today at work, someone decided to park next to me (i park far away and alone) and use all their might to swing open their door and put a dent above my rear wheel. so i'm using my spring break to get that repaired and i wanted the body shop to paint the grill black as well. i know this has been covered many times, but i have not been able to come up with the best solution since so many people have their own opinions. i want to make it permanent as in no chipping ever. i was thinking about just haveing them sand it down then paint? i do not want to vinyl and i do not want to plasti-dip it. neither work. TIA!

 

Over 500 views but no one to chime in.bump

 

There's no such thing as permanent. Paint it black. Use multiple coats and hope for the best.

 

is it supposed to be sanded down first?

 

I would hit the entire grill with a fine grit sand paper, then maybe prime it with an etching primer then spray the entire think with at least 3 coats color and 2 coats clear.

 

I was looking at the black chrome spray bomb kit thinking about testing it out. but I am sure it wouldn't turn out right.

 

Forgive my ignorance, but is the grille plastic or metal? Maybe look at black Cera-kote for guns. It has to be baked, though, I believe.

Check at Brownells.com

Once it has cured, though it's nearly indestructible.

 

Why not plastidip?

 

Black painted grills look awful, which is probably why nobody has a decent answer for you. Not to mention all the rock chips that will inevitably show up which will make it look worse than awful.

 

Yup, I painted mine, got tons of rock chips and it ended up looking like *** within a year.

Had it vinyl wrapped after I got tired of looking at how bad it was and couldn't be happier.

 

A good solution is to wrap them with black vinyl.

 

+1
i would do this as well if i had the skills/patience for it.

 

Bed-liner coating is pretty indestructible too, but it's got a texture to it.

 

The car is at the body shop for the week.they're actually getting me new pieces that are unchromed.yenno the chrome front? Yea I'm getting new pieces that will be painted and primered with multiple coats.plasti dip peels like vinyl, well my experience at least.

 

bottom line is, its going to chip if you paint it. Scuff it up a little, prime it, paint it, and multiple multiple clear coats.

 

Once again, if you "paint" it with plastidip, it won't chip. Stuff is tough as hell. and if you don't like it, you simply peel it off.

 

+1
at first I was gentle while washing it but after 4+ months of scraping bugs off it holds up pretty well. Even if it chips its not hard to touch up, no need to blend or repaint the whole grill.

 

hmm the ideas..

 

Yea it looks like people are leaning towards the vinyl.my car will be done thursday and they're painting with three coats of clear. I still have to find a good flat badge now.

 

Maybe even have them throw a clear 3M bra material over the grill as well to protect the paint even more!! Just a thought.

 

gloss, flat, CF, or whatever color you want vinyl ...take your pick.

there's no magic paint that doesn't chip. the only way that it won't chip is A) the plastic itself is black. B) vinyl it.

 

The thing about plastidip is that its essentially spray on rubber, so it actually doesn't chip

 

a friend on here gave me his grill that he had plasti-dipped. nothing but problems.

 

What sort of problems?

 

It was a few years old, but it peeled very easily.