G-RELL
FULLY DIPPED LS
Hey Guys
A lot of people have been asking about the rear surround and grille color matching process. I thought I’d do a quick write up on what I did. I by no means am expert on this, but mine turned out pretty well. Ordered most of my stuff through paint scratch and used LSK’s write up for some tips. I bought 2 cans of everything and glad I did, Needed just about all of it.
Reason for painting- A buddy of mine backed into the front of my LS a while back ago. His receiver but a perfect hole above my foglight and broke the grille. I ended up finding a LS near me a guy was selling with a blown motor (same color code as mine) I was able to pick up cheap. So I figured I might as well paint since I had everything off anyways.
Removed all the pieces and washed, claybared, and alcoholed everything down. The front plate holder bolts tore up the cover pretty good. I had to dremel off all the edges before I bondo’d. added a couple layers sanding between each until smooth.
Removed all pieces and masked everything off. Take your time and do it right, Not a step you want to rush through. Next, sanded all the chrome down. I did not use an adhesion promoter but my primer is a flex primer meant for plastic.
After several layers of primer, wet sanded the the primer down with 400 grit. Don’t go crazy sanding, all you need is a clean smooth service. Its also important not to touch your surfaces from this point on. I rinse my hands with alcohol to cut any grease.
After dried, your ready for base coat. Keep nice even coats. My light parchment gold was tough to keep uniform. Make sure you shake throughout the process. Its also important to be careful toward the end of your base coat can. I tried to use to much and got some unmixed paint out of the bottom that didn’t match on my last pass. Not super noticeable, but still sucks. Once dry, your ready for your clear. I started with light coats as it suggested, You will not get a clear coat affect without a couple heavy “wet” coats. Take your time as your layer. You don’t want it to run. I think I ended up with 5 clear coat layers.
Once complete let it cure for a day or so. Now your ready for rubbing compound, this will help smooth out your clear coat. You can do it by hand, but a buffer of some sort is best. I used my 3m buffing pad from my headlight restore kit. I will color sand in a couple weeks. Give it a month or so before you polish and wax. .... heres some quick pics..... Photoshoot soon..
Anyone else with advise feel free to add.
A lot of people have been asking about the rear surround and grille color matching process. I thought I’d do a quick write up on what I did. I by no means am expert on this, but mine turned out pretty well. Ordered most of my stuff through paint scratch and used LSK’s write up for some tips. I bought 2 cans of everything and glad I did, Needed just about all of it.
Reason for painting- A buddy of mine backed into the front of my LS a while back ago. His receiver but a perfect hole above my foglight and broke the grille. I ended up finding a LS near me a guy was selling with a blown motor (same color code as mine) I was able to pick up cheap. So I figured I might as well paint since I had everything off anyways.
Removed all the pieces and washed, claybared, and alcoholed everything down. The front plate holder bolts tore up the cover pretty good. I had to dremel off all the edges before I bondo’d. added a couple layers sanding between each until smooth.
Removed all pieces and masked everything off. Take your time and do it right, Not a step you want to rush through. Next, sanded all the chrome down. I did not use an adhesion promoter but my primer is a flex primer meant for plastic.
After several layers of primer, wet sanded the the primer down with 400 grit. Don’t go crazy sanding, all you need is a clean smooth service. Its also important not to touch your surfaces from this point on. I rinse my hands with alcohol to cut any grease.
After dried, your ready for base coat. Keep nice even coats. My light parchment gold was tough to keep uniform. Make sure you shake throughout the process. Its also important to be careful toward the end of your base coat can. I tried to use to much and got some unmixed paint out of the bottom that didn’t match on my last pass. Not super noticeable, but still sucks. Once dry, your ready for your clear. I started with light coats as it suggested, You will not get a clear coat affect without a couple heavy “wet” coats. Take your time as your layer. You don’t want it to run. I think I ended up with 5 clear coat layers.
Once complete let it cure for a day or so. Now your ready for rubbing compound, this will help smooth out your clear coat. You can do it by hand, but a buffer of some sort is best. I used my 3m buffing pad from my headlight restore kit. I will color sand in a couple weeks. Give it a month or so before you polish and wax. .... heres some quick pics..... Photoshoot soon..
Anyone else with advise feel free to add.
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