DIY blacked-out grille w/ pics

[meiso]

I just did my grille the other day on my black/black sedan. It came out pretty good, it was a quick job. I sanded it down and sprayed it with glossy DupliColor it came out really good, for the time it took I need to re do it to make it more perfect.

Just an opinion from everyone, doing the grille in flat black and then spraying it with clear coat come out better or the same as using a glossy paint?

[Agent F]

I've been wanting a black grill for a while now, and I have several questions. First off, what's the difference between doing it yourself, and having a bodyshop do it, would they be using some different kind of paint? would it look differently in the end?
Secondly, out of all the products on this thread(me leaning towards the 3 part duplicolor approach) what would you guys recommend? Is the Plastidip stuff worth it? What's the purpose behind it, to protect from the elements?
Third of all, I live in San Francisco, and we get a ridiculous amount of fog, would the moisture damage or wear the paint faster than should be or anything?
Thanks guys, looking forward to doing this, my IP coupe is beggggging for it!

[IvoryG35S]

it looks a LOT better on a black G in my opinion. I did this to my Ivory Pearl G and it looks cool but still.... better on a blackie.

[TurboDreamzG]

I did mine in the flat.....not to fond of it, i think i'm gonna redo it in the gloss black. my grille doesnt feel smooth it's real rough. is that cause i didnt sand it down enough? and also if i sand it back down to repaint it gloss black do i have to prime it again since i have already painted it once?

[meiso]

I'd resand it, wipe it off with a damp cloth, you don't have to primer the grille if you don't want to. But just to make sure it's really smooth you may want to consider it. I know that's what I'm going to do when I redo mine..resand, primer and respray.

[Agent F]

Anyone in Norcal planning on doing this? I'm down to team up with someone, feel like I might F*ck it up by myself.

[redlude97]

Originally Posted by TurboDreamzG

I did mine in the flat.....not to fond of it, i think i'm gonna redo it in the gloss black. my grille doesnt feel smooth it's real rough. is that cause i didnt sand it down enough? and also if i sand it back down to repaint it gloss black do i have to prime it again since i have already painted it once?

If its rough its due to overspray and has to do with your painting technique. Flat paints should still feel smooth to the touch, resand, and possibly wetsand between every few coats to help with the overspray, or work on your technique

[TurboDreamzG]

Originally Posted by redlude97

If its rough its due to overspray and has to do with your painting technique. Flat paints should still feel smooth to the touch, resand, and possibly wetsand between every few coats to help with the overspray, or work on your technique

Ok I might give that a try, thanks hai. And if I wetsand between coats what grit would you reccomend? I used 320 to sand it down when stripping it for the first time.

[strife]

I really like the blacked out OEM grill....I have an unpainted Ionic grill sitting in my garage I am thinking of trading someone for their OEM grill + a bit of cash?...anyone in the 604 area (Vancouver) interested in trading?????
http://www.ionicdynamics.com/G35grill.html
I want to keep my original OEM grill as is...and do this DIY on another OEM grill

[wobe8]

I think I'm going to get this grill for my 05 Sedan and paint it flat black...

http://www.autoaccessoriesgarage.com...nk=#additional

Anybody have anything like that so I can see pics?

[TurboDreamzG]

I'm respraying my grille.....what grit you guys use for sanding?

[officerdbag]

Originally Posted by TurboDreamzG

I'm respraying my grille.....what grit you guys use for sanding?

400 grit. I'm in the process of doing this now.. I'm going to be applying the third primer coat right now then finish the job when I'm done work.

[officerdbag]

THANKS!

[Agent F]

Originally Posted by ninous26

THANKS!

Yours looks pretty good, is it decent up close? What process and materials did you use, I wanna do this as soon as the weather is decent (which might be NEVER)

[officerdbag]

Originally Posted by Agent F

Yours looks pretty good, is it decent up close? What process and materials did you use, I wanna do this as soon as the weather is decent (which might be NEVER)

Yes it's pretty decent. I followed everything step by step that the OP did.. Everything I bought was the same as the first pic.

I washed the grill and dried it up real nice.. Used up all the sand paper.. 3 coats of the gray primer spraying in a horizontal direction from left to right.. wait 10 min in between each coat.

Then I followed up with 7 coats of flat black. 10 min between each coat

then 4 coats of clear coat 10 min drying time.. I left the grill for about an hour and cleaned up the emblem and put it back on.

IMO since I have a black car I should have used a glossy black instead of flat black. Still looks good either way.


Oh, and you might want to use gloves when sanding down the grill. My fingers got really sore half way through the sanding.