So I bought a grill from ebay last month b/c I wanted to make a project out of it. I wanted to paint it KH3 black. I thought it would make a sick contrast with my sheer silver max. Anyway, took a break from studying for finals yesterday to do this project. I made TONS of mistakes but in the end it looks fine.

What I started with:



I bought my supplies from paintscratch.com. Amazing site...you give them the color code you want and you can make your own package. Essentially all you really need is the basecoat (the actual color) and the clearcoat to apply over the basecoat. I went ahead and bought primer anyway. You dont really need it but it helps to provide a good base for the basecoat. All 3 bottles came out to $50 shipped.

What you need:

- Primer (optional but suggested)
- Basecoat
- Clearcoat
- 400, 600 and 800 grit sandpaper (available at any hardware store). Buy this...you will need it

Step 1: Wet the grill all over and get ready to use your 400 grit sandpaper. Wet the sandpaper also and wipe down the grill. Do this a few times and then dry it. The surfaces of the grill should be smooth and even. This is mostly done to even out the surface from rock chips, imperfections etc. Repeat if necessary.

Step 2: Dry the grill and apply 2-3 layes of primer if you have. Wait till the layer is dry and then wet sand over primered surface with 600 grit lightly...make sure surface is wet. Do not apply the 600 too hard otherwise the primer will peel off. It happened to me a few times.



[IMG]http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd289/rahul718/IMGP0293.jpg
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Step 3: Now you are ready for your basecoat (the actual color). Make sure the surfaces are DRY. Apply the paint as evenly as possible. Allow the layer to dry before applying more layers. Essentially this process requires 2-3 coatings. Applying the paint is MUCH harder than the primer b/c whereas some areas can go without primer, it looks bad if you have areas missing paint. And then when you apply paint in those missed areas, you pretty much end up getting excess paint in other areas you already did. This results in lots of botched up areas.

Step 4: After paint has dried use 800 grit sandpaper. Im pretty sure you will see patches of excess paint and that looks terrible. Sand down the surface until its even. Before sanding make sure the surface AND the paper are WET. It took me 4-5 coatings before I was happy and before the surfaces were even (no patches of excess paint).

I had to resand b/c of botched up areas:



Step 5: Apply paint again



Now here is where I made a mistake. you can see the grill is drenched in paint. I applied too much at first and when it was set to dry, I did not balance the grill properly and the paint dripped and caused patches in different places. So yea...I had to resand the whole thing



I resanded with 100 grit...I had to b/c the 400 was not getting the paint off

 

Anyway..here is the final product:



Thats just dust you see...there is no overspray

It still is not perfect. I honestly believe if you dont get it right the first time, it will never be perfect b/c constant resanding will never make for a perfectly even surface. Make sure its done right the first time.

For those who want to tackle this in the future:

- Dont apply too much paint in your coatings...if anything, just let it dry and reapply another coat.

Special thanks to Zero2sixtyZ. He responded to my PMs when I messed up.

So..how does it look for a grill thats been to hell and back?

 

can we get a picture with it installed on your car?? I have a sheer silver as well and have been thinking about doing this for some time now.

 

looks very nice!

for those who don't want the 'frustration' , an option is the grille-tech upper grille for $50 (lower avail too). installs in less than 30 min. mine is "black diamond" - constrasts well w/sheer silver.

here's some pics to show how black looks:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

 

that was way more trouble than it needed to be

no sanding needed...no primer needed

LIGHT LAYER OF PAINT
let dry
LIGHT LAYER OF PAINT

the layers cover up what you missed. no need to do it the first time...but you realized that.

 

it looks nice.. now post a pic with the grill installed...

 

did this a couple weeks ago. came out great had no problems

 

the grill had lots of imperfections and rock chips and I needed to make it flat. the sandpaper definitely helped

I learned where I went wrong though...it was a great experience

 

The black grill looks better on a black car. I prefer to have the grill match the body color on the 2k3 grill. But good job on the painting SLVRMAXX.

 

You didn't happen to buy this grille off of zero2sixtyZ did you?

 

I had the same prolbem ith this project, just post a want to buy for a stock grill and start over imo. thats what i had to do

I messed up on the painting, and the made it orse with clear coat.

 

Looks good man, get some pictures of it installed.

02Maximan, he did not buy the grille off of me. The one I bought from you is on my car, sanded down to make smooth, and painted black.

 

Ya ok. I knew the one that I sold to you was chipped up and I wondered if you had sold it and he bought it and sanded it down. apparently not Anyway, to the OP, great job on the project and on some installed pics.

 

soonerfan,
how well does your grille match the paint on the rest of the car (bumper specifically)? My car is black too but the bumper is chipped so badly that I have contemplated just masking it off and spray painting it - anything would look better than what it looks like now. With so many other things I need to fix on my car, the looks is not budgeted for :-).
I have seen the pictures of your grille you posted in some other thread(s) but could not tell how well it matched the paint on the bumper/hood.
(Sorry OP, I didn't mean to hijack the thread, but this is kind of a related question)

 

perfect match to me

 

black grilles FTW

 

Grill looks great SLVR.
Perfect match to my eyes too Sooner

 

Those look awesome. On the paint, as long as it's clean, you can usually get away with just painting over the old. Good job.

 

the grill looks good man... but what about the nissan emblem... is that gold or bronze? it looks alot better silver

 

nice grill soonerfan.. maybe i'm mistaken, but werent you just engaged in a debate a little bit ago about the legality of anything other than stock yellow and red side markers? i thought you were against anything that wasnt yellow or red

 

my smoked sidemarkers light and reflect amber in the front and red in rear

 

nice work man..+1

 

ohh ok.. wow, the smoked side markers can still reflect amber and red? thats cool.. i just got a new wrinkle in my brain.. my mistake man... and thanx for the wrinkle.. carry on folks

 

if you smoke the stock ones

lights off



lights on (with reflection from flash)

 

So there is a slight difference in 00-01 bumpers to 02-03 bumpers? That grille wont fit an 00-01, only 02-03.

 

grill loooks good

 

yes

 

I know a few kept the chrome lines and filled in where the nissan was



Can any one recall what chrome paint they used to match the stock chrome?

Its not quite a bold chrome but more of a dusted chrome look

 

can the 02-03 bumper mount to the 00 front end?

 

simple answer - yes

 

cool, thanks man.

 

Does the Black Diamond grill fit over your existing grill or is it a replacement?

 

- Adhesion Promoter
- Primer (optional but suggested)
- Basecoat
- Clearcoat
- 400, 600 and 800 grit sandpaper (available at any hardware store). Buy this...you will need it