I bought my G used and the previous owner had ripped the Infiniti badge off the grill, painted it black, and installed wire mesh over top.

I want to restore the factory look and luckily the wire mesh hasn't damaged the grill. I bought a replacement badge and removed the wire mesh, but the grill is supposed to be chrome and the black paint is flaking off a bit.

Are there any recommendations as to what products will take off the paint without damaging the chrome?

Thanks.

 

More than likely you'll need a new one, most people who paint their grills sand the grill to give it a rough surface for paint to stick

 

^^^+1 If you want it to look as good as stock, you will probably be better off replacing it.

 

No maybe about it..... you won't be able to restore properly.

If it's in good shape, you might find someone willing to trade though.

 

Find a stock user grill, or trade someone.

 

Thanks for the input. If the paint won't come off I'll re-paint it black or find someone to trade. I'm not sure it was sanded because the existing paint is flaking off in several places.

While I would prefer the chrome, black looks good as well.

I wouldn't even mind to do-it-yourself grill if the previous owner had done a good job with it.

 

Post pics...i'm curious.

 

Black grille actually looks really good on our cars IMO. But if you want the chrome, you need to buy or trade for a new one. Personally, I would just sand, repaint black, and put clear over to prevent flakes.

 

I took a few pics now that I've got the grille off the car. It's obvious that the wire mesh was put on while it was still silver and the grille was chrome, then it was spray painted black, so after the mesh was removed you can still see the pattern. The actual mesh used was like this stuff.

Pic 1:


You can see the mesh pattern here. There are also a few holes (sets of two holes, one above the other) that were drilled into the grille and then used to fasten down the mesh using steel wire. There are actually a lot more of these holes than I first thought, but they are not as noticeable in real life as they are in the pic because in the pic the flash is reflecting off the chrome inside the hole and also where I scratched off the black paint getting the wire out. These should fill in okay and will look a lot better after I've re-painted.

Pic 2:


This shows the black paint flaking off and a bit of the steel fastening wire. My camera makes the paint and chrome look rough, but it's actually smooth and the chrome has definitely not been sanded.

Pic 3:


Here is a full shot. You can see there are quite a few holes here, but like last time the flash accentuates them. I'm hoping some filler plus a proper paint job will hide the holes from anybody who's not looking for them.

 

ya no need to waste time they go for about 50$ on here

 

if you want to try to fix that one, get a can of lacquer thinner and a few rags. go to town on it with the thinner. shoudln't hurt the chrome, but will dissolve the paint so you can wipe it off. It's worth 15-20 minutes to try.. if it looks like crap, then buy another one. can't lose anyway because the only other option is to throw it away...

of course make sure you do this off the car....

 

The grill is plastic, won't it eat into the plastic?

Off topic. you aren't Matt that used to have the red 3rd gen Max on 3rdGen Maxima site a few years ago are you. If you are, is that site still around, I had a 3rd Gen years ago and used to frequent that site.

 

Yeah, that's me. Finally got tired of working on the Maxima and bought me a G last Friday.

Lacquer thinner *generally* won't eat plastic, especially when it's plated with chrome.

Acetone will eat most plastics and paints tho.. stay away from acetone.

 

Well congratulations on your new G Matt.
Thanks for the tips.