Painting Grill Surround - Full write up

So I've been wanting to do this for a while now, I watched some you tube, read some forum threads and figured I'd give it a shot! I did have some trouble finding a clear write up for what I wanted, so hopefully this is helpful to others who want to do the same thing! Feel free to give me some pointers/comments/feedback...I'm by no means a professional!

All in all I spent about $38 on stuff you can find at any auto parts store. From start to finish this project took about a day and a half (keep in mind, a lot of that time was spent literally waiting for paint to dry...so actual work time was only about 3.5-4 hours.)

I know some guys go the plasti dip route, but I wasn't too sure of the color match or longevity, never having used it myself. So, this time around I went with the traditional primer/paint/clear combo.





MATERIALS:

• 200-400 grit sand paper
• 800 grit scuff pad
• 2000 grit wet/dry sand paper
• Dupli Color scratch filler primer
• Dupli Color Black (specific toyota match)
• Dupli Color protective clear coat finish

TOOLS:

• Knife or flathead screwdriver (just something to pry with)
• Phillips head screwdriver (optional)
• 10 mm socket w/wrench
• T20 torx bit driver
• paper towel or lint free rag
• soapy water
• sponge
• rubbing alcohol
• gloves (latex or nitrile)
• crap load of elbow grease
• beer (optional...but I mean c'mon)

STEP1: REMOVE THE GRILL

This is pretty straight forward, but I should mention that I've got a 2012 taco, so I can only say for sure that these steps will work for 2nd gen's only. They might work on others, they might not.

First, remove (2) 10mm bolts from the top of the grill with either the phillips head or the socket.


After that there should be (2) pop up clips next to the headlights, (1) on each side. All you have to do is pry that center circle up with anything flat and the whole clip should come up.


Lastly, there should about (8) plastic tabs along the bottom holding the grill in place. There are (2) large ones by the headlights and (6) smaller ones along the center. You should be able to feel them with your fingers and, while gently pulling back on the grill, pop them up and out one at a time until the whole unit is out.


STEP 2: TAKE THE SURROUND AND GRILL APART

This was a bit more time consuming, but still pretty straight forward. There are (12) torx head screws size T20 to remove.


And then comes the fun part...about 10 metal tabs coming from the surround through the plastic grill that have to be painstakingly pried and pushed back through at the same time. I found that starting on one of the corner tabs helps. You can pry the plastic away from the metal tab while pulling the grill away from the surround until the tab head sinks below. You may want to wedge something in between the grill and the surround to help keep tension on it while you pry the remaining tabs.

After that, you only have about (6) basic tabs that just have to be depressed lightly and the whole thing should come apart!



STEP 3: CLEAN IT UP

Before you start scuffing or painting you want to clean the surround to get rid of any bugs, sap, grease, dirt or anything that would keep the primer from sticking or would leave a lump in the finish. Just take some soapy water and a sponge and wipe everything down a few times until you've gotten rid of all the imperfections.


STEP 4: SCUFF IT UP

Now that you've gotten the chrome clean enough to eat off of...scratch the crap out of it! I'd go with about 300-400 grit paper and lightly start to scuff up the surface until you can see even scratches covering the whole surface. At this point you should be wearing gloves to keep the dirt and oils from your hands from getting on the metal. Then wipe it down with rubbing alcohol, let it dry, and get it ready for priming!


STEP 5: PRIME TIME!

Now, I just followed the instructions on the can. It's that simple. I did 4 coats (there were still a few spots after 3 coats, so i waited an hour, scuffed lightly with the 800 grit pad and added another coat), about 8" away in smooth even strokes making sure not to start or stop on the surround itself. It's important not to go for full coverage on the first coat. The key is building an even layer with multiple LIGHT coats...you can always add more!

After the first coat you can see it's pretty spotty...but a few coats later it's nice and even.



STEP 6: PAINTING

This is pretty much a repeat of step 5, except with the paint. Just make sure you wait about 5-10 mins between each coat and at least 30 mins before you apply the clear coat.


STEP 7: CLEAR COAT

Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Same as the priming and the painting, keep the can moving, light coats! It also helps if you clear the spray nozzle after each coat by flipping the can over and spraying until only air comes out.

STEP 8: WET SANDING (OPTIONAL)

Unless you have a spray booth and an hvlp system, you're probably gonna end up with a little orange peeliness in your final finish...and i wanted something closer to factory than that. So it's up to you if you want to go through with this step...some of you maybe lucky enough to have a flawless finish right of the bat! Me not so much.

not the best finish here


So, I let it dry for a few hours and then took some 2000 grit sand paper, sprayed some water on it and gently scrubbed the whole thing. You should see a white slurry start to appear, which is good. That means your smoothing out the finish.


Do this a few times, wipe it clean with alcohol, let it dry and reapply another coat or two of clear coat. You should notice the finish is much clearer and shinier this time around.


STEP 9: REASSEMBLE, REATTACH, STEP BACK AND ENJOY!

Basically work backwards through the first few steps (carefully!!) and then go brag to all your buddies about how awesome you are!

AFTERTHOUGHTS:

Like most first-time-projects, hindsight is always 20/20. So a few things I would've done differently and(or) better:

1. Scuff the chrome up more thoroughly. I don't think I scuffed it up enough...while priming and painting I noticed a few little spots not sticking to the chrome.
2. Check EVERY angle for even color distribution. I sprayed this in the sun thinking all that light would give me the best view in case I didn't get enough paint somewhere...turns out everything looks pretty even outside. It wasn't until I brought the piece inside that I noticed some edges and angled parts weren't coated as evenly as I would've liked. Next time, I guess.
3. If you can, spray the clear coat inside. Just make sure you're in a well ventilated area. I had to carefully pick out bits of dust and bugs and crap before every coat, and that's probably why I had such a rough finish.
4. It helps to orient the piece you're spraying vertically so that you can keep the can upright. I noticed if I held the spray can horizontally for too long I wouldn't get an even spray and it would start to sputter.

Well, that's it for the write up! I tried to make this as detailed as possible (sorry if I went a little overboard) so I hope this helps anyone looking to do something similar. If you have any improvements/comments/questions on this process feel free to let me know!

 

Awesome, awesome right up...very good info! I am planning on doing this to mine in a few short weeks.

 

Thanks! make sure to post some pics when you're done!

 

Nice work. If you want an even smoother, more brilliant finish add in one more step. Wet sand with 3000 grit sand paper then buff the clear coat. Even with a hand buffing it will come out nice.

 

Thanks for the tip! What do you recommend using for buffing?

 

There are lots of good products out there. I like Menzerna FG-400 and some good microfiber towels. The FG-400 is a bit pricy but you can always use for your truck or other vehicles. It is a bit tedious to buff it out by hand but it is doable and probably not a bad idea considering the physical shape of the grill surround you painted. A random orbital polisher works best but is not absolutely necessary. Although you have a black truck like me so I am sure your paint is showing some age by now. Black paint shows all the imperfections so well.

https://www.detailersdomain.com/col...ucts/menzerna-fg-400-fast-gloss-compound-pint



Just to give you an idea of what this product can do with a random orbital polisher, this picture is from the blog on the detailersdomain.com web site:

 

Seriously! Mine is only 4 years old and I can see every little scuff and scratch...

wow. that's impressive!

 

Check out the web site and the blog especially. The work that shop does will seriously blow you away.

 

my 2 month old duplicolor paint job. Hose with nozzle took it right off

 

Thank you for the Write up. Been wanting to get on this asap. Probably gonna plasti dip it.

 

After i get it all to finish chipping away im going to get a vinyl wrap.

 

I applaud the effort and it's an awesome write up, but I don't see it lasting. I asked the dealer if they'd paint mine to match and the guy wouldn't touch it. And that's a pro doing it. Just ended up buying a new grill.

 

Holding onto this thread, great right up, always wanted to do this, but I am to chicken to try...Looks like with this info i'll give it a try...looks awesome BTW...

 

I'll definitely give that a look! And thanks for the info!

Guh that's depressing. Hopefully I'll get some time out of it... If not then maybe I'll try plastidip and see how that compares!

Thanks! Lemme know how it goes, if be interested to see how the two methods stack up

Thanks! I'm glad it helped. Be sure to post some pics when it's all done!!

 

I have a few recommendations.

Your coats look a little too light. Your first coat should be light, since it's your tack coat. Further coats should be wetter. You'll get a better chance of a smooth, factory finish with wet coats (not too wet, obviously).

Sanding after primer before paint to between 600-800 grit will help with a smoother finish.

I only know of one clear coat that comes out of an aerosol can that does well with wet sanding and buffing for a high gloss, factory grade clear coat finish:
http://www.spraymax.com/index.php?id=361&L=1

That stuff is awesome. It's a 2-part clear coat in a can. Once you pop the inner seal, you have 48 hours to use it all, but it's the best stuff you can get without an HVLP setup. SprayMax products are awesome, in general. You can wet sand it and buff it and it'll be nice and glossy.

 

I agree, I noticed the spots where the paint had gone on thicker ended up looking much better than other areas. The gloss was higher and the clear had more depth.

I did take an 800 grit sanding pad to the primer and it left a really smooth surface

Good to know! I have a feeling I'll be repainting this if/when it starts to peel/fade and I'll make sure to use this! Thanks for all the advice, I really appreciate it

 

Im just going to wrap it i think as far as cost efficiency and ease of cleaning its the best route. Plus i can switch the color between black n white if i want. I hit a big bug and my plastidip peel off in that area, then i had to use wd40 to get the rest off cause it wouldnt peel off. Hell i got the duplicolor off far easier with a hose then i did with countless hours of rubbing the plastidip little by little.

 

It was all fine and dandy when i first did it then it got dingy and is super impossible to take off if its not fresh. Ive had it on almost a year now on the stock rims and its ugly

 

I was tagged in a video on my facebook ill try to find it its funny and about derp

 

Its not on youtube nvm