How to Repaint Grille and Moulding with Factory Paint!

[turbophein]

so i decided i wanted to paint a couple things today!

first off i went to Morrisons Paint Shop and got me a can of Factory Belize Green in a spray can (yes a spray can) $16, she had it done in less than 2 hours, i had some leftover Dupli-color top coat and some Walmart rattle can Flat Black $ 0.97.

First off the grille. here is a before pic.

i cleaned everything real good, taped off the Mitsubishi symbol and layed down the flat black, a light coat at first then a couple more, this stuff dries in a minute or so.

then i taped off the mesh part and the top inside plastic.

now comes the fun part laying down factory paint with a spray can! same steps here, real light coat and then a couple more, i waited 5 min in between these coats, maybe even wait another 5-10 mins between them, but i had a heat gun because it was a little chilly.

now hit it with a top coat, a nice coat of it it will spread out, just don't make it runny and always keep the can moving. after a couple minutes i removed the tape when it was still wet, that was covering the mitsu symbol. and hit it again with clear coat of the red symbol to make it pop!

after a couple minutes take the rest of the tape off while its still semi wet, if it dries it can pull the paint with the tape.

now for the molding that was missing on my car, i ordered one off another member but it was Nile black, so i scuffed it up with a
scotch brite (red) cleaned it up and layed down like 3 coats of color, then 2 more coats of top coat, i think it came out great!

Here is the main reason i ordered the paint, these ugly ass wheels. the kid before decided to paint 2 of the wheels white/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif so stupid.

well i cleaned them up and hit them up with a few coats of color, also did all the center caps, no top coat on these though, i wanted them a little dull. i only have a tiny bit of paint left so i am holding off on redoing the other 2 green wheels for now.

So what do you guys think of my handy work with $16 in paint and some love? lol!!!!

 

[turbophein]

i will get a better pic of the grille tomorrow, the sun was going down

Next on the list those damn window moldings, there all faded on one side.

 

[turbowop]

Rather than mask off all the parts of the grill you don't want painted, you can disassemble it, leaving only the front part that you painted.

 

[CarRacer]

$16 well spent on doing something simple to make your can look a hell of a lot better.

 

[4thStroke]

When refinishing my wheels, I thought they look after just the base and contemplated leaving them like that, but I was wanted more durability. When the clear went on, the wheels looked a lot better. I was surprised. You should blast them with some clear, it helps a lot. The front end looks a lot nicer, too, but that FMIC should be straightened out! It makes me want to paint my grille.

 

[turbophein]

Quoting turbowop:
Rather than mask off all the parts of the grill you don't want painted, you can disassemble it, leaving only the front part that you painted.



It was easy enough 5 min, probably took less time than taking it apart, plus i didn't have to put it together and possibly scratch it.

 

[turbophein]

i was just going to say next is that intercooler, i have to cover that thing up with some mesh, i probably am going to paint the intercooler black with radiator paint.


Wow how could i forget, i also painted the nice magnaflow exhaust Flat black today, i just don't want any attention from cops, this might help a little, plus i don't want chrome or polished anything on this car.

Before:

After:

 

[CarRacer]

The spoiler also appears to have fallen off while you painted the muffler. You might want to check into that.

 

[turbophein]

good eye. yeah that thing was ugly!!! i am thinking about selling the wing and factory fogs, wonder how much there worth. you can read about my car here:

click

 

[kartorium]

Quoting turbophein:
i was just going to say next is that intercooler, i have to cover that thing up with some mesh, i probably am going to paint the intercooler black with radiator paint.


Wow how could i forget, i also painted the nice magnaflow exhaust Flat black today, i just don't want any attention from cops, this might help a little, plus i don't want chrome or polished anything on this car.




Mesh looks like garbage, just buy a bigger intercooler and fill that hole up and make the IC straight at the same time.

The black muffler looks retarded to me. If you are concerned with attention, consider removing those massive mudflaps, they catch my eye more than a muffler.

Grill looks good though and so do the wheels. I too think a clear coat would be more beneficial in the looks department and durability. They will look nicer for longer if you throw a boatload of clear on em.

 

[turbowop]

Other than painting the door handles, I think that painting the chrome '91 grill body color is one of the biggest improvements one can do to these cars.

 

[kartorium]

I miss old blacky, I painted the door handles on that one, definitely one of the best body mods.

 

[jepherz]

Quoting turbowop:
Other than painting the door handles, I think that painting the chrome '91 grill body color is one of the biggest improvements one can do to these cars.



+1, I've done the grill on my black car, and the door handles on my grey. Of course, the stock handles are black, and a '92 has a body color grill, so I've basically done all 4 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[curtis]

The window trim if you want to do it in black get the duplicolor trim black, its a satin low gloss and looks perfect and lasts forever. Also works good on the cowl piece under the wipers and the top rails on the roof.

 

[turbophein]

Door Handles, HMMMMM??? Never thought about them...

here's a couple good pics of the grille. Matches pretty damn good for a metallic paint if you ask me, especially from a can!

 

[Hertz]

I recommend Krylon Fusion paint for door handles / cowl (plastic parts)

 

[EMX5636]

I too think color matched grills look so much better. I would like to do the trim on mine as well. I took the "easy" way out for mine and just waited for a Summit White 92 grille to surface, lol.

Looks great! Can you send me a PM with some info on where you got that custom paint can? I'd like to get some myself.

 

[turbophein]

i'm pretty sure any auto paint shop will do this for you. just take your paint code with you. if not send me like $21 i'll have one made and priority mail it to you.

 

napa will do it

 

[dsmguy3]

Kinda a nob Q but do you need to just tell them belieze green or summit white, or is there an alpha-numeric code to bring when getting the color matches spray paint?