Painted Grille

[rhombus]

I'm finally done painting all the molding and bumpers black.
Here is the grille in black:

[Schludwiller]

What are you running over there a paint shop?

I see you've stripped those two Xterras next to you all the way down to grey primer.

[rhombus]

LOL-

I really don't like the grey molding so it just had to go.
Spray paint is cheap (prep just takes time but I like the look).

[Mobycat]

How has the other molding held up?

I still need to re-sand my and then paint them again. Just haven't gotten around to it.

Still thinking about the herculiner strained attempt, too.

[Goliath the X]

At first I wasn't sure how I felt about the black hood, but I'm starting to like it more and more every time I see it!!!

I've been toying with the idea of painting the gray trim, or some kind of liner (rhinolined, herculiner, etc).

What steps did you take to prep the plastic?

[rhombus]

Mobycat- The molding is holding up great. I have taking it to the power wash a bunch of times and even used the suds brush on it. It has faded a bit but that was to be expected. I figure that I will re-paint them in the spring (spray paint it cheap and easy to work with).


Goliath-

Paint: Flat Rust Paint (Tremclad or whatever)
Sandpaper: I a sand sponge (medium) but something like 600 or a bit rougher would work

Here are the steps I used to paint the molding:

1: Remove all the molding
2: Sand to give the paint something to bite
3: Wipe all the dust off (first with a cloth then with your hand)
4: Apply one coat and let dry for a few minutes
Keep appling coats until you get a nice even finish
5: Once they are dry (or just better than tacky) put them back on.

Notes:
Were a glove on your paint hand.
The paint will bleed and cover you finger tip if you don't
Painting in warm weather in much better than cold.
For metal I used 600 paper no sponge and made sure to prep better than the plastic

Front Grille:
This is a pain in the ass to get off and also has to be sanded right down since it has paint on it (where as the molding in grey plastic). Once you get it off and painted it is dead easy to put back on.

Rear Bumper:
The top plastic section will pop off and can be painted on the ground.
For the rest (metal) I sanded it with 600 and then taped the rest off and painted.

Rocker Panel:
Sand with 600 and then tape off marking and then apply many coats.

Hope this helps.

[rhombus]

Here is are some pics:

[rhombus]

Top of Rear Bumper

[rhombus]

Rear Bumper

[xterra2k]

rhombus,
It looks like you got a little overspray on you plate!

[Goliath the X]

Thanks Rhombus!!

I thought that sanding then applying many coats was all that was required, just wanted to see if you had come up with any "trick of the trade".

[rhombus]

This is total guess work on my part

I was not sure how the metal rust paint was going to work put but had a bit left over from the hood and could not find any Heculiner.

[accasbel]

We painted our grill, bumpers, plastic trim, lower rocker panels, and rock sliderz with Rust-Oleum's Road Warrior truck bed liner. All the parts were cleaned with soap & water, sanded, and then cleaned with Goof-Off. Here's a picture of the parts laid out for painting. :


Here's a close-up of the grill.

We decided to skip replacing the grill's Nissan logo. Prior to painting we filled in the area with bondo, and sanded smooth. Someday we'll mount a smiley-face, or Celtic cross.

[coolerman]

I LIKE it!!! Cut it out and mount a small spot light where the logo was :greenchai
That was a lot of work! What's Goof-Off? Send that pic to Pika, he was needing some way to cover cracks and scratches on his rear panels...

[accasbel]

Originally posted by coolerman
...What's Goof-Off?...

It's a form of xylene, a cleaner Rust-Oleum recommends to be used prior to painting.