Painting grill

[YoungCoupe]

Hey guys, I'm new

Anyway, I'm looking to paint my grill black. Or wrap it, whichever is easier. Can someone tell me how I would go about doing this without removing the bumper? Btw, I have a 2011 coupe.

[stanklem]

Hi. Am painting my grille as I write. My car was bought used with a stainless billet grille that I detest. Frankly, it might look good painted black but I decided to install an OEM grillle and paint it black and smoke the emblem. Mustache is being painted white to match car.

As best I know you don't have to take off the bumper to replace the grille. There should be a few how-to articles on this site or elsewhere. Can provide a few pointers for painting.

1. Scrub and clean it with soap and hot water. Remove any/all grime.
2. Degrease the grille with paint thinner or similar. Soap and water will not remove all of the oils that may be present.
2a. You may wish to gently sand the grille with 400 sandpaper. This will promote adhesion.
3. Spray the grille with an adhesion promoter. I used Duplicolor. You will have to spray at weird angles and from the back to get all the surfaces.
4. Spray the grille with grey primer. Ditto the Duplicolor.
5. I sprayed four coats of Duplicolor matte black on mine. Had to do four coats to get all of the surfaces without any runs.
6. Then sprayed another four coats Duplicolor crystal clear. Same reasons.
7. Then wet sanded the grille with 1000 and 2000 paper. Followed up with rubbing compound and polish. Tested out an area on the reverse and got a nice deep mirror finish. If you go to the Duplicolor website they mention this.

Will post pics when done next week.

Am not sure how well the finish will hold up but, it can be easily touched up.

I have no idea how to get a decent matte black finish that will not mar or easily scratch. Went with the polished finish because it seemed to match my black tinted rear windows and trim and thought it looked good.

When spraying Duplicolor finish each step within an hour. The paint starts to set/cure quickly and Duplicolor recommends waiting a week before another coat can be applied. I had my grille in a store room and could smell the off-gassing for three days after it was sprayed. It was curing during this time. The curing makes the paint coat harder.

[DJ_B_Easy]

Unless you have arms the width of pencils you wont get the OEM grill off without taking the bumper off. There are a series of clips behind it that need to be pressed to remove it in one piece so that it can snap back in properly.

Just take the bumper off and do it clean. Its not hard at all.

@Stanklem, this grille?

[sc20]

idk about the 08-09 coupe grills, but the 2010-11 grill is much easier to remove. i posted asking about it a couple of months ago since there wasnt a write up....its can be found here removing-the-grille-on-a-2010-coupe-nee ... 35593.html . i removed, cleaned, wrapped, and installed all in less than two hours. it came out good for my first time working with vinyl, just be careful with the two corners as i found that to be the most difficult. hope this helps and good luck...

my wrapped grill


grill off

[obstacle]

grille removal for 2010-2012

removing-the-grille-on-a-2010-coupe-nee ... 35593.html

[obstacle]

hahaha...i posted that like 3 min after you did! funny

[sc20]

grille removal for 2010-2012

removing-the-grille-on-a-2010-coupe-nee ... 35593.html

good looking out. your write up was really helpful

[DJ_B_Easy]

Good call. Didn't read the 2011 part. You guys got it easy!

[YoungCoupe]

Thanks guys. Do you think I should black out the actual grill as well, or just the cover the chrome? I got a dark slate like sc20

[downedzephyr]

1 word: PLASTIDIP.
Don't have to take the grille off, and it's only like $8 a can. Plus you can peel it off if you don't like it, or replace it if it accumulates rock chips.

[YoungCoupe]

If i plastidip my grill, it wont damage my radiator or something?

[downedzephyr]

put newspaper behind it, or remove your grill and then plastidip it