Anyone painted or refinished their hood vents or front grille?

[weimer]

Thanks

I washed the parts with dawn dish soap. Then scuffed them with a green scuff pad. Then wiped them down with rubbing alcohol.

 

[Cody Templeton]

Ignore the dirtyness, the pollen and rain has been crazy here. Hood vents and grille re-finished with Rustoleum Pro Grade bedliner with Duplicolor Dark Shadow Metallic Perfect Match paint. Grille brackets were done in VHT roll bar and chassis satin. Scuffed with gray Scotch Brite pad, wiped with paint thinner for prep. Also lightly tinted the grille lights after buffing them back to clear using my airbrush and some clear coat with a little black mixed in. Finally added the vinyl letters to the grille and used a heat gun to mold them to the texture.

 

[Cody Templeton]

The rest.

 

[Cody Templeton]

Will probably be doing the fender vents in the same bedliner/gray next, and re-doing the wiper arms and cowl trim in SEM trim paint. I figured the hood vents and fender vents would look a lot cooler in the bedliner/gray for some different texture, and also have them match the grille. I feel like doing the cowl and wiper arms in the bedliner/gray would be a bit overkill though.

 

[Reaper_247]

I painted mine in 2 pak satin black and did a led light upgrade while I had it apart.

 

[Reaper308]

looks great!

 

[EricM]

I did take off the metal bracket at the bottom rear of the grille and paint it. It looked horrible.

If you guys are doing any painting on the front end and not clearing it with a 2K clear when finihsed- it's not going to last very long at all.

 

[Cody Templeton]

I did take off the metal bracket at the bottom rear of the grille and paint it. It looked horrible.

If you guys are doing any painting on the front end and not clearing it with a 2K clear when finihsed- it's not going to last very long at all.

As far as rock chips or what?

 

[Cody Templeton]

Planning to do my fender vents in the same bedliner/dark gray metallic combo as the hood vents and grille and then doing the wiper arms and cowl panel in the matte chassis black once it's done at the body shop. I think doing the wiper arms and cowl panel plastic in the bedliner/gray paint will be a bit too overkill but the grille, hood vents, and fender vents it's a really nice touch so they don't look so "stock." I think doing them in something besides just plain trim black makes them stand out even more.

 

[EricM]

As far as rock chips or what?

Yes, rock chips, freeze/thaw, bug guts, you name it.

2K paint just means it has a hardener in it like the paint "real" automotive paint shops use. After it has dried for a week or so, you can do a full run through sanding, compounds, polishes and waxes to make it perfect.