C63 Dreamer

So I've already painted the grille black, but even with sanding and two coats of primer, two coats of paint, and two of clear, it still isn't smooth, and looks like it belongs on a Honda civic.

Is this what everyones looks like, who paints it themselves? I'll have to grab a picture. Really not happy with it at all, and this is attempt two.

-Markus-

BigBodyBenzC240

The work you put into is is what you get out of it. If you sand it to almost smooth then when you paint and clear it will still be almost smooth. You need to sand the primer and sand the paint and then clear and is needed wet sand the clear to smooth. If you take 20mins on it you will get a 20min look, if you take your time on it then it will show.

draz.amg

Depending on where you are in SoCal, if you want it done well, you could always drop it off at Harbor Motor Sports. They did mine and it came out great. Plus you get a free respray any time.

tbal

I suggest you do everything, but have a body shop clear coat it for that ultra smooth finish. I did the same on my e55 grill, and it looked legit.

phister

Wet sand it! you need to use high grit sand paper to prep it and when you're done with the clear, get a 1000 or higher wet sand paper and wet sand it, then you can do a buff and polish to make it shine.

eesjunin

i say dont go cheap on the primer...and sand in between the coats...that will ensure that all bumps etc get smoothed and leveled. I did my grille twice once in a matching color other in ruberrized black...smooth as babies butt

tommy

Just have it Line-X'ed. No more paint chips.

Soul_Cal

How much does HMS charge to paint the grill? Free respray = nice!

draz.amg

They charged me $150 for the grille. They sand it down, primer, and paint it. They also offer a buffer afterwards to get a real shine to it.

It beats doing it yourself for that price. They know what they're doing and it comes out color matched to the body paint of your car. Other shops charge around $300-$400.

One thing I would recommend is getting a clear-bra applied to the grill afterwards. I'm going to be taking mine back down to get the respray done and will clear-bra it ASAP. After time rock chips do their damage to the paint..

Soul_Cal

Thanks for the info! I have a bunch of rock chips all over my front end. I may just re-paint the whole front end sooner or later depending on the price.

After the re-paint, definitely a clear bra.

eesjunin

you cant imagine how much difference the clear bra makes...i did mine in the fall..i think this is the first year that i will not have to repaint the facia!

draz.amg

No problem.
Mine is starting to chip real bad.

Did you do it yourself?

BF_JC230

None of you are addressing the process...or the tools...

Are you using a HVLP Gun? Or spray cans?
Are you using hi build primer, self leveling primer, finishing primer?
Are you using a controlled booth, with a set temp?
Are you using a bake over and curing theparts near 130 degrees for flow?
Are you prepsoling and properly cleaning the parts?
Do you have fish-eye, orange peel or both...or just poor paint application?

Many factors play into painting...

We have not even touched on finishing....

AnswerSS

^ Was about to say those things. There's more to painting than just put primer on, sand, and paint.