TL251

i am trying to plasti dip my grill,do i need to put something in front of radiator fan or can i just spray the grill without damaging anything..i just got my tl last week.thanks

jkopuffs

cover / tape off anything that you done want plastidip on... common sense....

dynodonkey

my recommendation is to take the whole front bumper off and then remove the pieces of the grill that you would like to paint. not too tough, and makes painting trouble free.

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

MarcoNorthPolo

As dynodonkey said, take off the bumper and grill to paint it. Although it will be a bit more work in the front end (no pun intended), you'll likely save yourself grief from overspray later on. I always have trouble with overspray, no matter how well I tape something off.

A SiQ TL

colindunn

That works too. Front bumper is very easy to remove though.

xNPKx

i was thinking of doing this too but i'm not sure what color would go good with my car my Tl is RBP ?

mvp2765

iTrader: (1)

do it the right way and remove everything, paint it, then put it back on. It maybe a little more work but the margin to ruin stuff decreases.

Two-Gun

Just remember to spray it on thick so if you want to remove it , it will come off easier.

mbarnett13

Definitely spray thicker... you'll want 4 or 5 coats on that thing.

1black_seven

iTrader: (2)

If you do a good job taping up the front you will have no problem. Keep a toothpick and an exacto knife handy.
If you clean your radiator every other month I wouldn't worry about the spray. It disapates at the right distance.

A SiQ TL

Actually, I think it increases. Every bolt or bitch clip you have to remove to get the bumper off can potentially ruin something. You also could scratch or mar the paint on the bumper if you're not careful with it.

Comptechtl2367

If you don't have the experience to take your bumper off you shouldn't be painting parts on your car. That being said I also think nothing makes your car look cheaper them plastidip. If your going to go through all the work why not just paint it?

To go with everyone else, take the bumper off and take the grille pieces out.

1black_seven

iTrader: (2)

Taking out the bumper is easy and takes about 5 mins.

I will never use paint over dip simply because dip is removable. Dip is great for those with an artistic/creative capacity.
I don't understand how dip makes a car look cheaper. Maybe because it doesn't "reflect" like paint, but then plasti-dip offers a glossifier spray and even a pearliser spray. This makes me feel most of the opinions against plasti-dip are arbitrary.

1black_seven

iTrader: (2)

Here's an example of what I did.
It's held up for over a year now without any problems.
Attachment 110354

story.customz

Plastidip is great to use as a base coat with actual paint sprayed on top. It may be a bit harder to remove, but it is still removable and it looks way better than simply dip alone.

A SiQ TL

Again, I disagree. There are several mods that IMO look cheap, and a few of them are quite popular on here. While I agree that you can go overboard with plastidip, I also think that if done moderately, it can look like flat black paint. The good thing about it is, if you decide you don't like the look , just peel it off.

I don't think this looks cheap at all.



or this......



Again, just my opinion. Thats the great thing about this forum, you get to see a lot of variety, and get several opinions.

And if he wants to do it this way, that's his decision. Doesn't matter to me. It's A way, not THE way.

@cura_driver

I just plasti dipped my front grill and found it easier to keep the bumper on and covered up anything i didnt want over spray on.

I put cardboard behind the grill so there was no over spray on that as well
check out my photos here

geekybiker

I was able to remove my grill bar for painting without remove the bumper. You can get to the bolts you need without taking it off. I didn't do the surround however. FWIW the plasti-dip here looks like OEM textured plastic. Regular paint actually looks less OEM in this case.

zachlone

should skip the plastidip and do something that wont chip or rub off. Vinyl wrap FTW!!

Lucky_Teenager

Please do this and then make a DIY I want to vinyl wrap my entire grill so bad.

JJH

iTrader: (1)

It's really pretty self explanatory. Remove grille pieces, wrap in vinyls, reinstall.

JJH

iTrader: (1)

PS - paint matched grille ftw.

story.customz

I feel like black is the only colour where paint matching looks good. Any other colour it makes the front less aggressive.

whoismiked

iTrader: (2)

Any part of the car that is not NBP is less aggressive

MarcoNorthPolo

This guy...

JJH

iTrader: (1)

I personally think that NBP painted grille would look good on WDP car. Same for KBP, CBP, and MRP. I think next best looking is carbon fiber wrap.

geekybiker

That's why I painted my headlights!

whoismiked

iTrader: (2)

Should have wrapped them, twice.

Light output not good, but who needs lights when you look this good?!





I really hope people reading these last few comments know about red sarcasm O_o ..lol

Comptechtl2367

Win! Now this looks classy and done correctly!

geekybiker

No kidding. When you look this aggressive, the other cars just get out of your way anyways. No need for lights.

conort2390

i first painted the grille with plasti dip but didnt like the look of it so i took it off and went to autozone and used regular plastic paint

MSGross

youtube has some decents videos on it... guy actually masked just outside the grille area on a Jetta, sprayed a few coats with plasti-dip (start light and build up) then the little bit around the edge peeled right off leaving the grille covered in the paint. Good news is that it can all be peeled off, but I think the guy on the video has a lot of experience with it... dip your car or something was the title...

mvp2765

iTrader: (1)

^ yup. you can watch those videos to get a few tips to make things easier

zachlone

Ive had mine done for awhile now. just remove pieces and wrap it up!

Bigbill609

ezilonis

i wouldn't risk the overspray... just take the bumper and grille off... I will be doing this to my TL soon... after this F'n heat wave passes.

AGENT TL

Those grills in this thread look sharp

ez12a

its not hard to stick some newspaper between the radiator and the grille. You'll need to open your hood...I did it that way and it turned out fine.

also, the first coat of plastidip is very light to make a adequate bonding surface. Put another 4-5 layers waiting 15 (or was it 30?) min in between. If you put a really heavy first coat it will bubble.

Also, plastidip has a texture to it similar to a matte plastic. It's not smooth. Just some things to expect. Looks just like factory black plastic trim.

I ended up peeling the dip from the lower silver trim, so only the interior is black. Besides a scratch from road debris, it has been fine. Over a year since.