I am tired of looking at this hideous grill. What is the best method for sanding/painting this thing. What paint should I use? It's a sterling mist max. Can someone point me towards a good thread for doing this. I haven't done much body work but I can't mess it up any worse than it looks right now.

 

You might consider buying a different grill more to your liking.

Another member paid 15 bucks for theirs on Amazon.

You might want to re install the grill you have now when you sell the car.

 

Well, if you would like to play the waiting game you can post a WTB (want to buy) here in the 4th gen classifieds. There is a paint/detailing section here. I would try that too and see what our detailing nuts have to say.

 

Alright young man. Uncle litch gonna k bomb dat azz.


Pull it. Should be 3 bolts.

Sand it: use a combo of brake cleaner and a silver bristle wire brush to remove the paint.

Sand it some more: use a fine grain sandpaper like 1000 grit and sand that sucker smooth.

Prime it: buy some high end self etching primer
Tape off what you don't want painted. Use good tape. Tape is everything in a paint job. Spray with primer.

Look at your door panel. Find the paint code for your car. Buy a can of exact matching paint in a small rattle can
Hold can 8 inches away and apply a light base coat... then heavier topcoats.


Carry on my wayward son.

 

Thanks guys. I'm not real crazy about some of the aftermarket grills I'm seeing and I'm thinking that finding an original matching grill in decent shape probably won't be easy. Can you find decent matching paint at most auto parts stores?Interesting...never heard of using brake cleaner and wire brush...but I don't know jack about painting cars. Thanks again.

 

damn are those the OEM headlights? how did u get them to get them that clean, I mean mine are clean but for my passenger side headlight, at a certain angle it will look a little yellow, but when looking straight at it its not yellow at all.. my drivers side looks brand new and its OEM.. but passenger side I think the rest of the yellow is from the inside.. is it even possible to clean the insides?

you can also buy a chrome grille and be done with it.. but your choice. Thats what I did.

 

I have used the 3M restoration kit on them three times in the last 6 or so years. Last time was about 6 months ago. I was pretty happy with the results. Have you tried a restoration kit on yours? Also do you have a pic of your max with the chrome grill?

 

Look online for exact matching paint. Try paintscratch.com. Not cheap, $26 per can.

 

Pic of grill I have. No color fading. Requires no sand or prep time, no worrying about color matching. Pop in and go. Haha

 

Looks good. Shoot me a price. Based on prices I'm seeing online for OEM I may have to go aftermarket or roll up my sleeves and start sanding.

 

Yea, there is always that. Lol, pm'd

 

since we are showing off grille options...

 

Or just buy a new chrome grill like I did when I hit a deer and it cracked my old one.

 

I repainted my grill a few years ago. Decided to cut out that hamburger and fill it with fiber.




I painted the grill with SW urethane base paint then clear coat paint. I did it while painting my entire max so it didn't consume more time of mixing nor cleaning. Only extra effort required was cutting then filling the hamburger.