mzilvar

iTrader: (3)

I painted my ebay grill, trim and emblems last Friday, just finished putting everything in yesterday.

Decided to go with gloss black..

For the emblems I did..

1 - Scuff with grey scotchbright until clean & water sheets
2 - Spray with dupli-color prep spray & let evaporate (15 mins)
3 - Spray with 3x light coats of bulldog
4 - Spray with 4x coats of dupli-color gloss black
-- First coat a light misting, just a tack coat, 2nd coat also light, full coverage on the third coat + 1x final coat
5 - Spray with 4x coats of SprayMax 2K Glamour Clear Coat

I did essentially the same thing for the rest of the trim - the metal piece, the fiberglass ebay grill, the holder for the front emblem and the lower grill vents. With the exception that the rest of the trim was sanded down with 320 grit paper, cleaned, prep-spray, followed by bulldog then shot with dupli-color high-fill primer, allowed to cure 24 hours & wet sanded @ 600 grit, washed clean then blown off with compressed air, allowed to dry, hit with a tack cloth and then painted with the gloss black and clear coat. I messed up and the rear trim for above the license plate hit the floor just when I was ready to shoot the clear coat on it though. So now I have to wait until next week to sand it down, shoot more gloss black on it and then hit it with clear coat. Part that sucks is the 2k Clear in the rattle can is only good for 24 hours once you activate it and is $20 a can. I'll have to use a new can to do just the one piece and end up wasting most of it since it won't take that much to do the single piece.

I guess I could find some other things laying around that I could shoot some paint on for fun :/

I spent a lot of time doing prep work on these pieces, with the exception of the emblems - those were quick. For anyone considering the ebay grill mod for the front it definitely doesn't come in a condition where its ready for paint. It comes lumpy and mine had a few scratches in it that were fairly deep. Once you sand it to get a smooth finish you may open up some pores as well that need to be hit with a glazing putty. Also my top trim piece that came with the ebay grill didn't fit at all, it was such a horrible fitment. Not only did it stick out about 1/8" but it had about 1/8" gap all of the way around it and the corners were poorly formed and fairly jagged, I actually just tossed it in the garbage. If you're wondering what its made of its fiberglass.

I used a paint booth to shoot the paint, since I have access to one on base here and was able to reserve it for 4 hours then leave my pieces there until the morning when they were dry.

The bumper required a bit more cutting than just chopping out the bar in order to get the ebay piece to sit in there nicely, actually had to trim off part of the top of the bumper where it clipped in with the acura snap clips in order for it to sit flush.

I'm waiting on some 1-shot brilliant red pin-striping paint to do the A-SPEC letters on that emblem before I put the ACURA, TL and A-SPEC emblems back on the car.

Pics below.

The Machine

iTrader: (8)

I think it looks nice, but I would have left the Acura emblem the chrome color for some contrast.

THEReeM718

iTrader: (2)

^^^ This. I like it though. Grill looks clean.

rossv1

Any rear shots? The emblems look nice.

LTxArucAx60

iTrader: (9)

I like them!

huystAr

iTrader: (3)

Looks great, well done

mzilvar

iTrader: (3)

I'll get some up once I get the other emblems on the rear on and the rear trim above the license plate. I dropped that piece on the floor while the paint was wet just prior to the CC and since I used acrylic enamel paint I have to wait until at least next friday to be able to sand it @ 400 grit and shoot more black paint on then CC it.

I'm also just waiting on the bright red 1-shot pin striping paint that I just ordered so I can finish the A-SPEC emblem, I'll get some up once its done.

UA6

Looks good

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

I wouldn't buy it for my car but you did an excellent install job

McCollins23

I like the Cmod/ebay/sharks mouth grill a lot. I think if I ever do it I will just make it myself instead of spending 200 bucks on it. I like what you did with the emblems except the aspec emblem, I would have left that how it is.

Well executed sir! We need more/better pics when you get a chance.

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Not bad at all. The important thing is if YOU like it!