Has NE1 tried to powder coat the chrome grill?

Whg powder coat? Dont get me wrong cool stuff but bad application. Paint it if you want a better looking plasti dip without cost of aftermarket grille

 

Paint it.

Dipped mine right away, still looks perfect over a year later, when/if
it starts to peel or chip I'm just going to scuff it and paint it.

 

I was thinking along the same lines as OP. I'm too rough on Plastidip. I've seen it wipe off of a grill while drying with a towel.

I chose to go with Duplicolor Bedliner Spray. It looks OEM and my grill was done for under $10. It took 1 3M scuff pad and 1 can of Duplicolor. Scuff it down, hit it with degreaser, spray light coats of bedliner spray from about 12 inches away wait 5 minutes between coats. Keep applying spray 'til can is empty.

 

That looks great! What kind of degreaser did you use?? And where did you get the supplies?

Is this the bedliner?
http://m.autozone.com/paint-and-bod...-16-5-oz-bed-armor-truck-bed-liner/291641_0_0

 

No. And since you don't seem to believe all the 'no's', go ahead and take it to the shop you have 'access' to.

Don't trust a bunch of tools like us on the interwebz.

pssst, they will tell you no too. Bet on it.

Order your color matched grill online, install it, sell your OE grill. Not everyone hates chrome.

 

No. That's the wrong stuff. You want the blue can.

I got everything at Advance Auto Parts. I always do the buy online/ store pickup route. You can usually find a 20% off coupon there.

I started at the local paint/ body shop and they sent me to the local 4x4 shop. The owner took me out and showed me his 2015 Z-71 and he had used this stuff on his fender flares. It was 2.5 years old and looked awesome. That was all I needed to see. I'll probably wind up doing my flares with it too but I'm going to keep scratching them up for a while first.

Here is literally every product I used for this job.

Duplicolor Truck Bed Coating, Black, 16.5 oz. Aerosol
Part No.

$33 TR250 Dupli-Color Truck Bed Vinyl Polymer Coating Aerosol Black 16.5 oz Water Resistant

TR250

3M Performance Soft Sanding Sponge, 5-1/2" x 2-3/4"
Part No. 03088

Duplicolor Grease And Wax Remover
Part No. CM543

Since the spray is so cheap, you may want to pick up 2 cans so you can practice on a board or something. I have used it in the past, so I was pretty familiar with how to work with it.

Here are my NotPro Tips:
-For good adhesion, you'll want to scuff the entire surface. It takes a little time, but it's super easy with the sanding sponges I mentioned above. Just cut them to the sizes needed to get in between the grill holes. It probably took me 40 minutes or so to do a really thorough job of it. The surface scuffs easily and actually looks pretty cool with just scuffing (almost like stainless steel).
-I found the best application technique is thin coats with the nozzle 6-8" from the surface and move the can pretty fast. To give you an idea, take about 1 second to make a complete pass across the grill.
-Spray each coat from a different angle. You're basically trying to ensure coverage inside of each hole.
-You'll probably want to do a couple of coats from the backside of the grill as well so that you get all the way into the back of the holes. It sounds weird but you'll see what I mean when you start spraying.
-Don't worry about what it looks like as you start. As you keep applying thin coats, It will begin to have the texture of 60 grit sandpaper.
-For best adhesion, only wait 5-10 minutes between coats. Allow time for probably 5-6 coats, which is all you'll get out of one can.
-I called Duplicolor to ask about applying a clear over the top. They recommended not doing that. They said that the product already contains UV protection and does not require any clear.
-I did a couple of little parts this stuff on my last truck (wiper blades/ door handles). It is a BITCH to clean up. Pressure washer will not take it off of your driveway so plan accordingly. I stuck a piece of plywood on top of 2 sawhorses and wound up doing the whole thing with no messes this time.

I wanted the Pro grill, but I could not justify $400 for a piece of plastic. I decided to give this a go first and there's no chance in hell that I'm replacing it now. I've put about 2000 miles on the truck since doing this. There is no wear at all and it cleans easily with soap/water, bug remover, bristle brush or whatever.

 

Do it!!
What's the worst that could happen?
Be sure to post results.

 

Thank you for the awesome help! This is the route I think I will be going!

 

You're technically wrong, there are electrostatic and non conductive spray on powders that cure with UV light rather than heat, made specifically for plastic applications.

 

so you have access to a powder coating facility, go to the internet for questions, people tell you you can't but you don't listen. If you're so confident about it go to your powder coating facility get it done, show us results. You'll either fail or get it done and shut us up.

 

Be nice. Sometimes you just need to step back and watch the train wreck. I was really hoping he would attempt the PC and post his result. I'd love to see pics of a melted grill.

 

As mentioned and posted, it is possible to power coat plastics.

 

Just to reiterate with the facts. Yes it can be done. But your standard pc shop might not have the stuff needed to uv bake it and the plastic itself could be a possible issue depending on the powder of choice.

It's a lot of time, work and money for something that might leave you less than impressed.

We have a million dollar automated paint and pc line as well as a regular pc shop at my office and we cant do it because it's a rather specialized application with rather limited uses.

 

Guess this never happened