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Should I paint the plastic on the grill or leave it?
Considerations:
1. Do not have access to paint gun...after surface prep I am using a can of factory paint and a can of clearcoat.
2. Plastic on grill seems to take a beating from bugs and road debris on long trips and I'm not sure how the paint would hold up.
3. Want to stay away from painting the valance because its such a large piece and I think a homemade paint job would stand out in this color and look a little tacky.
I like the way it looks now. Is that purchased like that or is it something like gutter guard? I was going to use that on mine, but wanted something with a little smaller holes to stop more bugs ... now i am kinda thinking about making one like that and putting the small mesh behind that ... so stones and big bugs wont tear the window screen.
got and installation pics or tips? Its something i need to get done before this spring on my rig.
Thanks...thats kinda the way I am leaning as well. The inserts are from Street Scene. I got the brushed aluminum because I didn't want to deal with the rust that the steel or chrome versions had. Since the brushed aluminum didn't look right with the chrome on the truck..I decided to paint them to match. Ended up having to get some mixed because there is currently not any off the shelf spray paint with my factory code.
As far as prep...I did the following:
1. Brillo pad the surface
2. used adheasion promoter primer (Autozone)
3. Painted in factory color
4. Applied Clearcoat.
Right now I am having a heck of a time getting the grill off the truck...those clips on the bottom are a PITA. I may be being too careful, but I don't want to muscle anything right now.
2. Plastic on grill seems to take a beating from bugs and road debris on long trips and I'm not sure how the paint would hold up.
Yeah, this is true. On my steering stabilizers I sanded them down to bare metal, then sprayed them with numerous coats of clearcoat so that they would match my bilsteins.... but after a few weeks the road crap had chipped tons of little holes into the body, which later began to turn red-brown with rust. That rust showed up a lot, and even though your grill wouldn't rust, the chips and stuff would probably leave much to be desired.
Good luck... but i would also vote that it looks good the way it is.
Thanks everyone... I kinda gave up on the grille clips yesterday. Now that I know how to remove the sucker I am waiting until I have more time to tackle the final install.
I use a strait blade screw driver and use the top of the bumper as leverage to push the bottom of the clips up, as I pinch the clips together I pull the bumper out, with four screws and two clips I can have the grill in and out in about two minutes flat, I got a new\aftermarket grill the other day and pulled out the old grill, swapped clips and installed the new one in under 5min. no big deal. And Bear Hunter your truck looks great!