No More Chrome!

Well I finally got rid of the horrible chrome grille and front bumper. I think it looks 100000000X better. I bought a new black grill off ebay and painted the bumper with self etching primer and gloss black paint.

Before:

During: I found that the truck has been in a minor accident by the previous owner..







After:

 

Looks Good You Should Paint The Fender Flarzes And The Lower Valence To!?

 

Thanks, Yeah, the lower valence is really dirty right now. When its clean it looks nice and black. Im still deciding on what to do with the flares.

 

My buddy painted his they look sick nice and bright black his were very dull! He used the new paint for plactic and they are still good after like 6 months he just put clear coat on top like 3 coats

 

Thanks

I am leaning toward painting them I just dont want them to flake off in a year. I think i will try the krylon fusion on them and see what happens.

 

Ya great paint eather way good job and nice look!

 

I started doing this as well. Any tips when painting the chrome so it doesn't flake off after? I have one of the dark red 1st gens and I was accenting it with a gunmetal gray. I did the grill when I did my satoshi. I will be doing the bumper and rear bumper this week if the weather holds up.

 

I did what the guy who started the "I hate chrome" thread did. I took an orbital sander to the bumper to scuff it up really well. It is very important that there are no shiny spots. Then I sprayed a few coats of rustoleum self-etching primer (got at autozone), let that dry over night and sprayed a few coats of gloss black on top. Well see how long it lasts.

 

how long has yours lasted. I did a google search on painting over chrome today and those were the instructions. scuff it and use self etching primer.

 

I just did it today and drove 90 miles back to school (70 mph freeway). All is good so far.

 

yea, ive painted my lower valance and flares with a black plastic trim paint came out great.

 

That does look good.

 

Looks awesome man, Did you paint the rims aswell?

 

Yes. That was probably 2 months ago. They still look great.

 

I used that paint when I did my satoshi. Its nice stuff. I however cannot legally buy paint at the auto parts store. I have bought thousands of dollars of stuff there but aparently they think I', gonna huff all the paint. jerks

 

Yeah they assume that just because loser gang bangers huff paint, everyone will.
When I bought it they didn't even ID me.

 

thanks yours is looking pretty good as well.

 

theres a window that pops up like for cigarettes that requires them to enter the buyers date of birth. Otherwise it wouldn't be a problem.

 

Okay, I finally got around to doing the rear yesterday. I used the same process as on the front bumper but I also added some herculiner by the plate because I step there a lot getting things out of the bed.

 

I like the I Hate Chrome look! The back bumper has a good addition that I will add to my 04, I like the traction aid below the plate for getting up into the bed. How did you do that? Where did you get the herculiner and how did you get the rough finish?