DIY: Painted Black Grill

[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:

[IvoryG37]

YOU ARE CRAZY!!!

but damn that thing looks tight!

good work man

[$tevenG37]

damn that looks good. i wanna do it but im kinda scared. i might take it to a paint shop since mine is OBlack and wanna match the color.

how good would that look you think on a oblack?

is that spray paint you are using if so how many cans?

how can i take the grill off?

lol sorry for all these questions but ive been wanting to black out my grill since i got my car =/

[CYO44Baseball32]

1. Idk how good it would look on ob b/c the chrome gives it some contrast but then again it might look real sweet blacked out.

2. Only one can of paint and you can get it at any auto parts store

3. Taking grill off is pain, theres a walk-through but its from another forum. basic idea is take the black cover off in front of engine bay area. (about 10 bolts 10mm size and 6 plastic clips, with a screwdriver. Remove the 2 bolts that hold the radiator catch tank and slide it back, then push it back towards rear of car and slide it over to knobs that stick out near radiator catch tank. Then undo the 7 pinch-push clips and 2 pull clips from the inside and black cover will come off. Lastly remove the 5 screws on the inside of the grill and then pinch and push the 4 clips holding the grill in. Mt. Fuji symbol removes easily.

[G_whizz]

Great write up!!!

Thanks for contributing!!

Deserving of a Custom Title!!

Let me know what you would like!

FYI - Custom title will go under your screen name (where mine says G35 Moderator)

[CYO44Baseball32]

Could I get "G37 Moderator"?

Also is there any place you could sticky this so each can see it easily. As I do more I'll have more write ups for everyone.

[G_whizz]

LOl.. hmm... Ares might feel snubbed...

I'lll leave that up to him if he would like someone to share this responsibility..

In the meantime... any other other ideas...

[CYO44Baseball32]

hmm. maybe "G37 Guru" lol it hard to think of something when your put on the spot. I'll keep thinking to see if I can find something better.

[G_whizz]

You let me know when you are ready... you can always email me too.

[mpbruin108]

1. Idk how good it would look on ob b/c the chrome gives it some contrast but then again it might look real sweet blacked out.

2. Only one can of paint and you can get it at any auto parts store

3. Taking grill off is pain, theres a walk-through but its from another forum. basic idea is take the black cover off in front of engine bay area. (about 10 bolts 10mm size and 6 plastic clips, with a screwdriver. Remove the 2 bolts that hold the radiator catch tank and slide it back, then push it back towards rear of car and slide it over to knobs that stick out near radiator catch tank. Then undo the 7 pinch-push clips and 2 pull clips from the inside and black cover will come off. Lastly remove the 5 screws on the inside of the grill and then pinch and push the 4 clips holding the grill in. Mt. Fuji symbol removes easily.

Where did you find the complete DIY take off the grill walk through? I'm going to attempt to do this tomorrow. I was going to take my grill and get it painted at my friends paint shop in El Monte, CA but you made it seem so easy to do it at home...so that is what I'm going to do.

[CYO44Baseball32]

Its from another place, what I wrote is basic idea hoe to do it. If you need it i'll post some pics of where the cover screws are if you cant find them

[Jacko3]

Your car is turning into a batmobile each passing day. Clandestine agencies would love to get their hands on your car.

[mpbruin108]

Its from another place, what I wrote is basic idea hoe to do it. If you need it i'll post some pics of where the cover screws are if you cant find them

I got held up from doing it this past week. I think I'll get to doing this sometime within the next month. However, I want to do the smoked taillights. As I said earlier, I was going to paint it but using a overlay sounds so much easier. How much did you pay for it? I dropped by a place called Stickercity near my area but they quoted me higher than I expected.

[mpbruin108]

damn that looks good. i wanna do it but im kinda scared. i might take it to a paint shop since mine is OBlack and wanna match the color.

how good would that look you think on a oblack?

is that spray paint you are using if so how many cans?

how can i take the grill off?

lol sorry for all these questions but ive been wanting to black out my grill since i got my car =/

If you're in LA area, I was going to try this myself and if I messed up, I was going to take it to my friends place and have him professional paint it for me to match the car. My car is also O. Black. I'll let you know what it all looks like on a o.black car when I get the time to do this.

My friend did it on a white G and it looks crazy nice. Made me want a white car for a minute....

[ArEs23x]

Could I get "G37 Moderator"?

LOl.. hmm... Ares might feel snubbed...

I'lll leave that up to him if he would like someone to share this responsibility..

Honestly I think your great bro and you've been contributing a lot, I would even give you my title cause you deserve it from the look of things

[CYO44Baseball32]

I got held up from doing it this past week. I think I'll get to doing this sometime within the next month. However, I want to do the smoked taillights. As I said earlier, I was going to paint it but using a overlay sounds so much easier. How much did you pay for it? I dropped by a place called Stickercity near my area but they quoted me higher than I expected.

Just get them from BluebatMoblie (Andy). His email is email: [email protected] and heres a gallery of the picture of the stuff he sells http://WWW.BLUEBATMOBILE.NET. Hes a good guy and will help you out. I got headlights, tail lights, 3rd brake light for $92 which includes shipping.

[CYO44Baseball32]

Honestly I think your great bro and you've been contributing a lot, I would even give you my title cause you deserve it from the look of things

Thanks bro that means a lot!

[ArEs23x]

Thanks bro that means a lot!

Nah your good, your infamous for your several threads you make lol

[ArEs23x]

Also is there any place you could sticky this so each can see it easily

Ok you got it

[herrjr]

Looks good! Former STI owner. Where did you get your LED bulbs? Did you change the interior ones too?

[CYO44Baseball32]

Looks good! Former STI owner. Where did you get your LED bulbs? Did you change the interior ones too?

From ebay. Seller was motoringmax. They had good prices and also bought map/step ones from them too. Interior ones are easy to change but headlights are pain in the a$$