DIY: Grill painting as requested

[CYO44Baseball32]

I figured I'd paint my grill black, well actually I tried smoke metal first but didn't like it. For anyone else who has had this idea heres a write up.

1. First remove the grill from the car (thats a pain in the a$$)

2. Sand the grill down with 100 grit sandpaper, here it is half sanded



Heres a close up:



Completely sanded:



3. Apply the first coat of primer, I used Dupli-Color filler primer



4. Apply 2nd coat:



This is my attempt at smoke metal if anyone was interested, came out kinda flat:



5. First coat of Black (used Dupli-Color high temp Gloss Black:



6. 3rd coat of Black:



7. 1st coat of Clear-coat Dupli-Color wheel covering:



8. After the 3rd coat of clear-coat is dry:



With the Mt. Fuji symbol back on:



Back on the car:

[snwbrdr435]

Wow that looks alot better then i thought it would good job

[SVTCOBRA]

Nice Job! And nice job on the DIY!!

[Kenrik]

Why do you continue to De-mod the car.. that is, why make it worse then it was to begin with?

For example.. Painting a grill is OK but doing it with spraypaint is just ghetto.. that coat will last maybe a few months before it looks like crap. (Trust me I know)Automotive paint is the way to go! For as much as you paid for those duplicolor spay cans you could have put a few bucks more in and gotten it done at a shop with quality paint. ($50 - $100 total)

I personally don't like the color of the calipers, but if you like it that's ok!

Again I ask spray painting the (Really Nice/Expensive) calipers on a 40K car?

Why not spend $100 and get them powdercoated?

The HID Kit.. really Zipties? come on.. I don't need to say more.

I'm not trying to be an *** and I feel you should do whatever you like with your car... I'm just pointing out that some of the stuff you're doing is ghetto and there are better ways to go about it for just a few bucks more.

it reminds me of this saying:

"Cut enough corners and you will end up with a circle"

**End Rant**

[Sentientbydesign]

I sort of/kinda agree with Kenrik.

The green calipers are great on a half-way sports car. An Infiniti? eh...

The Grill is cool. I expected it to be more black in the picture though. Must be lighting.

I hope Kenrik is wrong and your high-temp paint job sticks.

Nice write up!

[Beancooker]

Wow Kenrik, just when I thought you were getting rid of the chip on your shoulder...

Maybe body shops are cheap in FL, but here I would have to pay out at least $100+ to have a grill painted. I can get the cans of Dupli-color for $30.

Zip ties... Well, if you have ever installed an aftermarket HID system, you know that there isn't a whole lot of extra wire. You kind of have to put the ballast where you can. Sometimes there isn't a place to put it, so you end up putting them in the only logical place... where they will fit.

[SVTCOBRA]

I have to agree with Beaner on this one...... I was just about to do the same thing to the grill on my Sedan, but traded it for the coupe. It was pitted badly. The one on the coupe looks fine.

I have also had a smaller ebay grill (pathy) resprayed by a local shop. It was a different color (sand), so they matched the color on my grey 01 for only $67. Perfect match & looked great.

However, I was still planning to do the G grill myself, so Brian's DIY gets another . Thought it would be pretty cheap to try a color and if I didn't like it re-paint it another.

[CYO44Baseball32]

WOW someone drank their haterade!

Grill looks fantastic in person, looks like it came that color from the factory. That is my favorite cosmetic mod on the G37.

Brakes have been painted for about 6 months and still look exactly the same. I still love how everyone hates on my green brakes and then one guy who hated hardcore on them showed up at Hot Import Nights with the same color.

Also If you would like to come look in my engine bay and find a place to screw the HID kit in be my guest. Zip-ties came with the kit b/c they know most cars have limited space. With the size of those boxes and length of the wire there was no safe place to screw in.

Also I enjoy I the work I do on my car, I much rather do it myself then have someone else do it. I'll reluctantly let a shop do something if I can't do it, aka my springs.

As Ms. Jones says in the morning, "Hi Hater!"

[audtatious]

He has G37 envy

For the writeups you have done, can you check http://www.nicoclub.com/subpag...shtml and make sure everything is there? I already know this one is not there yet.

[G_whizz]

s usual.. great write up and I think it looks fantastic!

Nice job Brian!

Kenrik...go back to bed..

[Sentientbydesign]

Poor Kenrik had a bad day and everybody is picking on him lol.

CYO,

None of the rest of us "brake haters" will be copying our green. No worries man

[Kenrik]

All I said was don't do it ghetto..

I don't think that's being a hater...

What he has done "IS" Ghetto.. you don't Spraypaint/Ziptie a 40k car..

I'm not saying that any of his mods are bad just that they were done in a less then exceptional way..If he likes green calipers GREAT but powdercoat them don't whip out a $5 can of spray paint.

With enough thought and a few bucks @ Home Depot I'm sure he could have come up with a mount for the hid ballasts..

You will never see a can of Spray Paint get near my G35 PERIOD. I'm not saying don't mod, I'm just saying don't mod half assed..

I speak from experience.

[CYO44Baseball32]

All I said was don't do it ghetto..

I don't think that's being a hater...

What he has done "IS" Ghetto.. you don't Spraypaint/Ziptie a 40k car..

I'm not saying that any of his mods are bad just that they were done in a less then exceptional way..If he likes green calipers GREAT but powdercoat them don't whip out a $5 can of spray paint.

With enough thought and a few bucks @ Home Depot I'm sure he could have come up with a mount for the hid ballasts..

You will never see a can of Spray Paint get near my G35 PERIOD. I'm not saying don't mod, I'm just saying don't mod half assed..

I speak from experience.

Ok lay off the haterade, don't be jealous that you don't have a G37. Also IMO opinion your wheels look like s***, why would you put wheels that small on a G? now those are ghetto

You can't even tell my brakes and grill are not powder-coated, if I told you they were professionally done you'd say oh ok nice. The Zip-ties came with the HID because they know you'll need them, if you actually read my previous post. The reason you wouldn't let paint near your car is because you don't have the skill to paint it yourself.

Hi Hater!!

[audtatious]

OK gentlemen, time to play nice.

Brian, I doubt he is really jealous of the '37. I was just picking on him.

Kenrik, we know it's not your thing but let it be. There are tons of things modified on various vehicles around this forum that I think is stupid that others think are absolutely fabulous. As long as they like it then I'm fine with it.

As far as zipties, they are hidden and now easy to remove. I almost used zipties on my Maxima install but was finally able to find an appropriate mounting location. I've looked at the '37 grille area and there is really no good place to mount anything due to all the panels and 'ish. When I do my upgrade I may do close to the same thing

[Kenrik]

One last post for clarification..

I don't envy the G37.. if I wanted one I could afford it but I prefer the G35 & I have other priorities. IMO it's to heavy, it's a nice comfortable car but it has lost some of it's badassness (New word! Yay!) that the g35 had.

My wheels are 18s with 275 tires in the rear.. The reason for the 18s in weight & the fact that my tires only cost $94 front and $118 rear.. I drive 40k/year & I have gone through 4 sets of tires in the past 1.5 years.

The fact is that I can have fun with my car and not worry about burning though $1200 in tires every 10k miles. The cheapest 19" tires are over $200 each.. I could also curb my wheels & not want to kill myself because each wheel cost me $750

It's nice to be able to Autocross & Drift your car without feeling that you're burning money.

My preference would be a nice set of 19" Volk SF Challenges with 285s in the rear.. Again it comes down to Priorities.

In two years when my car is paid off just wait & see what types of mods I put on the car..

Thank You.

[audtatious]

You are welcome.

It's my ivory pearl paint that you envy. Admit it

[Kenrik]

You are welcome.

It's my ivory pearl paint that you envy. Admit it

^ It's true.. other then Black.... IP is my favorite color.

[audtatious]

I love black but deem it too difficult to keep clean. Hell, my Majestic Blue Max is also a PITA.

[1njen]

Wow. I think the grill looks freakin nyceee. Your whole car is pretty ballin. Very stealthy. Thats what i'm trying to go for.

The thing about it being ghetto... hmmm. I can't really think of any other way to get a black grill, besides do it yourself or get ripped off at a shop. I don't think it's cutting corners, i think its just being smart and savy. w/e imo.

I think modding your car should have a certain degree of personalization or you just don't seem as attached as you should. We love our Gs, thus we take on DIY tasks. am i wrong?

IT'S NOT GHETTO!!! IT'S LOVE!!!

[joe603]

Nice work! Thanks for sharing

[RED_DET]

wow.

[lucidd]

very nice, I remember your original pic posting: VIP style...And the grill was one thing that needed attention, and now its done... Looks awesome!

Properly prepped and primed, it will last as long as pro jobs.looks good to me!I also agree with the love behind putting your own signature on your car// especially doing it yourself. I change my own oil, and get extra satisfaction out of driving my exceptionally smooth vq.it takes expertise and balls to do it yourself... And when it looks good, you can say I did it myself;p ... .. Lens more than some rich kid that paid for it with his dad's credit card... Just my 50cents,...

L

[CYO44Baseball32]

Wow. I think the grill looks freakin nyceee. Your whole car is pretty ballin. Very stealthy. Thats what i'm trying to go for.

The thing about it being ghetto... hmmm. I can't really think of any other way to get a black grill, besides do it yourself or get ripped off at a shop. I don't think it's cutting corners, i think its just being smart and savy. w/e imo.

I think modding your car should have a certain degree of personalization or you just don't seem as attached as you should. We love our Gs, thus we take on DIY tasks. am i wrong?

IT'S NOT GHETTO!!! IT'S LOVE!!!

very nice, I remember your original pic posting: VIP style...And the grill was one thing that needed attention, and now its done... Looks awesome!

Properly prepped and primed, it will last as long as pro jobs.looks good to me!I also agree with the love behind putting your own signature on your car// especially doing it yourself. I change my own oil, and get extra satisfaction out of driving my exceptionally smooth vq.it takes expertise and balls to do it yourself... And when it looks good, you can say I did it myself;p ... .. Lens more than some rich kid that paid for it with his dad's credit card... Just my 50cents,...

L

+1000 guys exactly how I feel, you guys summed it right up

[Team Punisher]

Why do you continue to De-mod the car.. that is, why make it worse then it was to begin with?

For example.. Painting a grill is OK but doing it with spraypaint is just ghetto.. that coat will last maybe a few months before it looks like crap. (Trust me I know)Automotive paint is the way to go! For as much as you paid for those duplicolor spay cans you could have put a few bucks more in and gotten it done at a shop with quality paint. ($50 - $100 total)

I personally don't like the color of the calipers, but if you like it that's ok!

Again I ask spray painting the (Really Nice/Expensive) calipers on a 40K car?

Why not spend $100 and get them powdercoated?

The HID Kit.. really Zipties? come on.. I don't need to say more.

I'm not trying to be an *** and I feel you should do whatever you like with your car... I'm just pointing out that some of the stuff you're doing is ghetto and there are better ways to go about it for just a few bucks more.

it reminds me of this saying:

"Cut enough corners and you will end up with a circle"

**End Rant**

When your right your right powder coating and real auto. paint only way to go..Powder coating and sandblasting my grill $50 bucks..calipers professionally painted $150 bucks. Not so bad. I have small transport buss. And gas has made this my worst year in the passed 8. But like the MAN said when you spend $40,000 or more for a car you should not cut conners P.S Great job on your how to pix

[Sentientbydesign]

One last post for clarification..

I don't envy the G37.. if I wanted one I could afford it but I prefer the G35 & I have other priorities. IMO it's to heavy, it's a nice comfortable car but it has lost some of it's badassness (New word! Yay!) that the g35 had.

My wheels are 18s with 275 tires in the rear.. The reason for the 18s in weight & the fact that my tires only cost $94 front and $118 rear.. I drive 40k/year & I have gone through 4 sets of tires in the past 1.5 years.

The fact is that I can have fun with my car and not worry about burning though $1200 in tires every 10k miles. The cheapest 19" tires are over $200 each.. I could also curb my wheels & not want to kill myself because each wheel cost me $750

It's nice to be able to Autocross & Drift your car without feeling that you're burning money.

My preference would be a nice set of 19" Volk SF Challenges with 285s in the rear.. Again it comes down to Priorities.

In two years when my car is paid off just wait & see what types of mods I put on the car..

Thank You.

I wish you lived on this coast. You, me and my buddies would have lots of fun.