Grill Finish

I ordered up the grillcraft grill yesterday, and in preparation for the install, I cut out the center section of the oem grill yesterday. My question is, do you guys think its worth it to have the surrounding piece painted indigo professionally (for probably 100-150 bux) or should I rattle can it for 20-30? Right now, its chrome, and I'd really prefer a body match on that piece.
I know a lot of it comes down to $, and although I dont mind paying extra for a professional job, having an extra hundred bux in your pocket is always nice. I'm more concerned w/ how it'll look in the end.

 

How does it match the hood/bumper? How close do you have to be before you can tell it was a rattle can job?

 

I just ordered a color matched grille from the dealer. Got them to price match TRD Parts 4U. Came out to about the same as having it professionally painted ($165 I think) but no worries about color-match accuracy.

If I were you, I'd have it professionally painted. Airbrushes just distribute paint in a way rattle cans can't.

 

x2. It's easy and well worth it. Plus, doing it yourself is so much more satisfying!

 

I might just try it. I got a quote from one spot who wanted 300.00 for the job

 

Thats what I'm sayin! I think the oem ones were like 195 when I looked for a pre-painted piece.

 

check out paintscratch.com u can buy factory paint that comes in a spray can. This site has everything u need to paint your grill. Just keep in mind you're gonna need to buy clear coat too..

 

Got my partsgeek grill painted BSP 209 for $80 at the body shop. Came out perfect. They did they inner part too, not just the surround.

 

10-4

I'm assuming that came prepped, ready for paint though?
80 to prep and paint a part would be really inexpensive imo. Not that its a bad thing.

 

You should get it professionally done. I rattle canned my grill last year and it looks like shit now. In the long run the rattle can paint won't hold up to what can be done professionally. Do it once and do it right! You will regret the rattle can

 

It was not the chrome grill. It came in the black plastic. Yes, the autoplace, sanded, painted, and sprayed on two clear coats.



Yes, 80 is a good deal. That's why I'm telling you. I was close to doing it myself, but the cost of all the materials was getting too close to the cost of getting it painted. Plus the auto-body shop uses color matched paint and it isn't cheap.

 

Ok, so I decided to go ahead and try this one on my own. Why not, right?! lol.

I went ahead and purchased some adhesion promoter, primer, base and clear. I also picked up some epoxy and putty (which is really quite noxious in a closed space, lol).

Heres a quick cell pic:



I managed to sand down the chrome finish tonight, and stopped there for that part.

Heres my next question. Am I wasting my time by "satoshy'ing" the part? I'm going to flush mount the GC mesh, but I didnt want to be able to look through it and see a hacked up grill, so I epoxy'd new plastic pieces and putty'd over them. I sanded it down and will paint it flat black once I do a little more touch up. I basically made it so that I could run the mesh behind the grill if I wanted, even though I'm not going to. I hope I explained that right, I think I'm still high from all the fumes, lol

 

Two points, one is actually too late for you, but maybe for someone else. When I was trying to decide paint vs. new color matched, I decided to buy a color matched grill for $190, then sold my original chrome for $100 shipped, so my cost ended up being about $100. Well worth it to not have to deal with whether painted chrome is going to last.

Second, I left about 1/4" of the center sections after cutting it out (was attempting to cut straight down). Smoothed off the cut a bit and installed the Grillcraft, figured if I could see the cuts too much, I'd go back in and trim it level. I've never gone back to trim it out more. If you look over the top of the grill insert, you can see the cut, but it's not visible enough though the grill opening to make it worthwhile to me.

 

Where did you guys find your colour matched grill surrounds? (yes, "colour"...I am Canadian after all)

 

I am doing the Satoshi right now. I seperated my two pieces. The outer piece required no body work. But, it was scratched so it required painting. The inner piece, the one requiring repair after the cut, was a major pain. Not the painting but getting the surface right. Took allot of putty and primer to get it finally right. Just painted and clear coated yesterday. Will wet sand and buff sometime this week.

My point is the painting, whether it be rattle or using HVLP like I did, is not the issue. Getting the repair surface just right so you can't see any of it is where the work was - at least for me and my extreme novice abilities.

 

Lol, 300 is a lot of money to pay to get screwed