Finally did it!!! Sorry for the wait!!!
How to take off your front grille ant paint it.
If you have ANY questions about the process, feel free to ask... i'll do my best to remember everything!
The first thing you need to remember is to take your time!... And do it in a place where theres no wind or dust that could damage the final result.
Equipment used:
A philips screwdriver
A flat head screwdriver
A hard but still thin ruler
Pliars or ratchet
Self Etching primer(on the picture below) 1 can
Krylon spraypaint(on the picture below) 2-3 can
Dupli-color clear coat(on the picture below) 1-2 can
3M sanding paper(on the picture below) 6-8 sheets
These are a group view of all the places where you need to unscrew/unclip the grille:
First of all:
Unscrew these plastic screw that hold the top of the grille to the body(8 on top and 4 at the bottom)
The plastic screws you should encounter look like those:
Then, unscrew the screw at the bottom of the grille:
One that is done, you can now take your ruler or anything really strong but thin and unclip the last pieces on each side and bottom of the grille (4 on each side and 6 at the bottom):
The grille should be in your hands at this moment.
Its now time to remove the chrome lip on the hood.
With the pliars, unclip the 4 clips as seen on the picture and then unbolt the 3 plastic bolts.
Now that everything is taken apart of the truck, you can remove the FORD emblem by unscrewiung the two bolts at the back of the grille.
It's time to find a clean and safe place to work.
Then you start by using a greace and wax remover to take of all residue on the grille.(I used gasoline and it worked well)
You can now sand everything with the 3M sandpaper I used 800 grits for the whole project. This is what it should look like after the sanding.
Once the sanding is done, you start painting with the self etching primer. Normally, you put as many layers as you want, nut as soon as you cant see the chrome anymore, you're ready to move on to the next step.
This is what the primer look like once it's all done:
You can now carry on with the black paint.
I reccomend at least 3 layers and a good 2-3 hours for drying before the clear coating.
Last step before tyou replace the grille in place is clearcoating.
The first layer you put should be a little bit more thicker than the other ones tu make sure the surface is even.
Allow a good 45-60 min to dry and then put the second one on.
30 mins later, you put your last coat and then let everything dry for a good 2 hours.
Here's the result(On the picture, you can see I was also doing the black housing of my headlights):
And now, the final product and a couple pictures of the truck at the moment... before I painted my roof rack.
This week i'll be adding a brush guard by Hunter truck parts and I will also be doing my custom safari rack.
Hope You like it!!
Thank You!!!
