Things You Will Need: Personal paint choice, Primer, 400-600 grit sandpaper, Rubbing Alcohol.
Mod Time: Varies due to Paint/Sanding. Rest is Quick (.5 hour)
Difficulty (1 to 5, 5 being the most difficult): 1 – Straight forward, painting is the most difficult part since you want it to look good.
Step 1 – Removing the Grille
Raise the hood of your car.
Starting at one end of the grille, squeeze the plastic clips while pushing the grille forward (out the front of the hood).
There will be 6 clips, and then the top of the grille will tip forward, allowing you to lift the grille upwards to unhook the bottom.
Step 2 – Taking Apart the Grille
You can now separate the grille into the three pieces. You can leave the rings on if you don't plan on painting them.
The trim separates from the grille by popping the 12 tabs along the top and bottom and unhooking the two ends.
Start at one end and unhook it by pushing the trim downwards.
Once you have one end free start working across the grille to the other end, releasing the tables along the way.
Once all tabs are removed you can pull the other side to free the trim from the grille.
The rings also come off by pushing the tabs in.
Step 3 – Sanding and Painting
Sanding can be skipped, but paint will not adhere to the chrome plating as well.
Using paper between 400 and 600 grit, roughen up the plating. This is a tough process, and will take hours if you tried to remove all the chrome. It's important to not use too coarse of a paper otherwise the sanding will show through the paint. If you use too fine of a paper it will not roughen up the plating enough.
Once you've finished sanding, clean the grille to get it ready for paint using a clean cloth and rubbing alcohol. Do not touch the trim after this step.
Now it's time to apply some paint. Using an automotive primer, apply multiple thin coats of the primer. A good primer to use is one for plastics, not a filling primer as these are too thick for this job.
Allow the primer to dry completely before painting. Read the Manufacturer's instructions and apply paint under appropriate conditions.
Spray the trim with multiple light coats of paint until the desired look is achieved. Allow the paint to cure.
If you are applying a clear coat, follow the same procedure. Do not spray it on until the paint has adequately cured, and wait before continuing until the clear coat has cured.
Step 4 – Installation
The grille goes back together in reverse, so hope you remember how you took it apart.
At this point you may want to clean the grille up nicely before putting the nice newly painted trim back on.
Hook one end of the trim over the grille, then work your way down the trim attaching it to the grille with each tab, then finally hook the other end on.
You can now look at your new front grille, and get ready to install it back on the car.
Pop the hood and hook the lower edge of the grille in.
Push the grille into place from outside of the hood, making sure each clip is snapped into place.
Shut the hood and you're all set with a new look to the front end.
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