DIY Painting front grill.
03-02-08, 06:40 PM
#1
DIY Painting front grill.
Ok so i told a few people i would do a DIY thread for painting the front grill and here it is, after like 3 weeks delay. Sorry. haha.
P.S. when i did my car it was windy and about to rain so i didnt have time for pics. But i have a few, enough to let u understand.
Things you will need.
The tool kit from your trunk
Painters Tape.(the blue kind)
SandPaper
Primer
Black Paint
Clear coat(optional)
1) Open your hood and remove the front engine cover. Tape up your bumper, like around the grill so it wont scratch when u pull it off, dont make the same mistake i did, i now have a big scar on my bumper now.
(I dont have Pictures yet and i cant find the one on the forums but ill post it up later)
There should be weatherstriping on top of the Grill and remove it by pulling it off gently.
Theres a bolt in the middle of the grill, remove it. Now look on the side of the grill and there would be two clips, remove them. There should be 4 clips in all, two on each side.
2)Now Remove the front grill by Pulling it towards you. Don't pull up or it will never come out. Pull it out, towards you.
3) The Chrome part and the middle part of the grill should come apart and this is what you will have.
This
and this , sorry i didnt take a pic of it when it was chrome but this is what the piece looks like when its alone.
Now get your sand paper, and sand away. I used this kind from autozone, i used #400 and it was too soft for me so i would recommend using 600.
I found Wet sanding works better, maybe because my sandpaper was so soft. So if you got a higher number sand paper i would try dry sanding and if it hardly works then try wet sanding. You should sand till the clear coat is gone, untill it becomes dull and not shiny.
4)Wash off the Chrome piece and dry. Now its time to prime. I used Sandable Primer from autozone. Just follow the directions on your primer.
I would Prime twice and then sand then prime once more then sand then prime again.
Of course wait for it to dry between coats.
heres what mine looked like after i was done
5)Time for paint.
(i took this after the first coat of paint.)
I added 8 coats of paint and waited 10 mins between coats. Youll see why i added so many later on.
6)Time to add a clearcoat, now i couldnt find clear coat in my autozone and gave up and decided to not add any so thats why i added so many layers of paint. Im sure if u do add clear coat u could only add about 5 coats of paint then add a few layers of Clear Coat.
7) Now wait for it dry for the rest of the afternoon. When mine was done i took the clips that hold the weatherstrip off. I used snall pliers and just pinced them out.
8) Put back your grill and to get the weatherstrip back on, just put the clips u removed form the grill on the strip first then push it back on the grill. As for the clips that are not on the grill, i left it be.
And now your Grill should be painted. and look like this.
P.S. when i did my car it was windy and about to rain so i didnt have time for pics. But i have a few, enough to let u understand.
Things you will need.
The tool kit from your trunk
Painters Tape.(the blue kind)
SandPaper
Primer
Black Paint
Clear coat(optional)
1) Open your hood and remove the front engine cover. Tape up your bumper, like around the grill so it wont scratch when u pull it off, dont make the same mistake i did, i now have a big scar on my bumper now.
(I dont have Pictures yet and i cant find the one on the forums but ill post it up later)
There should be weatherstriping on top of the Grill and remove it by pulling it off gently.
Theres a bolt in the middle of the grill, remove it. Now look on the side of the grill and there would be two clips, remove them. There should be 4 clips in all, two on each side.
2)Now Remove the front grill by Pulling it towards you. Don't pull up or it will never come out. Pull it out, towards you.
3) The Chrome part and the middle part of the grill should come apart and this is what you will have.
This
and this , sorry i didnt take a pic of it when it was chrome but this is what the piece looks like when its alone.
Now get your sand paper, and sand away. I used this kind from autozone, i used #400 and it was too soft for me so i would recommend using 600.
I found Wet sanding works better, maybe because my sandpaper was so soft. So if you got a higher number sand paper i would try dry sanding and if it hardly works then try wet sanding. You should sand till the clear coat is gone, untill it becomes dull and not shiny.
4)Wash off the Chrome piece and dry. Now its time to prime. I used Sandable Primer from autozone. Just follow the directions on your primer.
I would Prime twice and then sand then prime once more then sand then prime again.
Of course wait for it to dry between coats.
heres what mine looked like after i was done
5)Time for paint.
(i took this after the first coat of paint.)I added 8 coats of paint and waited 10 mins between coats. Youll see why i added so many later on.
6)Time to add a clearcoat, now i couldnt find clear coat in my autozone and gave up and decided to not add any so thats why i added so many layers of paint. Im sure if u do add clear coat u could only add about 5 coats of paint then add a few layers of Clear Coat.
7) Now wait for it dry for the rest of the afternoon. When mine was done i took the clips that hold the weatherstrip off. I used snall pliers and just pinced them out.
8) Put back your grill and to get the weatherstrip back on, just put the clips u removed form the grill on the strip first then push it back on the grill. As for the clips that are not on the grill, i left it be.
And now your Grill should be painted. and look like this.
03-02-08, 07:55 PM
#9
ohh i recommend duplicolor from walmart if your going to redo your chrome trim! too bad theres no SGM spray can to do this. only for black cars! then again i can sand and prime it myself then get it painted! which i stupidly didnt do.. now it chips real easily cause the body shop did NOT sand it down when i told them too.. bastards
it was easy for me to get it painted
