How to paint this grille?!

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blackbetty14

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So I picked up this grille on Amazon and I’m gona paint match the outer ring to paint code PUW. I ordered the paint and I got the grille and it’s not what I was expecting. Grill is very rigid but the inside mesh is molded to the outside ring so I can’t pull it out for paint. Also the way it’s molded the individual combs mold at different angles. How in the world can I paint this and what are my options. I’m thinking I could paint the top part and not the bottom as there is a line to end the paint mark. Otherwise I would need to figure out how mask off the combs where it meets the surrounds and hope I don’t mess up.

Thoughts?
 

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Phirebeard

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Mask it off. You could also try using plastidip on the mesh part first, paint the rest, then peel it off. I'm not sure how well that would work though. If you're a really picky person, get a quote from a body shop.
 

nekkidhillbilly

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i see no reason you cant mask it? not saying its going to be not time consuming if you want it to stay black but i mean no challenge other than that. you want to wrap the tape around the mesh on the outside then tape off the rest.
 
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So I picked up this grille on Amazon and I’m gona paint match the outer ring to paint code PUW. I ordered the paint and I got the grille and it’s not what I was expecting. Grill is very rigid but the inside mesh is molded to the outside ring so I can’t pull it out for paint. Also the way it’s molded the individual combs mold at different angles. How in the world can I paint this and what are my options. I’m thinking I could paint the top part and not the bottom as there is a line to end the paint mark. Otherwise I would need to figure out how mask off the combs where it meets the surrounds and hope I don’t mess up.

Thoughts?
It's plastic , use an adhesive promoter then the primer then your basecoat ....
 
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blackbetty14

blackbetty14

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I’ll show you how hard it’s going to be to mask it off. If I wanted to paint the entire surround each connection of the hex to the surround would need to be taped along the entire perimeter.
 
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blackbetty14

blackbetty14

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It's plastic , use an adhesive promoter then the primer then your basecoat ....
The black is primer no? I was going to scuff with 600 grit, base and clear. The plastic is actually white and they sprayed the front side with black paint. Do we think it’s necessary for promoter, primer, base and clear or can I scuff, base and clear.
 
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blackbetty14

blackbetty14

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Pics attached. You can see how small the slivers are and how much masking I would need to do. The spaces are very tight!
 

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GTyankee

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get some heavy paper, lay it over the mesh, & tape it down, do it on both sides.

That can be done within 1/2" of the edges
Now tape of the outer surround of the grill
the only thing still exposed should be where the mesh touches the surround.
Now spray that 1/2" to 1" of exposed plastic with Plastic coat
When it sets up
take the tape off of the outer surround & paint it

It is a lot of prepping, but it should look OK when finished
when the paint hardens, you can easily cut the Plastic Coat away from the new paint

Good Luck
 

nekkidhillbilly

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Pics attached. You can see how small the slivers are and how much masking I would need to do. The spaces are very tight!
the outside row is the only one that you need mask up super well. about a half inch in or so. just sheet mask it past that.
 

Highway

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The black is primer no? I was going to scuff with 600 grit, base and clear. The plastic is actually white and they sprayed the front side with black paint. Do we think it’s necessary for promoter, primer, base and clear or can I scuff, base and clear.
If it’s plastic always use an adhesion promoter, the base needs something to adhere to
 
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blackbetty14

blackbetty14

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Thanks guys. Got it done tonight. Gona let it cure over night and I will install tmrw prob later in the day.

I decided to use the inside lip as my break for the outer ring painting. I figured this would look good as it feels natural with how the grille is designed. I lightly wet sanded, masked off the outer ring and layer plastic over the mesh. I hit the outer ring with bulldog adhesion promoter and then 2 medium coats of color. I unmasked and then hit the rest with adhesion promoter and then hit it all with 3 coats of clear this making the satin black gloss black on the bottom, inner ring and mesh. I can’t wait to see it on the truck! I did like it with the color matched outer ring and the satin but satin to me looks off/unfinished (like primer) unless your have similar satin pieces to tie it together.

Decided to finally pull 4 year old mirror covers off the shelf and color match those as well. Small area had a reaction after my first coat of color but it is what it is. 3 coats of clear and I’ll slap those on tmrw as well.

Hopefully 3 coats of clear will be enough if I want to wet sand, compound and polish down the road.

I got some emblems to go on as well but will wrap with chrome vinyl to tie in the chrome bumper and head light bezels.
 

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