensive in case I screwed it up royally. Look into it for sure before you start a project, but it seems strange that you would not be able to get it from any Infiniti dealer.

 

 

I bet that would look nice. Have any links to that?