Color Matching Front Grille Shroud

I didnt like the look of the chrome front shroud on my 06' Tacoma, Heres How I color matched it for cheap.



First removed the front Grille off the truck. Theres two screws and two pins holding it down. Be careful with the Pins when removing them.


Then, After sanding it down thoroughly in stages starting with 60, 80, then 120 grit sand paper. I Taped up everything I wouldnt be painting. I recommend using blue masking tape, but all I had at the time was electrical tape.


Here are the products I used to paint the shroud, I live in Germany so the brands may not be well known in the states However seemed to be of good quality. I first applied 3 coats of primer (let dry for 5-10 minutes in between). Then 3 coats of the actual color matched paint. and finnished with 3 coats of clear varnish; The Paint color code for the 06' "Silver streak mica" is

$15 BTY1616 7 Perfect Match Automotive Spray Paint – Toyota Silver Streak Mica, 1E7 – 8 oz. Aerosol Can

BTY1616. In my case the code was 55265 (european paint equivilant) and was identical to my Silver streak Mica Tacoma

I waxed it gently with some basic turtle shell car wax to get the most out of the clear coat. Here is a before and after pic with final result. I also installed a Grillcraft Mesh grille, and topped it off with a TRD badge in the bottom right hand corner.


Overall the Proccess took about 2 hours to complete, and costed about $25 all together. Hope you liked this How-to. If youve got any questions, let me know!

 

Looks good man.