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DIY Grille Painting


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Parts/Supplies Needed with some links to the parts on amazon:

- Grille (I bought a new one off Ebay)

 

- Emblem (Bought new one off Ebay)

 

- Primer Adhesion Promoter (https://www.amazon.com/Dupli-Color-CP199-Adhesion-Promoter-Primer/dp/B0007UAXJQ)

 

- Gray Primer for plastics (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003CT4AM0/ref=asc_df_B003CT4AM05006601/?tag=hyprod-20&creative=394997&creativeASIN=B003CT4AM0&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167144081759&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17045767677994460810&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9033279&hvtargid=pla-307459731558)

 

- Paint - I used a matte black trim paint from SEM. I really like this paint. It looks really good after it is done. (https://www.amazon.com/SEM-39143-Trim-Black-Aerosol/dp/B000EM019O/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1496110349&sr=1-1&keywords=sem+trim+black)

 

- Clear Coat - Used a flat clear coat. (https://www.amazon.com/Krylon-K05352902-Acrylic-Interior-Exterior/dp/B001C42OXY)

 

- Scotch Brite

 

- 600 Grit Sandpaper and 1000 grit or a higher grit of your choosing

 

 

 

Here is a step by step on how to paint your Subaru Legacy Grille.

 

1) Remove grille from your car. No pictures for this, should be pretty self explanatory

 

2) Prepping Grille - Now I bought a new grille for this project and I am keeping my old one to try to make honey comb grille out of a crown vic. If you are using your original grille then you will want to clean it thoroughly with some dish washing soap and rinse it off and dry it. Then mask off the emblem or you can take it off completely by using a heat gun or hair dryer to pry it off. You will then need to put some new double sided sticky tape later after you're done painting.

 

3) Sand grille with scotch brite - After it is dry, I used regular scotch brite and roughed up the chrome areas. See pics

 

4) Apply primer adhesion promoter - I applied about 3 coats of the primer adhesion promoter to the whole grille. Follow the directions on the can

 

5) Apply primer - I applied 3 coats of the primer then wet sanded with 600 grit sandpaper.

 

6) Apply paint coat - Remember to apply light - medium coats. I applied about 5-6 coats of the black paint. I then wet sanded before the final coat with 1000 grit sandpaper. Remember to lightly sand the grille.

 

7) Apply clear coat - I applied the clear coat within 30 minutes of the last coat of the black paint. I hear it is best to do this from other sources on the internet to promote a stronger bond between the color coat and clear coat. I applied about 5 coats of the clear.

 

8) Let it dry - I allowed the grille to dry for 2 days then applied the emblem.

 

You are then done!

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That looks really good! Nice write up. Timely, too, as mine is definitely showing all 130k miles, she needs some freshening up. How much was the new grille?

 

I wonder, would a black primer help with the inevitable rock chips it will take? As it flakes off, will you end up seeing the gray underneath, or will the layers be enough to prevent seeing the lighter color?

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RockyMtn - The new grille is 86 bucks on ebay. Yeah black primer might be better for the rock chips. I think you will end up seeing the chrome base. I was thinking of stripping the chrome but I didn't want to mess up the plastic at all.
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Looks good. I need to do this to Mrs. Spif's GT. I hate how much the chrome grill has held on in the auto world. They look so dumb when its the only piece of chrome on the whole car. I guess it has to be chrome and ugly tho so that people want to buy the sport model with super cool black-out package or body color match
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oh that's nice. I have some clear plasti dip too. Maybe i will use it on some things that are chrome, like my license plate cover or the badges on the trunk. I was debating to paint the badges with black plasti dip but I kinda like the nickel chrome like yours.
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