Painted grille (1st timer = sweat n tears)
 

Fellow MyG37,

I wanted to share my work from this weekend.

So originally I had a painted grille but the a piece of the paint got torn off when I remove the painter's tape that I put on for protection on a 6 hrs drive :eek: So much for being pro-active.... :mad:

Seeing how so many people painted the grille themselves, I'd figure it cant be too hard right....?:dunno:

1st obstacle: Removing the radiator cover took me about two hours..I couldnt remove the cover w/out taking removing the coolant's resevior. I also had to go buy a piler to take off the clips holding the wires.

2nd obstacle: As I wanted to start fresh with a clean surface I tried peeling off the paint by hand. Unfortunately it didnt go so easy as I planned in my head. Ended up using Goo Gone to dissolve the paint (made a huge mess in the bath tub at the same time).

3rd obstacle: After finishing priming and painting I ended up with a dusty, hairy, matte black grille due to my choice of painting location (a dusty, windy corner outside the garage) :banghead:.

4th obstacle: Had to wait 24 hrs to sand down the contaminants and paint another coat. I also did a coat of matte clear for extra protection.

All in all it was a pretty exhausting 2 days; however, it did bring me closer to my car (cleaned the engine bay today and also bought more equipments from DI :biggthumpup:). I will put the grille on tomorrow after work to ensure that the paint is dry.

Now here's the finished product.

*PS* If anyone read this far and knows how to remove the chrome lip with camera, please do tell. I took off all the bolts but was afraid of pulling it too hard without the knowledge of how the camera is wired.

http://i959.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1273462630

http://i959.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1273462665

Looking good. People usually sand down the chrome part instead of peeling or goo goning it =P. What kind of clear did you use?

you certainly took a different approach to painting the grille with the goo gone. I sanded everything down, including the chrome piece you are talking about. you dont have to strip it complete, just scuff it up good to let the primer stick to it.

Did you wet sand between coats at all?? It looks like you didn't, but it still looks good nonetheless.

sounds like a mission but congrats on doing it yourself.

Im about to do this aswell

I didnt do any wet sanding, just regular sanding with 600 grits to get rid of the dusts (according to the lady at Home depot). Could you please explain to me how wet sanding will help? I will keep it in mind the next time I do something. For the clear coat I bought a can of matte clear rust o leum??

The new paint's texture is def different from the old one.. it has more grainy texture... not smooth plastic looking like the old one. I'm not sure if I did something wrong but it is for sure more durable and won't rip off from a painter's tape.

Overall I think it turned out pretty good. I'm just not sure if i'm confident enough in my skill to pull off the chrome lip to paint it or not.

if it's grainy to the touch, you either didnt sand it smooth (probably b/c you didn't sand it at all, and used goo gone instead) or you used a non-automotive paint (IE rust-oleum).

Hopefully it turns out how you want, but you made 10x's the work for yourself by doing it this way

It looks like you used a textured paint?? Wet sanding is accomplished using a special wet sandpaper ( black ) and is better because your washing away material as you sand that would gum up the paper, the process keeps the sandpaper clean and sharp as to cut down the surface being sanded and thus last longer...whew :rolleyes:

i'm not really sure... the only brand they have at home depot was rust o leum. I also saw it at the autozone so i thought it was fine to use.

it's called Rust-Oleum Universal All-Surface paint. What brand should i use next time?

The texture is not really grainy.. just not as smooth as the old one. I washed off the goo gone with Dawn, scuffed it w/ 3M red pad, and wiped it down with denatured alcohol before using the adhesion promotor so I dont think it was the goo gone.

what kind of clear coat did you use? im looking for one that will maintain the matte finish of my grill.

this thread gives me the confidence to do my own grille now:D

I noticed wet sanding will get rid of that grainy look. You should test it out on a piece of rough plastic yourself. Otherwise, I wouldn't sweat it. I painted my wheels on my previous vehicle, and wet sanding made the paint look much smoother and got rid of that orange peel effect.

:icon22:

the fact that you bought paint for your car at home depot makes me LOL. You should be using at the very least Duplicolor spray paint or some other kind of paint that is actually made for cars.

Again, if it ends up how you want I'm happy for you but IMHO you are creating so much extra work for yourself and doing it 50% as good as it should be

This is what I used...the clear had a dusty look to it at first. After i wiped it clean with water everything was good. I will try Duplicolor next time.

http://i959.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1273627586