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Painted the Factory Grille


HTownLegacy

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Question, so what do you use to clean off the surface once you sand it down? Do you wipe if off with a damp cloth? or just blow off the dust using compressed air?

 

i just hosed mine down thoroughly and then patted it dry with a cloth/towel. if available, you can use a tacky cloth, but i really don't see a need to go out and buy the special cloth for this purpose alone (unless you have unlimited funds) so to sum it up, just spray it with the water hose, then dry. hope that helps.

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  • 5 months later...

i LOVE the look of the satin black grill and plan on completing the mod as soon as it gets warmer here.

 

QUESTION: am i missing something? why would we have to sand the 'chrome' grill surround? i would think as long as it's completely clean and free of anything that would prevent the paint from sticking (armor all, grease, etc.) we should be able to paint right over the 'chrome'. i've painted similar 'chrome' like trim before without any sanding.

 

also, are you all painting the entire grill or just the chrome surround and wings?

 

Thanks!

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  • 5 months later...
:redface:i did this in an hour an a half while the old lady was out. couple three coats of krylon fusion satin black. did the entire thing with it. i used norwegian hand cream by neutrogena, but vaseline or whatever's goopy and wont dry while your painting should work. i apologize for the chitty camera phone pics. what do ya think?

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  • 7 months later...
why would we have to sand the 'chrome' grill surround? i would think as long as it's completely clean and free of anything that would prevent the paint from sticking (armor all, grease, etc.) we should be able to paint right over the 'chrome'. i've painted similar 'chrome' like trim before without any sanding.

 

I'm gonna bump this.

Provided the factory paint is still mint, why not paint several coats directly over the (cleaned) faux-chrome & then seal it with clearcoat? What does sanding offer that painting over the existing paint does not?

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I guess without going into a bunch of chemistry, the simplest answer is that sanding is required for the paint to "adhere" properly. You can wash the surface with soap/water to remove contaminates, sure, but with out sanding, the paint will not bond properly with the plastic surface. The sanding/scuffin creates tiny surface irregularities for the paint to "lock" into. Without taking the time to do this step, you will find that the paint will not endure the abuse of being pelted with road debris.

 

- Allen.

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I'm gonna bump this.

Provided the factory paint is still mint, why not paint several coats directly over the (cleaned) faux-chrome & then seal it with clearcoat? What does sanding offer that painting over the existing paint does not?

Allen is correct, it's pretty simple . . . when painting any surface that is extremely smooth and/or has already been painted, if you spray the new paint straight on, it will not adhere properly because it has nothing to bond to. By sanding or sandblasting the surface you give the paint very fine grooves to "grab onto" in layman's terms. On interior accents, etc, it doesn't matter as much, but on a surface that sees extreme conditions like a vehicle's grille, you can kiss your new paint job goodbye fast without proper surface prep. I learned the hard way:

 

Lazy Prep after less than a month on the road:

http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu325/tunedlgt/Picture002-1.jpg

 

 

Proper prep after a year on the road:

http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu325/tunedlgt/Picture028.jpg

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that's kool, i have also have seen my friend use plasta-dip to do that with his grill, well i did it for him, it does give it kindof the same look and doesn't damage the paint/chrome undereath it. u just buy plasta-dip for $25 at a hardware store and spray it on, the only thing is that u got to be really even with the spraying and let it dry for a good 1 to 2 hours, cause if u don't, it will come off. Once it is dry, you are ready to drive in style :cool:, and it also can go thru carwarshes without any damage to the job u did.
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