Blacking out my stock grille

[SH30RB]

So i've decided to black out my stock grill, get rid of those ugly tabs and 'maybe' add some mesh behind it.

but my question is... where do i start?

would i just rub it back with some automotive scotch bright, then a primer, base coat, a few coats of black, then a few coats of clear?

[d-chang]

Hey Simon!

I'm actually undergoing that same project myself. What you need to do first is take out your grille... Fastened in with butterfly clips but easy to take out. If you have chrome wings or accents like I do, you can easily unscrew them off. You don't want to sand with them on or on the car because you will scratch the paint. Mask off your badge and start sanding. That's all I have got to so far, I did paint it, but got runs in the painting process, so sanding it back again...

[SH30RB]

Hey Simon!

I'm actually undergoing that same project myself. What you need to do first is take out your grille... Fastened in with butterfly clips but easy to take out. If you have chrome wings or accents like I do, you can easily unscrew them off. You don't want to sand with them on or on the car because you will scratch the paint. Mask off your badge and start sanding. That's all I have got to so far, I did paint it, but got runs in the painting process, so sanding it back again...

thanks dan! i've taken the grille off many times before (for no apparent reason)

i was contemplating a mock zero/sports, corazon style grille, with the mesh behind but i saw a pic of one blacked out... i liked it!

[bass_straitener]

This is what you want.

http://www.grafico.com.au/?q=auto-disegno

[d-chang]

thanks dan! i've taken the grille off many times before (for no apparent reason)

i was contemplating a mock zero/sports, corazon style grille, with the mesh behind but i saw a pic of one blacked out... i liked it!

Hahaha! Yeah I think we all have done that! Taking things out... because it makes us feel that we "know" our cars better!! Yeah I was also contemplating the after market grilles too... but saw the prices of them on eBay... and fell off my chair... this process we are doing now... is much cheaper... and in the end if we don't like/get sick of it... THEN we buy the grille!

[zch91]

I just removed my grill, unscrewed the wings, sanded them a bit with some fine sandpaper to remove any stone chips etc and then put on a few coats of paint. worked a treat. I have since modded a spare grille to be mesh though so the black wings are back in the box on my stocker haha.

[Lib 3.0LR]

This is what you want.

http://www.grafico.com.au/?q=auto-disegno

I think that's a great idea

[bass_straitener]

This is what you want.

http://www.grafico.com.au/?q=auto-disegno

I think that's a great idea

I was there today on some secret business and they are doing some fantastic work there. Today they were wrapping an audi TT of some sort in black carbon fibre. Looked bloody good. The material used has a 7 year guarantee, so should a fair while.

[MH3.0R]

This is what you want.

http://www.grafico.com.au/?q=auto-disegno

I think that's a great idea

I was there today on some secret business and they are doing some fantastic work there. Today they were wrapping an audi TT of some sort in black carbon fibre. Looked bloody good. The material used has a 7 year guarantee, so should a fair while.

Now Bruce can get the colour he really wanted, white!!!

[sedstrSTI]

That is pretty much the process Simon,
I blacked out my entire grille not long ago...
I didn't use scotch-brite when I did it, instead I used some light sand paper to scuff it up, little heavier on the chrome bits.
I actually took apart the little badge assembly so the chrome ring around the badge could be sprayed neatly. First I pushed the badge out from the back, a bit of prying from the front and with some force it came off. To separate the chrome ring from the badge just hold the chrome ring and push the badge out. All went back together nicely with some double sided tape and a touch of super glue. Thought you might like to do it this way, without the need to mask the badge off. Quick photo, gives you an idea of how mine turned out. 2 months on and it has help up quite well. I used a matte black with some matte drying clear, in your case colour coding it would look awesome.


Serge.