spraying all front grille's gloss black

[matt86]

I was considering to spray my headlight grilles and kidney grille (whole front vinyl grilles) gloss black, as to bring a nice shine and to avoid paint fade and having to put back to black or black trim shine on all the time.

Has anyone else done this, I've seen the kidney grilles done but not whole lot, think it will give it a fresh, clean look.

Also would I need to sand down and rough up first to avoid peeling or would it be ok just to spray straight on?

Thanks

[Tom_Maverick]

don't do it.. it'll flake, get warm and come off and you'll never get all the silicone off... use autoglym bumper and trim shine with a paintbrush on a warm day and it'll stay black and glossy for ages.. same with the bits under the wipers!

[jonny323i]

i used satin black on mine with no primer and its been on there for nearly a year and still looks fresh

[matt86]

Ok thanks for the advice, was abit worried about flakeage.

Will keep as is and invest in autoglym then, as I know you know what your on about.

Cheers mate

[matt86]

i used satin black on mine with no primer and its been on there for nearly a year and still looks fresh

Hi Johnny was that satin black spray can? Did you do any prep work or just clean, dry then spray?

cheers

[cpfcluke]

Iv done this, and I think mine looks awesome! Was parked next to another e30 the same colour as mine, and not to blow my own trumpet, but because they were done in gloss black rather than faded plastic, looked a million times better! I'll try attach some pictures for you.

All I done was sanded the whole lot down, not too much, then gave them all a few coats of gloss black, then a few coats of lacquer.

I done that about 8 months ago and there's nothing wrong with the paint whatsoever so far.

[jonny323i]

just halford own cans a good clean and let it dry completely then sprayed several fine coats. They are cheap as chips and plenty of them about if it goes wrong in the future

[Tom_Maverick]

I have no idea what I'm on about.. but then.. neither does anyone else on here really

I'm just talking from personal experience.. satin will grey over time, and it's a mare to get sh*t off.. also it'll never have that glossy fresh plastic shine! if you are determined then you'll need to clean off all the polish and back to black with a decent hot fairy liquid bath.. (this is for the best results before some cleverpants chimes in with 'I didn't bother and it worked fine AND I gained 10 BHP across the rev range )

[cpfcluke]

I'm just talking from personal experience.. satin will grey over time

That's exactly it, personal experiences.

Iv seen Toms car, and all his front grill etc looked awesome, just depends what you would rather do!

I wasnt planning on spraying the whole lot, but I was spraying my kidney grills and got a bit carried away and luckily came out okay.

[matt86]

Thanks all for your advice, its not a big lossfor me apart from cost of paint as have 2 of everything from my car as had too and stripped one down last weekend and took every last part of, so thought maybe give it a go and see what happens and will always have a standard set to put back on if paint peels, flakes etc.

Cheers for all the advice.

[Ajsingh]

i sprayed my headlight grills and main kidney grill in gloss black over 2 years ago and have never had to repaint them. they make a massive differance to the front of the car and its my daily drive so it sees all kinds of weather and conditions..... never faded.

[Ninja_Penguin]

i sprayed the wiper slats with satin and not had any problems with them. have been wondering what to do with the front though...and the bumper plastics. the greyish black look isnt nice

[HairyScreech]

also painted my grills satin as the plastic was looking tired, must have done it over 3 years ago, in fact maybe as much as 5 years ago, there still ok today.

[snakebrain]

How much is a set of new grilles?

[Ranchero]

I painted a set of old scuttle grills matt black and they look fine. I think the trick is to not go mad. One thin coat should do it.

[DavieP]

I did mine over 3 years ago. I used 2 coats of acid etch primer on the 'chrome' and then 2 coats of satin black over the lot. In just the past few months some chips are finally appearing, but you have to look for them and there's no flaking. If you do the job properly, you will get a lasting finish. I'll re-do mine this summer - it's a quick and easy job and one that gives immediate impact. Provided of course that you like the all-black look.

[hongkongfuey]

I used plasticote on mine, primer then 2 coats of gloss black. Even when dirty looks better than silicone or back to black

[Tom_Maverick]

Even when dirty looks better than silicone or back to black

I don't doubt it looks good.. but thats a big claim.. seeing as with paint, it'll never have that glossy 'wet' black look.. I could get pics of mine if you like..

I think it's down to personal choice.. I clean and treat mine on a monthly-ish basis so it looks like it just rolled out of the factory...

[Daryll]

In the process of painting mine now for the car I haven't got yet. I did them on my cab and 2dr and they both looked factory fresh for years. Well worth the effort.

[polsta]

I painted a set of old scuttle grills matt black and they look fine. I think the trick is to not go mad. One thin coat should do it.

i did some-a light sand down with 1200 wet dry, plastic primer, then few coats of satin black, looked like new and lasted well

also theres that forever black stuff, comes highly recomended and said to be brilliant, although never tried it been meaning to get some

http://www.rollupandshine.com/forever-b ... -256-p.asp

[Dezzy]

I have painted scuttle grills before. Only use Satin black. Gloss black is for dodgy used at salesmen.

New plastics are only satin finish. Gloss is just wrong.

[Jozi]

I've not used this but it looks good:

Gtechniq C4 Trim Restore

[matt86]

i sprayed my headlight grills and main kidney grill in gloss black over 2 years ago and have never had to repaint them. they make a massive differance to the front of the car and its my daily drive so it sees all kinds of weather and conditions..... never faded.

Out of interest what primer and paint did you use?I'm in the process right at this moment in time of plastic primering the rills after washing and drying of course and then 2 coats of gloss black, on second coat and looks good but to be fair is till wet, does this sound ok to you? I have another 2 sets standard anyway, so not a masisve disaster if it all goes tits up.

[zaust]

Get a heat gun on them. It brings the oil back to the surface and makes them look all shiny and new. much better than a flakey paint job.

[matt86]

Just finished mate and pretty much dried, they look ledgendary, just did 2 coats of plastic primer after cleaning really well, then 2 coats of glos black and it looks lush, nt bad for 10 quid. cheaper and easier than buying new grilles.

Would highly recommend, as long as you dont mind your grille alittle bit shiny and blacker obviously

[hongkongfuey]

Even when dirty looks better than silicone or back to black

I don't doubt it looks good.. but thats a big claim.. seeing as with paint, it'll never have that glossy 'wet' black look.. I could get pics of mine if you like..

I think it's down to personal choice.. I clean and treat mine on a monthly-ish basis so it looks like it just rolled out of the factory...

Just to clear up, i was on about mine. Also as a personal thing dont like using silicone as it makes oily marks on a polished car, see it more on darker cars, not that i have to worry as mines mate black lol

[Tom_Maverick]

I getcha.. I always mask mine with the lid of my cleaning products crate! it does look the nuts when it's done..