Paint your 360 key red

Many people are interested in getting an Enzo key for their 360, but the Enzo key is expensive and larger than the 360 key, so I painted my 360 key for a few dollars with great results. Follow these easy steps:

1. Pry off the glued-on horse with a precision screwdriver, the type with a rotatable head. Select a size that fits in the small gap between the horse and the edge of the recess. It comes off easily with a little force without damage.

2. Use a sharp hobby knife to carefully trim off any raised edges (like the edge of a pie) of the remaining glue in the recessed area for the horse. If this is not done, the recess will become smaller after painting and the horse will not fit back in.

2. Sand the silver paint with 600 grit sandpaper and wipe it clean.

3. Cover the key shaft with tape.

4. Spray on 2 light coats of general purpose white primer from any hardware store. Gray primer will make the red paint come out too dark. Allow the paint to dry to the touch between coats. A blowdryer can be used to speed the drying.

5. Spray on 6 or more light coats of red paint. I used Tamiya "Italian Red" from a hobby store, but any general purpose "Bright Red" from a hardware store will do. Dry it between coats. The last coat should be thicker to achieve a smooth shiny finish, but not too thick to avoid sagging and running.

6. Bake it in an oven for 30 minutes to harden the paint. The lowest temperature of my oven is 190. I let it warm up for a minute to about 150 and shut it off. Use something to hold the shaft and prevent the paint from touching the oven. A blowdryer can probably be used instead, but be careful not to heat it too much.

7. Attach the horse back on with cement that works on metal. Use just enough for good adhesion, but not too much to avoid making the cement squeeze out. Do not use instant glue, since glue vapor may cause clouding on the paint.

8. To avoid scratching and chipping the paint, I use a nylon string to attach the remote to the key and do not attach other keys to it. The knot is glued to prevent it from untying.

The entire process only takes about an hour. It is a simple, fun, and satisfying little project!
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Nice detail. thanks for te post and detailed DIY

I Think I'll paint mine car color while I'm touching up the front underbelly..

 

really nice job

 

Looks fabulous!!!

 

Not to hi-jack this thread or anything, but GOD that is a sweet pic. Do you have any more pics of your car? The rubino color is so incredibly seductive. Cheers!

PS! nice job on the key, VM3!

 

Nice job vm3! I think your key looks great!

 

I've paid my subscription twice, but It still won't sync up and allow me to post. but I have a bunch of shots ready to post in a few days when activated. one more teaser:

 

Bob... your car is SICK looking. Nice job.

Frank

 

I'm speechless. I have no speech. I'm without speech. That is easily the best looking 360 I've ever seen. CS or no CS styling, this one takes the gold medal. Congratulations.

 

He's so speechless he had to say it 5 times

 

WOW! Thought that you were speechless

Great looking key...It's different from the Enzo, but still VERY nice! Good work

 

Lol! I'm terribly sorry about these reposts. I kept getting a "download .php" file when I hit submit and it didn't confirm my posts. I'm sorry for ruining your thread, VM3 Moderators, please delete the superfluous posts.

 

No clearcoat?

 

No clear coat, since it might discolor over time.

 

Very cool mate. Looks fantastic.

 

Very nice key there. When I bought my 360, the grey paint on the main key was chipping off, so I used some sand paper and took it down to the bare metal. Then I polished it. It looks nice as it ages and matches the color of my car (which it titanium).

There is a thread in the showroom section for your custom keys - be sure to post a photo of your key over there as well

Ray

 

I actually painted my key also.
The trick I came up with for baking it was to take a small square of tin foil and bunching it around the key part. Then it easly stands up in the rack of the oven.
Now that I.ve said that a warning......I used caliper paint (high heat) and baked it at 450 for half an hour.
The key looked great and the paint looked like I enameled it.
Problem was it was so brittle that it has chipped like a mo-fo so now I am planning do do just that. I am going to drop it off to a guy I know that can emamel stuff and see if I can't have it truly emameld (can't figure out how to spell it.....I am a high school drop out who made good!)

 

Nice job, you ( or someone) could make some decent money doing what you have described

 

Is the enamel on cook tops and ovens the same as spray enamel commonly available in hardware stores? If they are chemically the same, the only difference is the baking.

The paint can be protected from scratches and chips by not using a metal key ring and not carrying other keys with it.

 

here's mine.
it was polished out last year and used to look 10x better.
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^ You beat me to it. I polished mine yesterday and I like how it looks. I'm gonna get some 2000 grit sandpaper so that I can get it completely mirror-like. I like how it looks though, and it really shines in the sun. The pictures don't really do it justice.
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That looks sweet!!

 

Did you pop off the Cavallino to do the polishing? If not, how did you protect it and get into the little cracks?

 

Yep, just popped it off with the corner of a razor blade. Next I used a wire wheel on my drill and got all the paint off. Then I sanded with 220 grit (it's all I had) and finally I polished with a buffing wheel on my drill. I would guess that a buffing wheel on a bench grinder would work really well because it spins much faster. I'm gonna get it perfect and then I will have it anodized clear, or covered in some sort of clear coat enamel. It's a little different than a typical red ferrari key, and it really stands out.

 

I like that idea. Actually, I was considering yellow. There are so many red keys.