front end facelift

[DannyW]

After boring through 290k miles of south Louisiana bug-ridden air (and taking out a deer), my front end is really looking shabby. Among other parts, I want to replace the chrome grill frame with one painted to match the body. I see there are a couple places that advertise rattle can systems for any material. I was going to get a new one from Rockauto (their's comes black) and paint it myself. It's not a show truck by any stretch, so "close enough" will work. Has anyone had good luck painting that plastic grill?

 

[bigceltic]

I painted my grille. Got a black plastic one I found on Ebay, I think. Painted with color match rattle can and the finished it with a rattle can clear coat. I think it looks great.

 

[TRAMPLINEMAN]

If you’re getting a new one, practice on the old one. My ‘14 came with the chrome looking grill but I wanted black. Dealer wanted $900 for the black plastic grill, ah, no. I cleaned mine real good and sprayed it with Plasti Dip for $5. Five years later it still looks pretty good, other than a few rock chips.

 

[Prairie Dog]

I used Duplicolor to paint some black door handle covers and it matches perfectly even in the sun. It's been on there for a couple of years and is holding up great.

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Scott

 

[DannyW]

Yeah, the parts that are supposed to be black can be made to look like new again. I did my rear bumper cap and step about 4 years ago with the new plastic paint that Rustoleum makes. Black with a clear coat for UV protection, and it's still holding up really well. I need to do my mirrors and door handles.

 

[DannyW]

I painted my grille. Got a black plastic one I found on Ebay, I think. Painted with color match rattle can and the finished it with a rattle can clear coat. I think it looks great.

Since the new part is black, did you lay down a white undercoat to give the blue more "pop"? Use an adhesion enhancer for plastic?

 

[bigceltic]

Since the new part is black, did you lay down a white undercoat to give the blue more "pop"? Use an adhesion enhancer for plastic?

I had tried a couple of approaches and the one that worked best for me was to clean it thoroughly with soap and water, then rubbing alcohol, then an adhesion promoter (I will see if I have any left to see what I used) followed by a primer (that was a light grey color). Then the Duplicolor paint until it looked right, then 3 coats of clearcoat.

 

[sarj]

After boring through 290k miles of south Louisiana bug-ridden air (and taking out a deer), my front end is really looking shabby. Among other parts, I want to replace the chrome grill frame with one painted to match the body.

not being a chrome guy, it's the first thing I did when I bought the truck in 04. The 03 matched the paint color, so I just bought a new 03 replacement from dodge and sold mine on ebay. Not sure if you could find one in a yard nowadays, but I've always liked the look over chrome