Repaint grill
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Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 271
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From: Minnesota
Mars Red 2005 C230k, 2001 E320 4matic
Repaint grill
I painted my grill the same color as my car last night (desert silver), and it turned out more of a dark gold than desert silver. I was wondering if anyone knows how to go back and maybe lighten up the color after it's been clear coated.
Last edited by Brau0318; Sep 17, 2011 at 12:01 PM.
Junior Member
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 48
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From: San Jose, CA
W210
Reduce your paint by 50% for the blend(the one you just sprayed with). It'll get lighter. That's if you sprayed it with a air gun like SATA, etc. Cans are not always the greatest with color matching.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 271
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From: Minnesota
Mars Red 2005 C230k, 2001 E320 4matic
Would less paint and or holding the gun further away from the grill help at all? Also can I sand it and try again or do i have to strip it to the primer
Junior Member
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 48
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From: San Jose, CA
W210
You don't have to sand all the way down. Just color sand(wet sand)it with 1000-1200 grit and respray it. If your first coat was rough, you can wet sand it with 600 grit. Then you can spray your color on again.
Single stage or two stage?
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Joined: May 2008
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From: Pittsburgh,PA, Cambridge, Ontario, CN
2003 S210 3.8L Brabus wagon
The grill looks darker also because you are spraying a flat surface which reflects less light than the convex curved surfaces surrounding your grill. Paint match with a metallic is near impossible to match perfectly, depending upon pressure, distance from surface, angle of spray, speed of pass, temperature and humidity for flake layup, etc. The big one here is the first one listed due to light refraction from differing surfaces.
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Joined: May 2008
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From: Pittsburgh,PA, Cambridge, Ontario, CN
2003 S210 3.8L Brabus wagon
Having front/ rear side markers in orange/ red respectively, became a legal requirement of all US autos produced from the 1967 model year and going forward, according to the US DOT. You can use clear front side markers with an orange bulb. Back up lights became a requirement of new autos in 1966.
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Joined: Feb 2010
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From: Minnesota
Mars Red 2005 C230k, 2001 E320 4matic
Having front/ rear side markers in orange/ red respectively, became a legal requirement of all US autos produced from the 1967 model year and going forward, according to the US DOT. You can use clear front side markers with an orange bulb. Back up lights became a requirement of new autos in 1966.
Yeah my grill is about as good as it's going to get for an amatuer like myself. In some lights it looks right on and in others it looks dark gold. Now I'm trying to figure out if I cant get the clearcoat to shine more.
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From: Bay Area, CA
2007 SL55 AMG
its technically illegal to modify your vehicles lights in any way. So technically those headlights are illegal as well as those sidemarkers. Chances are you wont be cited for it even if you get pulled over. My amber side markers are painted body color and I tucked the bulb behind the bumper and they do not light up whatsoever.
