funny idea (03+ only)

01rtgurl · Post by **01rtgurl** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 9:34 pm

damn u ppl painting those things! That's the only way I can distinguish the new (03+) R/T's from normal neons in the front... (you guys knew the R/T grilles are painted body color, right?)

OB · Post by OB » Tue Jan 24, 2006 9:42 pm

kidding me i didnt know that!

01rtgurl · Post by **01rtgurl** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 9:47 pm

no joke about it! check this out: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/412594 took me 5 min to find that lol

OB · Post by OB » Thu Feb 23, 2006 11:12 pm

i had no idea rts came like that 03+. did anyone else know of this? man it does look good though im still wantin to do it.

J8t4m · Post by **J8t4m** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 9:02 am

I almost did this when i had my 03 (and yeah i did know about the R/Ts front being painted) - Thats where I got the idea . . .

The R/T that was sitting in the lot about two years ago when i bought my 03 what pretty sweet looking . . . I really liked the front . . . looks much better than that crappy fake chrome peice of junk

03_SXT · Post by **03_SXT** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 9:37 am

J8t4m wrote:I almost did this when i had my 03 (and yeah i did know about the R/Ts front being painted) - Thats where I got the idea . . .

The R/T that was sitting in the lot about two years ago when i bought my 03 what pretty sweet looking . . . I really liked the front . . . looks much better than that crappy fake chrome peice of junk

^^That makes two of us^^

Painting the chrome inserts makes the car look less quirky and happy.

~Amit

OB · Post by OB » Fri Feb 24, 2006 11:15 am

hey 03 whats the fastest easiest cheapest way to sand down the chrome to prep for paint? how much will i need to sand off? im still worried about screwing up the paint when i get around to tryin it.

03_SXT · Post by **03_SXT** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 12:16 pm

orangeblastsxt wrote:hey 03 whats the fastest easiest cheapest way to sand down the chrome to prep for paint? how much will i need to sand off? im still worried about screwing up the paint when i get around to tryin it.

You have to take the inserts off of the car, if that's what you mean by screwing up the paint around that area.

I took my small power sander, and took some 80 grit to it, until the chrome plating was gone. I think I took off about 1/8" or a 1/16" of that chrome plating. I got it down to bare plastic, it's like a grey color.

I then spraying it with some sandable primer, and did that a whole bunch of times to bring back the depth or what I sanded off. Last primer coat, you should sand it with something really smooth, then spray your paint, light even coats, and do a lot of coats as well, to get the depth of the paint. Lightly sand in between coats of paint, then finally wetsand it with something really, really, really smooth. Then clear it, and wetsand again...

By the way, if you manage to screw up, I have an extra set laying around that I can sell to you just in case.

~Amit

OB · Post by OB » Fri Feb 24, 2006 12:36 pm

how much will you sell em for. I think id rather buy those and screw up on them BEFORE removing mine and takin all the time to do it, then having to order some from you anyways lol. I dont have a ton of $$ but i wouldnt expect these to fetch a huge price. Im in CA zip 94559. thanks very much for your help.

dblsg · Post by **dblsg** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 3:30 pm

its amazing how them little pieces make such a big difference.

OB · Post by OB » Fri Mar 03, 2006 11:23 am

IF i go to a paint store and wanna get my color and give them the code and whatnot, will i get a can of paint that i have to use a brush to put on? or can i get it in a spray can? I cant see myself trying to paint somethin with a brush, id screw it up bad lol. also, how much will a good amount of the paint cost? will i be able to get it in "high heat" also, or just exterior paint? thanks guys

scneonchic · Post by **scneonchic** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 11:29 am

You should be able to get it in spray can form. thats all they ever sold me at dealerships. The only place I got brush on paint was at the auto paint shop when they did my custom mix. and brushing it on is a pain

Paint in the cans (comes in 5oz cans) used to cost about $6-$7 for one can, might be a bit more now, since its been a couple of years since I bought any.

doenst come in high heat form, I did use it on my valve cover once, the regular paint that is. I just used high heat primer that you can get at walmart or advance, or autozone, and high heat clear, w/ sanding in between all coats. If thats what you want the high heat stuff for.

If your doing your grille inserts, just make sure you tape everything off if you leave it on the car lol. you dont want overspray all over your car...overspray is teh suck

03_SXT · Post by **03_SXT** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 11:29 am

Go to your local dealership, and head over to the parts counter. Tell them that you are looking for (insert paint code here) in a spray can.

Then just follow the steps I gave you, prep work will be your best freind.

~Amit

OB · Post by OB » Fri Mar 03, 2006 2:48 pm

my gf went to dodge for some touch up paint and it only came in nail polish sized bottles. maybe she didnt ask if they had other sizes. i figured id have to go to a paint store. ill try dodge again thanks guys

scneonchic · Post by **scneonchic** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 7:03 pm

ask for spray paint specifically... not touch up paint

electricbluesxt · Post by **electricbluesxt** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 8:19 pm

actually, i just called and ordered 2 bottles of the aerosol cans. they screwed up my order and its been a month since i ordered the touch up paint, so the dodge guy told me they have to re-order it. so i told them to re-order it in a spray can instead. so everything worked out just fine. the bottles are small tho, only 4.5 oz..

OB · Post by OB » Mon Mar 13, 2006 3:42 pm

so the inserts just pop off if u pry em a bit? I dont wanna take the whole fascia off its a pita. whats a surefire quick way to get em off w/o having to worry about breaking em at all? I wanna be careful so i dont have to buy a new set. i plan on doing this today, so please gimme a quick how to if you know a simple way. thanks

03_SXT · Post by **03_SXT** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 10:48 pm

It's just a matter of getting your finger nail in between the bumper and inserts. Don't use a screwdriver or some other tool to pry them off, you know what'll happen.

I find that getting the outer curved parts unhooked first helps, just get them to pop loose a little bit, then shimmy your finger nail to the other side (toward the center of the bumper), while keeping your other hand on the other hand, and pop it off that way.

There three or four pressure clips holding them in place...

~Amit

OB · Post by OB » Mon Mar 13, 2006 11:17 pm

got that all taken care of. it was way easier than i thought to get em off. heres what ive done so far:

sanded with fine paper to faded finish
then primered 2 coats
then 3 coats paint

im gonna let it dry till tomorrow, then either add another coat of paint, or skip straight to clear coat if it still looks good and solid. heres my main question:

will high heat engine enamel clear coat work ok, or should i get something else? if no, a particular brand and store to get it at would be awesome. ill have to get it after work tomorrow. thanks!

03_SXT · Post by **03_SXT** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 11:53 pm

I would highly reccomend that you not go straight to clear coat after painting.

It is key that you get some extremely fine wetsanding sandpaper (1K to 3K). It will get rid of some of the imperfections, as well as orange peel. The key is to let the sandpaper do the work, don't press down hard, and always keep the entire surface wet.

As of the clear, enamel will work, just make sure it has some type of UV protectant so the paint won't fade, or some type of clear coat in a can.

Once the clear/enamel is on, give it another go of wetsanding, with even finer paper (3K to 5K paper), and then get a good coat of wax on top of it to bring out the shine...

Take some pictures of what it looks like, I've only seen black, red, and silver color matched grille inserts, orange blast should look good too.

~Amit

OB · Post by OB » Tue Mar 14, 2006 11:11 am

its ok to wet sand AFTER the paint has dried for 24+ hours? i think the bottle said to do it within 5 mins or somethin for the primer, but the mopar paint (orange) doesnt say much about sanding.

how should i keep the surface wet? just spray some water on it or like, dip it? again, im new to painting, especially car stuff.

thanks for all your help!

03_SXT · Post by **03_SXT** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 11:20 am

You should let the paint dry for at least 24 hours, as well as the primer. Flash time should be about 10 to 15 minutes in between each coat.

Wetsanding should be done when the paint is fully dry, keep the entire surface wet while doing so. You don't really need to keep the entire surface soaking wet, just keep a bucket of water near by and repeatedely dunk it in the water.

Here is another tip, before you wetsand, keep the sandpaper dipped in a seperate bucket of water for at least an hour. It'll soften it up, and make it easier to use.

~Amit

OB · Post by OB » Tue Mar 14, 2006 11:29 am

the primer I had was quick dry so i only let it sit for an hour (longer than the bottle suggested), before painting the 3 coats over it, each about 5-10 mins apart. That was around 4 or 5 oclock yesterday, so today ill prob wet sand and get a few coats of clear over it, then let it dry till tomorrow, and maybe then ill wax it up. does that sound about right? considering my lack of patience when workin on stuff like this, u can imagine how excited i am to get this done and installed back on my car.

ps ive been taking pictures of each step so i can write up a short how to on the procedure. ill give credit to you for the info of course. would you mind?

03_SXT · Post by **03_SXT** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 11:31 am

You should turn out with good results, just keep one thing in mind, let the wetsand sanding paper do the job, you don't need to press down very hard. It's a fine grit that will basically smooth over any imperfections.

No problem with the how-to. I think I have one at the other .org but it never was stickied, and it wasn't very in depth.

~Amit

OB · Post by OB » Tue Mar 14, 2006 11:43 pm

since the surface was sorta rough, i wet sanded it lightly with some 400 after the paint dried today, and ended up putting on a final coat to dry for another 24 hours, just to seal in the color. tomorrow i plan on clearcoating about 2-3 coats, then thurs i should be good to throw em on my car. they already look amazing, but they dont quite have the shine to match the rest of the car. ill have pics and a short but detailed how to in the next couple of days. thanks amit i really appreciate all your help and advice, ive learned quite a bit about painting and even found my own style of doing things. take it easy.