Color Matched Denali Grill

[Rocket Man]

It's always bothered me that all of my Denali is either black or pewter except for my grill. And since the grill is chrome, so are my headlights and corner lights. So I started looking into color matching my grill and along with that, I want to match my front lights to my rear lights which are smoke/black. Unfortunately, everyone I've talked to including my friend who owns a body shop has told me that no matter how much prep goes into it, painting over chrome WILL fail, it's just a matter of time. I know, there's guys who have had luck with some sanding and adhesion promoter but I'm not going to take the chance. So I bought a new aftermarket chrome OEM style grill to install temporarily and looked into removing the chrome from my stock one. I've heard to take it to a chrome plater and they'll strip it. I talked to 4 shops and they all said they can only strip chrome from metal. One shop said I could use Muriatic Acid and it would remove the chrome itself but leave the nickel underneath. That might be paintable, I'm not sure. I read that one guy swears by using a small propane torch and lightly hitting the chrome and it peels up. I tried the acid and the torch. The acid did remove something and it looks like I might be able to sand that and paint it BUT I also tried the torch method and I have to say that not only failed but it caused the underlying ABS that the grill is made out of bubble even though I barely hovered the flame for a second or two. It looks like the glue under the chrome bubbled and anyway, now my original grill is toast. I also read about using oven cleaner which I haven't tried.

 

[Rocket Man]

Another problem with these grills is that they're made of several pieces and where they are joined together, the chrome goes underneath the other piece and so I don't think stripping it is a good idea. Besides, I can't seem to find a surefire way to do it. I've searched everywhere for a paintable grill for the NBS Denali's but nobody has made one. The closest I've found is one that Spec-D used to make in black that I've heard can be sanded and painted but It's not OEM style but instead it's a vertical bars style. It looks to be discontinued but I found one online and asked to make sure the company I ordered it from has it in stock. My plan is to remove my stock honeycomb center and install it in the center of that one. I'm planning on having the main grill colormatched in pewter, the honeycomb to be done in black (which will have to be a rework of the chrome OEM one which I plan on sanding all the chrome off of), and the GMC emblem colormatched which I already did.

 

[Rocket Man]

I got the stock center removed by heating up all the tabs and pulling them through the slots. Then I straightened them and smashed them flat so they're ready to be reused. A few fell off but I don't even know if I'll be able to reuse them when installing my center on the Spec-D grill until I see it.

 

[Rocket Man]

Oh well looks like this project is screwed because even though I contacted them and SPECIFICALLY ASKED if they have that Spec-D grill in stock, they just called me to say they made a mistake and it's discontinued and they DO NOT have it in stock. F^#k. Back to the drawing board. At least I got my new headlights and corner lights even though they're not going in until the grill is painted.

 

[OHSIXX]

Lots of good info here. I actually had one of my grilles painted at a body shop. They used adhesion promoter and then painted/cleared it. The only drawback with black is stone chips pop right through...didn't have it for long though as it met its demise from a chunk of retread being kicked up on the freeway. I ended up getting a replacement and settling for a CM emblem...besides it matches my lower grille....and I opted for the one with no tow hooks. Your front end looks nice currently but I'm sure the black grille would look great with those new lights. Love your rig BTW.

Here's mine:

@Red Rocket

 

[Rocket Man]

Yours looks nice too. I actually have the DDU lower grill too but mine goes between the tow hooks. Funny, it came black PC and I had it re-powdercoated in a bright finish to match the chrome grill. Then I used Dupli-Color Shadow black chrome spray kit and blacked it along with my entire grill. You can hardly see it in those pictures. That was too much black, I don't think the Denali grill looks right black unless the truck is too. So I stripped it back to chrome except for the center honeycomb part. I've been experimenting a bit! I might just have my painter color match the new one I bought, he just said he won't guarantee it. I'll wait until I make sure there's none of those black Spec-D grills available. I have some inquiries out.

 

[Rando89]

I also am curious about this idea for my pewter Yukon xl. I wonder if a pewter plasti dip with heavy coats of clear would look good? It is a small area after all. I think if you did the edges pewter and the honey comb part black it would look ****! And hey, if it doesn't you can always peel it off, no harm done

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[OHSIXX]

I had to take a second look to notice the lower one...you are right....it was so dark I didn't notice lol. I'll be following along to see what you come with.....best of luck

 

[YukonXL04]

I scuffed my plastic chrome and hit it with adhesion promoter and then painted it. It lasted for a few years, as said before rock chips started to show so I sanded it again and painted it again and never had a problem with it after that. On my old 2000 sierra... I say just go with that.

 

[Rocket Man]

I also am curious about this idea for my pewter Yukon xl. I wonder if a pewter plasti dip with heavy coats of clear would look good? It is a small area after all. I think if you did the edges pewter and the honey comb part black it would look ****! And hey, if it doesn't you can always peel it off, no harm done

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I also thought about that, but I think the way the edges wrap around and kinda blend into the fenders will make anything that doesn't match perfect look wrong. I know when I did my Escalade appliques and painted them myself using an exact paint match, the clear coat I bought didn't match and it bothered me enough that I had my painter re-do them. If it was separated from a painted area by even a little bit, it would probably not be so noticeable. I think if areas touch, they either need to be contrasting or an exact match.