Not me!


I finally got around to "Stage 4" of my blackout project. The beltline, door handles, and exhaust tips are done so now it's on to the grill. I've always liked the look of the stock grill but couldn't stand the chrome/body color setup. I appreciate the areo grill but it reminds me of wire fencing to much.

To solve my problem I bought a roll of wide blackout tape and a can of DupliColor T00 gloss black paint.

I took apart the front grills and taped the factory "blades" with the blackout.

The chrome surrounds got a 150 grit wet sand to rough them up. After everything dried I hung them up from a line and put about 10 light coats on. I let them cure for an hour and did a 1000 grit wet sand. After that I kept spraying light coats until the paint ran out.

2 hours later I brought them inside and let em cure in the air conditioning overnight. In the morning everything got re-assembled. The texture contrast between the gloss surrounds and satin blades looks cool up close.

Next stage, the side vents!

 

Looks great!
Let us know how the paint holds up. I did something similar and the paint kept chipping off the chrome. I ended up with the aero grill.

 

how did you manage to take apart the front grille? tried to DIY the blackout with tape but gave up after a few minutes (i don't think i can ever be a mechanic with my patience)

 

How did you black out the handles? Lyle's Vinyl or did you paint them?

 

Excellent Lookin job -

Had to get a decent picture of what the eye detects so easily...

 

but it's all held together with plastic tabs. With patience, you can take it all apart.

Matt

 

You have to take the grill off of the car and carefully pry the chrome part off. After that taping the slots is easy. Getting it off the car is a real PIA. The little spring bolts that hold it on require a lot of careful prying an turning. Once they are off it's pretty much impossible to re-use them. I ended up using zip ties and they hold really well.

I can pull my grill off really easily now. Just don't forget to trim off the little tails.

The lower grill requires removing the front bumper, an easy job. Pop the chrome out from the back. The "blade" is stuck onto the bumper and not worth taking off. You can tape it while it's on the bumper with a little patience, a steady hand, and a good exacto blade.

Nope, I went with the AC CF door handle covers. I highly recommend them!

 

Where do you get the wide black out tape? All I can find is for chrome trim. Thanks!!!

 

I ended up having to poke around the larger auto parts stores in my area. I think I found it on the 3rd trip. You can also Google it, I found several sources on Ebay and Amazon.


It started chipping badly! So I purchased chrome surrounds from the 05 model year and am going to vinyl them soon. I'll be sure to post some pics & a how to.