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Painting a chrome grille


ahardb0dy
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So today I got to meet one of our members, Ezlife (Don), I gave him a headlight I took off of my PF when I switched to hardbody style headlights and in exchange I got a chrome Hardbody grille.

 

I don't have any chrome on my PF and want to paint the grille black. I sanded down pretty much most of the chrome with some 320 (may have been 220) wet/dry sand paper. I'll wipe the grille down with isopropyl alcohol before I paint or prime.

 

Question is should I use an self-etching primer or a adhesion promoting primer first?

 

The self-etching primer says:

 

"Dupli-Color® Self-Etching Primer etches and primes bare metal in one step, making it ideal to use as the first step in all automotive priming projects and for use on spot repairs. A high-quality formulation allows for maximum adhesion under all types of automotive finishes on plastics, fiberglass, bare steel, aluminum and stainless steel surfaces."

 

and the Adhesion Promoter says:

 

"Dupli-Color® Adhesion Promoter improves adhesion of enamel and lacquer topcoats to all surfaces, including plastic and chrome. Adhesion Promoter is an all-purpose clear primer ideal for both interior and exterior applications."

 

So I guess either one could be used on plastic.

 

What do you think?

 

 

Thanks

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i think i have done this and it didnt last long same process your doing what did wok for me was actually peeling the chrome foil off and painting the plastic underneath it lasted permanetly on my old hardbody

 

but to answer your question if u peel the chrome i would say just a primer but the duplicolor adhesion promoter wont benefit u on this because its not real chrome its like a tin chrome film so it wont stick right i have pictures of how mine would just chip the paint away

 

hard to see the grille but my hardbody originally came with a full chrome front

downsize_01.jpg

 

and after painting i use engine enamel because that stuff is tough and will survive the road sald rocks and everything that will get kicked up at it.

 

223734_446980818681339_1181824496_n.jpg

Edited by shoesandsocks
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How did you get the chrome to peel off? Some areas that I sanded I can see the copper color under the chrome so I know the chrome layer is not that thick, but no where does it appear that the chrome would peel off.

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i found a bubble cut it open with a razor and just peeled it off its like a giant sticker its a pita but it will come off also if u can get underneath it a lil u can spay aircraft stripper on it and it will start coming off like butter

 

oh and heres a pick of how mine chipped all those lil dots are where the chrome came through primer and adhesion promoter applied

106_0508_zpsb598223f.jpg

Edited by shoesandsocks
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Well today I picked up 2 cans of Krylon Fusion satin black paint and painted the grille. Going to see if they make a satin clear, don't want it to be too glossy, looks pretty good the way it is. Here is a before and a quick after pic I took :

 

 

j5dveu.jpg

 

 

 

zmeia1.jpg

Edited by ahardb0dy
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Just put a few more coats on the grille, I see Krylon makes a matte finish clear, have to find some, the Ace hardware I went to does not carry the matte clear only the gloss clear

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Noticed last night don't know why but the paint has glossy and flat looking areas, thought it was because I put the grille after it's last coat of paint in my shed with the AC on, but I checked it again few minutes ago where it sat in the shed with no AC on overnight and it looks the same. So I just re-coated it with what was left in the second can and it's sitting out in my screen room right now, figure sitting out in the heat may help it dry better plus no bugs to get on it. Still waiting to hear back from Krylon on what clear they have is compatible with the Fusion paint I used.

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Well just got off the phone with Krylon, I guess I'm limited to a gloss clear as they said I should stay with the Fusion clear over Fusion paint. It should look good anyway. Off to the store for some clear. Pics later.

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I dont think the fusion clear will disappoint. I used some over the spray tint on my tail lights about 2 years ago and there's still no visible uv damage or anything. Mine came out glossy but definitely not high-gloss, kind of oem-esque.

 

I'm curious to know if yours turns slightly white immediately after drying. Can't figure out what the heck is happening but anything I paint gets a frosty finish on it that brushes off when the rest of the paint dries. Not really important but puzzling nonetheless

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If you're forced to use gloss when you want satin or semi-gloss, you might try knocking the shine out of it (once completely dried/cured, of course) using 000 steel wool. I've not tried it myself on painted plastic, but it's used to knock down the shine on rifle stocks that are refinished and come out a bit too loud with the specular highlights. It dulls it slightly without leaving scratches (if done gingerly).

 

As for engine paints, there used to be some rattle-can semi-gloss that was pretty good for engine bays - I think Krylon made it. I used it on my '66 Fairlane. Some of the engine paints need to "bake" to fully cure though - and I'd be hesitant to throw a plastic trim or grill piece in an oven to simulate engine heat. :crossedwires:

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I just finished a few coats of the clear, it isn't looking so good right now, there are white area's. I'm going to let it dry for a while than maybe next weekend if the white is still there, I'll try to do something to get rid of it.

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Well that didn't go as planned !! Kind of pissed off right now, plus I just sliced my finger with a brand new razor blade !!!

 

Finger is taken care of for now.

 

Went out to check the clear on the grille, it was still cloudy so in an area that won't be seen when it is installed I wet sanded a small area with some 2000 grit and water, it made the clear look like it was sanded, than I hit that spot with some Mothers Pre-cleaner and wiped it off, it looked really good !! So I did an area right in the middle, same result, so I wet sanded the whole front and around the headlight openings, that's when things went from good to OH CRAP !! I noticed a finger print and a mark that looked like my finger pushed the paint !!!

 

So I wet sanded those areas and got it best I could, minimizing the 2 nicks I saw. Hit it with the pre-cleaner and the whole thing started getting really soft. I knew it wasn't long enough to be working on it that's why I tried an area that wouldn't be seen.

 

Well, long story short, I started taking the paint off with a razor blade, it pretty much came right off all the way down to the chrome, area's that wouldn't scrape off I used some brake fluid and that took it right off.

 

SO back to square one, 2 days of painting wasted, plus the cost of the paint and clear, and one nice razor blade sliced finger on top of all of that.

 

Maybe I'll just buy a black grille !!!!

Edited by ahardb0dy
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the spots that you had that were dull and then glossy are usually spots where u stop spraying and then restarted and with black its usually alot more noticeable than most the only advice i can give is sweep start at the nooks and crannies that are hardly visible and make sure there all painted then sweep over the entire grille left to right might make it a lil more level this is only a suggestion based on how i did it though.

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I need to finish stripping off the black paint than I think I'll try using a different brand of paint this time.

 

Either that or I may just order a new grille probably would be cheaper. Sucks the grille from Rockauto is less than what the shipping costs !!

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Well that didn't go as planned !! Kind of pissed off right now, plus I just sliced my finger with a brand new razor blade !!!

 

Finger is taken care of for now.

 

Went out to check the clear on the grille, it was still cloudy so in an area that won't be seen when it is installed I wet sanded a small area with some 2000 grit and water, it made the clear look like it was sanded, than I hit that spot with some Mothers Pre-cleaner and wiped it off, it looked really good !! So I did an area right in the middle, same result, so I wet sanded the whole front and around the headlight openings, that's when things went from good to OH CRAP !! I noticed a finger print and a mark that looked like my finger pushed the paint !!!

 

So I wet sanded those areas and got it best I could, minimizing the 2 nicks I saw. Hit it with the pre-cleaner and the whole thing started getting really soft. I knew it wasn't long enough to be working on it that's why I tried an area that wouldn't be seen.

 

Well, long story short, I started taking the paint off with a razor blade, it pretty much came right off all the way down to the chrome, area's that wouldn't scrape off I used some brake fluid and that took it right off.

 

SO back to square one, 2 days of painting wasted, plus the cost of the paint and clear, and one nice razor blade sliced finger on top of all of that.

 

Maybe I'll just buy a black grille !!!!

 

Found this, sounds like what you were experiencing (as for the cloudy part at least)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijyw_oJNE-Y

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I'm going to strip as much of the paint off as I can and try to paint it with what ever paint I have laying around. If I buy anymore paint it will be cheaper to just buy a black grille. Thanks

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