new front grill

[YourConfused]

I bought a new grill (97) from http://1stsubaruparts.com for a decent price and really want to put it on my car. I have an ebony that is in need of quite a bit of body work before getting some much needed paint. The grill is grey and would look funny on a blk car.

My question is: What type of spray paint should I use to paint the plastic grill w/ that won't interfere w/ a quality paint job? Should I primer the plastic and then paint? I can't afford to do the body and paint for the rest of the car for quite some time. (I got laid off/ company shut it's doors) I will do almost anything to avoid doing body work myself!
Any ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Shaun

[It's Just Eric]

honestly, just dust it with some fat black krylon. When the time comes to paint the whole car, take it off, tape off the center cection (that's supposed to be FLAT black anyway and wet sand the rest with 600 grit. No worries.

[YourConfused]

that sounds too easy

[bwb3]

I used the Paintscratch kit for the liquid silver that you can order on-line http://www.paintscratch.com/. Comes with the correct SVX paint color in one can and a can of clear.
Gene

[ridered777]

Only issue with getting the factory color is that your current color might not be factory - Time and sun fades and dulls paint. If you paint something the factory color, it might not match.

My recommendation is get the paint analyzed using a Dupont Paint Camera. I had this done at my local Robbins Auto Parts store, got them to mix the paint in a can, and thats what I did to paint my grill and doors. Came out beautifully, only thing is their paint is kind of thin and a little light, so make sure you do lots of coats.

As a note, when they analyzed my paint, it came out to be "Cherry Red" from a late 80' VW Golf. Like I said, it looks amazing.

[YourConfused]

My car is factory black, semi-gloss black and flat black. Depends on which part of the car you look at. I don't know Whick color of black I will go with when I get the exterior fixed up, I love silver cars, so I may do a color change.
Thanks for the input. I will let you all know what I end up w/. Probably go semi gloss on the grill as that would match the hood, well most of it.

[Lockleaf]

with any plastic part it's always a good idea to use what they call "adhesion promoter" it's a primer coat that does just what it sounds like. it promotes adhesion of paints to plastics. You can also sand the part with 600 grit or something to help promote the adhesion as well, but with any sanding you do then you'll need to blow it off with compressed air, use a tack cloth to remove the remaining particles, and then reclean it.

[1] Degrease the thing heavily HEAVILY first. Plastics are made in molds that are full of release greases to get the part out. A light cleaning never gets all that stuff off. If there is any under the paint, meet flaking and bubbling. Degrease it, then clean it with water to get the degreaser off, then you can use adhesion promoter and then paint.

[2]Start spraying before you you contact the part and end spraying after you've gone off the other end. In other words if the part is 18 inches long, you need to be painting about 21 inches so that you don't get any lines on the part.

[3]To make it look really good, do a few coats of paint and let them cure then wet with like 800 or so, then clean and let dry before applying the next coat.

couple coats of paint and a couple of clear will look awesome if you do that. sorry about the novel. and you can get that stuff all at the local parts store.

[YourConfused]

Thanks for the replys from all you.
I have spent several hundred hours (shoulda said that before) doing body work (on another project, shaved, welded, filled everything inside and out). I am rather good at it, but hate doing it, hence the do almost anything, pay whoever whatever, to do it for me. I plan to do a little wet sand and paint of the grill. I will clean w/ IPA, wash w/ hot water, clean again w/ IPA afterwards. If I get in the mood I will bust out the tools and do some body work as well. Dealing w/ rust and old bondo is not something I want to do though. I may fix or replace the fender and door, but the rear quarter I just don't want to deal with. (shoulda bought a different SVX) Anyone want to come make my car look nice for nothing? OK, not nothing, I'll buy you beer.
Seriously though, Thanks for the replys.

Oh, and any preferred brand names for spray paint?

[cozykat]

Originally Posted by YourConfused

I bought a new grill (97) from http://1stsubaruparts.com for a decent price and really want to put it on my car. I have an ebony that is in need of quite a bit of body work before getting some much needed paint. The grill is grey and would look funny on a blk car.

My question is: What type of spray paint should I use to paint the plastic grill w/ that won't interfere w/ a quality paint job? Should I primer the plastic and then paint? I can't afford to do the body and paint for the rest of the car for quite some time. (I got laid off/ company shut it's doors) I will do almost anything to avoid doing body work myself!
Any ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Shaun

Hey Shaun,

I'm sorry to hear about your job.

To paint your grill I would use primer and then paint and finally applying a topcoat. I wonder if the guy that painted my car would do that for you at a reasonable price? I can ask, if you'd like.

There are plenty of paint removers to remove the paint at a later time either way.

BTW: I went to the AutoRama car show this past weekend and meet a guy that does sodablasting. They use baking soda instead of sand, to remove paint and dirt from the body of a car but its gentle enough that you can leave emblems and trim on the car while its done (of course, you don't remove all the paint that way). They sodablasted a camaro with all the interior and engine still in the vehicle to show how safe it is. It's only like $650 to do a whole car so I think, for a much cheaper price, you could have that done to the grill to remove any paint you put on it.

[YourConfused]

Sodablasting?!
That is insane!
I'll check into that.
$650 for the whole car?
What company is this?
Can I use any more question marks???
You are awesome btw.

[processengr]

I have changed two 92 grilles to the 97 style. The first one, I went to the local autopaint store, got spraycan made, matched to my color code.
Costs: $18.00 for custom made base coat(Ebony)
$10.00 for clear coat bomb
$10.00 for "plastix" precoat for plastic.
Wet sanded sprayed in my basement. Didn't come out that good due to dust.
2nd grille(Liquid silver)
Brought to local autobody shop. They charged me $40.00, came out excellent...

Moral of story-local bodyshop probably better deal....