8th Generation Maxima (2016-) Let's see what Nissan has to offer on the 8th generation Maxima

Painting Front Grill

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Old 01-16-2018, 10:50 AM
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Painting Front Grill

Can anyone give me a guide on how to/what to use on painting the front grill of the Maxima to gloss black? (Vmotion and nissan symbol) I do NOT want to plastidip it. I've seen user CNTRT paint his but he isn't replying to my pm. Using his car as an example. Would I need to scuff the vmotion and nissan symbol before primer/paint? And how long will this last because I dont want the paint chipping/peeling in just a couple weeks/months


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Old 01-16-2018, 12:29 PM
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Originally Posted by Kyletrann
Can anyone give me a guide on how to/what to use on painting the front grill of the Maxima to gloss black? (Vmotion and nissan symbol) I do NOT want to plastidip it. I've seen user CNTRT paint his but he isn't replying to my pm. Using his car as an example. Would I need to scuff the vmotion and nissan symbol before primer/paint? And how long will this last because I dont want the paint chipping/peeling in just a couple weeks/months


Sorry, I didn't see your PM... I used Plastidip, and glossifier. I've driven through a few snow storms with salt and debris hitting the front of my car and it still looks great. I also plasitidipped my old Rogues grille and had it like that for a couple of years and it still looked great... Plastidip holds up extremely well when applied correctly. Doesn't chip or peel...Now no offense, but considering that you're asking if you should scuff the surface before priming, that tells me that you're not experienced with painting, and you should not use real paint for this job if you're doing it yourself. It will not look good and it will not hold up well or be durable.To answer the question though... yes, you need to scuff/sand the surface before priming.
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Old 01-16-2018, 12:47 PM
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Originally Posted by CNTRT
Sorry, I didn't see your PM... I used Plastidip, and glossifier. I've driven through a few snow storms with salt and debris hitting the front of my car and it still looks great. I also plasitidipped my old Rogues grille and had it like that for a couple of years and it still looked great... Plastidip holds up extremely well when applied correctly. Doesn't chip or peel...Now no offense, but considering that you're asking if you should scuff the surface before priming, that tells me that you're not experienced with painting, and you should not use real paint for this job if you're doing it yourself. It will not look good and it will not hold up well or be durable.To answer the question though... yes, you need to scuff/sand the surface before priming.
No offense taken! Yeah I have zero experience with painting it and have only read some things. I thought yours was painted because of the gloss look it had. I was trying to avoid plastidip because of the dull look it has, but yours looks very nice with the glossifier. Might just take mine in to get professionally painted, but was just trying to see if I could save some money doing it myself don't want that 'orange peel' look if I painted it myself. Do you have more pictures of it in better light? Does the plastidip + glossifier match the gloss black of the front grill?
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Old 01-16-2018, 01:20 PM
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looks great
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Old 01-16-2018, 01:20 PM
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Originally Posted by Kyletrann
No offense taken! Yeah I have zero experience with painting it and have only read some things. I thought yours was painted because of the gloss look it had. I was trying to avoid plastidip because of the dull look it has, but yours looks very nice with the glossifier. Might just take mine in to get professionally painted, but was just trying to see if I could save some money doing it myself don't want that 'orange peel' look if I painted it myself. Do you have more pictures of it in better light? Does the plastidip + glossifier match the gloss black of the front grill?
With the glossifier it doesn't match 100%, but it's pretty close in most conditions. It's more satin black than straight up gloss, but it complements the OEM grille pretty well. Definitely good enough for me, and I'm VERY particular. I'm driving right now but I'll post up a bunch of pics in a couple of hours

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Old 01-16-2018, 01:44 PM
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Or buy the 2018 SR midnight edition grille. It will cost roughly $300 plus installation but I am sure it will look better than professional paint job.
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Old 01-16-2018, 01:52 PM
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Originally Posted by CNTRT
With the glossifier it doesn't match 100%, but it's pretty close in most conditions. It's more satin black than straight up gloss, but it complements the OEM grille pretty well. Definitely good enough for me, and I'm VERY particular. I'm driving right now but I'll post up a bunch of pics in a couple of hours
Glad you are very particular because I am the same way and little details matter to me. I think I may do the same except black out the logo too.. If I decide to, then I'll do it in a week or two and post pictures of how it turned out. Like you said it wont be 100% but if its close enough and doesn't look cheap/bad then why not save myself couple hundreds

Edit: what brands did you use

Last edited by Kyletrann; 01-16-2018 at 02:38 PM.
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Old 01-16-2018, 01:53 PM
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Originally Posted by BlueSR
Or buy the 2018 SR midnight edition grille. It will cost roughly $300 plus installation but I am sure it will look better than professional paint job.
I saw this and will probably will change it in the long run.. just cant afford it right now
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Old 01-16-2018, 09:15 PM
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And 2 pics of my previous car... 2015 Nissan Rogue... Blacked out the grille, emblem, and chrome strip on the lower front bumper with Plastidip and glossifier. I've been using plastidip for years... I even did my entire 1992 Jeep Wrangler with it (anthracite grey not black)... It looks great when done correctly. A lot of people just don't know how to use the product for the best results.



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Old 01-17-2018, 06:59 AM
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Originally Posted by CNTRT










And 2 pics of my previous car... 2015 Nissan Rogue... Blacked out the grille, emblem, and chrome strip on the lower front bumper with Plastidip and glossifier. I've been using plastidip for years... I even did my entire 1992 Jeep Wrangler with it (anthracite grey not black)... It looks great when done correctly. A lot of people just don't know how to use the product for the best results.


Nice! It's a good look man.. you did a good job. Could hardly tell the difference, it's a really close match. Will probably do mine once the weather warms up.. hopefully this weekend and I'll post pics. Any tips you could give me? Never plastidipped before but I know to do layers.. want it coming out as smooth as possible. (dont want orange peel look)
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Old 01-17-2018, 02:24 PM
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Originally Posted by Kyletrann
Nice! It's a good look man.. you did a good job. Could hardly tell the difference, it's a really close match. Will probably do mine once the weather warms up.. hopefully this weekend and I'll post pics. Any tips you could give me? Never plastidipped before but I know to do layers.. want it coming out as smooth as possible. (dont want orange peel look)
Thank you. It takes some practice. It needs to be applied with a different technique than paint. The first 2 coats need to be "dust coats", which are fairly light, with 50% coverage. After that, you need about 4-6 "wet coats", which need to be applied in a way that would make normal paint run...

After that, I usually do 1-3 coats of glossifier, which needs a little more care than the regular black color. All in all, if done right, this should cost you less than $20.

Check these videos out:


There are many more videos on his youtube channel. I'd say to study a bunch of them to make sure you understand the methodology of how this product works, and the reasoning why you need to apply it the way you do... Once you completely understand it, practice it a little bit... And by the time you spray the car, it should come out decently.
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Old 01-17-2018, 03:02 PM
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Thanks for those videos man will definitely check it out! Thinking about doing 4 dip costs and 2 glossifier. Was it hard to pint the whole Vmotion? Like peeling it? I’m thinking about making it look like the new SR grill just want to make sure it peelsclean. How’d you do yours on the rogue?
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Old 01-17-2018, 03:12 PM
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Originally Posted by Kyletrann
Thanks for those videos man will definitely check it out! Thinking about doing 4 dip costs and 2 glossifier. Was it hard to pint the whole Vmotion? Like peeling it? I’m thinking about making it look like the new SR grill just want to make sure it peelsclean. How’d you do yours on the rogue?
4 coats is not enough. Trust me. Do 5-8 black coats, and 1-3 gloss coats...

It wasn't hard for me at all. I also have a decent amount of experience with it.

The more coats you put, the easier it is to peel. Hence the buildup of coats.

I did mine on the Rogue by removing the Chrome V from the grille itself... But on the Max, I left it on.
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Old 01-17-2018, 04:01 PM
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Originally Posted by CNTRT
4 coats is not enough. Trust me. Do 5-8 black coats, and 1-3 gloss coats...

It wasn't hard for me at all. I also have a decent amount of experience with it.

The more coats you put, the easier it is to peel. Hence the buildup of coats.

I did mine on the Rogue by removing the Chrome V from the grille itself... But on the Max, I left it on.
I will do 5-8 coats of black like you suggest then.. yours looks perfect! Hm interesting.. is the V removable on the maxima? Would I need to remove front bumper to remove V if so? Sorry if these are dumb questions
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Old 01-17-2018, 04:12 PM
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Originally Posted by Kyletrann
I will do 5-8 coats of black like you suggest then.. yours looks perfect! Hm interesting.. is the V removable on the maxima? Would I need to remove front bumper to remove V if so? Sorry if these are dumb questions
the whole grille is removable from the bumper, and I'm pretty sure the V is removable from the grille.
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Old 01-17-2018, 06:25 PM
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Originally Posted by CNTRT
the whole grille is removable from the bumper, and I'm pretty sure the V is removable from the grille.
Awesome thanks man, will look into it
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