Blacked Grill Surrounds

S

shaunmc

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Hi,
When people black their grill surrounds on black cars, do you get the colour of your car? Or just buy a basic tin of black from say halfords?

Thanks
Shaun
 
I've just had the Chrome around the windows and the upper and lower grill's painted in Satin black (My car is also black) :)

I'll try and post some pic's
 
I sprayed mine Satin Black (but I also have a second set of grilles in chrome for when I change my mind!)
 
audi upgrades
Cant answer but is it possible to rub away the chrome with sand paper or the like?,on the ford ones you could
 
You'd have to sand down/key up the chrome before priming and spraying it.
 
silversurfer said:
You'd have to sand down/key up the chrome before priming and spraying it.
Click to expand...

Thats all I did, I don't think I even primed it from memory. You'll probably need to redo them once a year due to stone chips, but it's pretty straightforward to pop the chrome trim off the grille and do them.
 
Cheers for the advice everyone.
So ill need some sand paper, satin black paint, and some plastic primer. Or are the chrome bits metal?

Thanks
Shaun
 
Make sure you have different grade's of paper as a coarse sandpaper will damage the grill.
 
audi upgrades
good advice there ,that white audi is stunning btw
 
Word of advice - make sure its keyed up well and id use primer!

Sanded mine back with some pretty fine wetndry then gave it approx 3 coats of satin black paint - it peeled off completley in weeks. Back to chrome now I had to rub off the remainder of the black flakes - wasnt a happy bunny let me tell you!
 
i've painted mine before but it doesnt last if you do any sort of mileage, just ends up looking ****.

I'm contemplating wrapping it in black vinyl instead, as that should be pretty chip resistant.
 
dont the stealers still sell the B6 blackout grills for around £30/£40 ?

alot less hassle and a cheap mod
 
id be interested if they did anyone got a part number ?or pic
 
Hi,

Just joined and first post so want to make it clear i have no affiliation to either link (incase the mods think i've registered just to advertise this stuff. Thats why i posted the link to the "how to" showing it being used) but you may want to try this stuff .....
Plastidip Plastic/ Flexible Paint - Black Aerosol Spray on eBay (end time 03-Feb-11 17:20:01 GMT)

Alot of the "how to's" ......
B6 A4/S4: Removal & "Blackout" of Ultra Sport grilles
seem to use this stuff & apparently you wont need to sand the chrome at all, just spray it on. Gonna giv it a go soon bt other parts to be bought before i feel the necessity to apply myself to this mod.

Sorry if i've broken any rules on posting links on the board, im only new!!!!!!!!!

P.S. Another "how to" i read said to apply in thin coats and to build the layers up as, if my memory is correct, the dude on the link just seems to spray the whole thing once n has a problem with dripping!! Apparently the stuff is fool proof tho so not sure what he was playing at.

Any who, i should be getting my hands dirty with a few mods soon so will keep updates posted of how it goes!
(B6 1.8T Quattro - Standard, starting from scratch!!!)
 
My Satin Black grill surround on a black A4 :)

IMG_2933.jpg


IMG_2912.jpg
 
silversurfer said:
I've just had the Chrome around the windows and the upper and lower grill's painted in Satin black (My car is also black) :)

I'll try and post some pic's
Click to expand...

who done this for you? i'm looking to do the same but been told not possible by loads of companies?
 
DJM1982 said:
who done this for you? i'm looking to do the same but been told not possible by loads of companies?
Click to expand...

A guy I know here in West Sussex did it for me. They were left on and painted. It's a mission to take all the chrome off paint and put back on.
 
im doing mine on Tuesday, gonna rub em down with 400 grit sand paper, a layer of zinc primer, give em a quick rub again with some scotchbrite and a coat or 2 of plack satin paint, i was advised by one of the lads from work who paints helicopters for a living so i took his advice lol
 
I do mine every few months to keep them tip top - also allows me to keeps the grill itself super clean as I can give them a good going over.
 
How much dude?! is it the full wack or just the surrounds??
 
quattrojames said:
Don't you need the lower grill too?
Click to expand...

yes james, im going to get the price for that tomorrow.

when i went to the dealers today to price up a front lower spoiler they said i couldnt get just the lower, so will go back to them tomorrow with part number then will get price for lower black out grille
 
I remember doing this on my old E34 Sport, I used hammerite gloss black coz it hard as nails finish does'nt chip easily.
 
mattyboyc said:
Hi, i've just re-done mine using halfords flexible vinyl paint as this is much more robust towards stone chips, i was given the tip by a neighbour of mine ( who is currently selling this little beauty AUDI RS4 Full Replica 3.2 Quattro IBIS WHITE 38k FASH on eBay (end time 19-Jan-11 16:50:51 GMT) ) and so far so good.
Click to expand...

Hahaha, didn't know if you had seen me in that yet Matt! I should come round and show you it, as I have just sold it and it will be gone in just over a week.

And yup, flexible vinyl paint is the way to go. Lasted a lot longer than standard spray paint.
 
I did mine the other day but its already started to chip so ive ordered a can of Plasti-Dip rubber flexi paint so ill let yous know how that goes
 
for which price are you after buddy ?
Click to expand...

For black versions of both the lower and upper grill altogether dude?

I did mine the other day but its already started to chip so ive ordered a can of Plasti-Dip rubber flexi paint so ill let yous know how that goes
Click to expand...

You tried this stuff out yet dude?
 
I spotted 1 stone chip on mine (lower) so not to bad for 12 months, this mod i believe is one of the easiest and worth while mod's.
 
What was your full prep coll? Im really dreading risking it again myself after it all flaking off miserably...

Would this be due to not enough sanding and not using a primer?

Cheersss
 
Just make sure you sand down the chrome untill it's completley dull, clean any dust of with a very small amount of paint thinners or panel wipes will do. The next stage is the use of a hot air gun to warm (not hot) the grills slightly and then apply your primer or etching primer in thin light even coat's, after each coat use the hot air gun to help dry the pimer. I would leave the grill for a few hours to cure(6-8 hrs) before a light sanding using a fine sand paper. Clean the grills again as per the first stage warm the grills (not hot to the touch) and apply your colour in thin coat's giving each coat plenty of time to dry between coats ,use the hot air gun to help drying (don't rush).

After you have applied your colour and are happy allow the grills to dry 100% over night , I then used a wet and dry paper to flatten of the paint if any signs of orange peel , i did'nt use any lacquer as i went for a satin finish. You can buff the the paint up using a polish like Autoglym SRP or Menz po106fa. both can be applied by hand. I can't stress enough that you must allow primers and paints to dry 100%.
 
Colin was a lot more diligent than I was!

I just keyed the surface, 2 x primer and then 2 x top coats and job done. I did it in the summer though, unless you've got good facilities trying to spray in these conditions is a dead loss.
 
I went for the vinyl wrap, bought a roll of black gloss off ebay, really easy and reversible. I used vinyl cos i didn't want to wreck my S4 grill, just got to do my lower grill and boot strip now....
 
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