Painting Denali grill question

[Tribalbreak]

hey guys I just talked to my buddy from one of the local paint shops, and he said that because of the chrome coating that i couldent paint my denali's stock grill. ive see a bunch of you guys who have their grills painted and was curious what process you guys used... did you do it with a gun or cans? and what was your prep work... like i said he threw me for a loop when he told me he couldent do it cuz it would just flake off...

 

[ROBERTOcritser]

paintin chrome is like paintin glass. That shit just aint gunna fly.

 

[Effeckt]

paintin chrome is like paintin glass. That shit just aint gunna fly.

Well not technically true to the fullest extent. Yes, you can't paint chrome or it will flake. I had my chrome bumper painted and my shop had it sand blasted to remove the chrome to prepare it to take the paint. I'm sure the process would be the exact same for your grille.

 

[Copper&Black]

Well not technically true to the fullest extent. Yes, you can't paint chrome or it will flake. I had my chrome bumper painted and my shop had it sand blasted to remove the chrome to prepare it to take the paint. I'm sure the process would be the exact same for your grille.

I'm with him, kinda, If the shop has a glass bead / media blasting machine you can etch the chrome enough for the paint to grip. Now of course your paint will be a slave to the bond between the chrome plating and the plastic. So if the bond between the the two doesn't look too stong, ie flaking, or bubbling then I would remove the chrome completely, with the media blasting, or buy a cheaper none plated version to paint.


Just My .02

 

[J-Will]

its a plastic grill, not metal with real chrome. no way in hell would i media blast it. i hit mine with a red scotch brite pad, making it all dull. and shot it. rattle can even. and still looks great. no flaking at all.

 

[vatahoelt]

what about vinyl? i wonder how the grill would look with vinyl? might be a little more durable, but i'm not sure about fading.

 

[ROBERTOcritser]

Well not technically true to the fullest extent. Yes, you can't paint chrome or it will flake. I had my chrome bumper painted and my shop had it sand blasted to remove the chrome to prepare it to take the paint. I'm sure the process would be the exact same for your grille.

Im sayin that you cant paint without prep straight to chrome. Its like paintin straight to glass. Of course you have to prep it first.

 

[Tribalbreak]

i know the grill is plastic so i figured it wasn't chrome... but i dident know if there was a way to strip the fake chrome plating off the plastic grill.... i see a few denali guys on here with their grill painted so i was curious how they did it... i know you cant paint regular chrome but i dident know cuz it was plastic if it would make a difference...

 

[brndns_hoe]

its a plastic grill, not metal with real chrome. no way in hell would i media blast it. i hit mine with a red scotch brite pad, making it all dull. and shot it. rattle can even. and still looks great. no flaking at all.

i'd go with what he said...

and another note, i prepped and painted my chrome bumpers, and they are holding up just fine

 

[BlackDenali]

The shop that did mine charged me around $150 for the grill shell and it was done in '04 and still holding up perfectly!

Here is a pic from early '09....The grill has never been repainted




Tell your paint shop to remove the grill clip, scuff the area that is going to be painted, prime, paint and clear and you should be good to go. The only negative is it will not hold up as well to rock chips as the stock bumper or hood, but again I've had mine since '04 and only have a couple chips!!

My $.02