Midnight Black grille
#16
You know.. My factroy chrome grille got pretty chipped up just in the 2 - 3K miles I had it on the car, but the factory midnight grille holds up MUCH better. I have yet to get a chip on the black part (the chrome sections still chip) of the grille yet... knock on wood... and it's been on there for arouns 2K miles. Just beacuse of this, the factory midnight grille is worth the $200 investment IMO.
#17
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#23
It will look perfect. I was in the same boat. I did not want to do it because I like everything to be perfect. I had a 4 years old car with one little ding on it. I took it to the shop to get it fixed on the nxt day because I could not stand to look at it. It was hardly visible. One thing you have to remember. If it doesn't turn out as good as you thought it would be. You can either re-do it or get the midnight grill. That motivated me.
#24
Yep it's a nice glossy color. try it, if i went back and redid it i might use a black primer or something, so that if it does chip, hopefully it'll only chip to the black primer and it won't be that obvious there is a chip. But I guess if the rock hits hard enough and it goes back to the plastic then i'll turn up white anyways. I decide to paint my own because of the same reasons as Tg, I figured i wanted the midnight grill, if I get the grill it'll be 300 bucks, if i mess up, i'll still be getting the grill for 300 bucks haha.
#25
Thanks for the reassurance guys, I'm in the same boat as you guys, well kind of, if I could buy the grill painted perfectly from anyone then I would pay good money. But there's no one around here I'd trust to paint mine.
As for the black primer, how exactly would you go about using it? Would you spray black primer first and then, Krylon Fusion spray paint and then the Duplicolor clear coat?
As for the black primer, how exactly would you go about using it? Would you spray black primer first and then, Krylon Fusion spray paint and then the Duplicolor clear coat?
#27
Yeap, apply the primer, Krylon then the clear coat. Just remeber don't go too thick coat. Rather go couple of thin coat than the thick one.
Also remember if you screw it up you can just wait till it dries and sand it a little and paint again. Ask yourself what you can loose. NOTHING. I had a crapy grill could not look worst than what Infiniti left me with. LOL
BTW Infiniti reps stop using cheap crap. This is your final warning. Next if I find cheap things like this on my car I go with other brand. LOL
Also remember if you screw it up you can just wait till it dries and sand it a little and paint again. Ask yourself what you can loose. NOTHING. I had a crapy grill could not look worst than what Infiniti left me with. LOL
BTW Infiniti reps stop using cheap crap. This is your final warning. Next if I find cheap things like this on my car I go with other brand. LOL
#28
https://g35driver.com/forums/tech-07...e-removal.html
I did it myself and I NEVER "do it myself"! Haa! So yeah, it's pretty easy. If you buy the OEM Midnight Black Grille, it will come with instructions, but I was mostly going by the DIY thread above. There is a step in the OEM instructions that requires you to remove a large rubber/plastic molding on the corner. However, the DIY thread totally bypassed this step and everything turned out perfect -- made it a lot easier.
Hope this helps!
#30
DIY with Midnight Black Metallic of OEM
I finally got around to doing the grill...Easy - 10 mins or less in and out for the grill - most of the time was sanding (did 400 grit by hand and then finished with 800). I wanted the true OEM Midnight Black look and found a real close match in paint:
Rustoleum Metallic Enamel Finish - color is "Black Night Metallic" (color code# 7250)
Used Rustoleum Black Sandable auto Primer (2 coats) - Wal*Mart has the black primer in the auto section, Black Night Metallic (4 coats) and Rustoleum Crystal Clear enamel (4 coats). All found at Lowes - or Wallys.
Keys I found were using a quality masking tape (3M Blue) and being diligent about time between coats (needs to be every 2-3 minutes with the clear coat) and the metallic recommends a "dry" quick coat followed right away by a wet, heavier coat (to get a good, even metallic look)...
Came out great. Pictures shortly...
Rustoleum Metallic Enamel Finish - color is "Black Night Metallic" (color code# 7250)
Used Rustoleum Black Sandable auto Primer (2 coats) - Wal*Mart has the black primer in the auto section, Black Night Metallic (4 coats) and Rustoleum Crystal Clear enamel (4 coats). All found at Lowes - or Wallys.
Keys I found were using a quality masking tape (3M Blue) and being diligent about time between coats (needs to be every 2-3 minutes with the clear coat) and the metallic recommends a "dry" quick coat followed right away by a wet, heavier coat (to get a good, even metallic look)...
Came out great. Pictures shortly...