Painted my radiator and fuse box cover...

[iwannacobra5]

bangastang WHO? lol

well, i FINALLY got these pieces painted and cleared (both OEM pieces). i say finally because it was a long drawn out process that we had to redo a couple of times. brian (from pancoast) said this would be a TOUGH DIY project, but i went ahead and tried anyway. i found out the he was right. needless to say, we got it done and it turned out pretty sweet, i think.

i'm waiting for the clear to harden before putting it on the car, but here are a few preview pics after we got the clear on...

i'm kicking around putting this on the fuse box cover...what do you guys think? i took it off my old fuse box cover....

i'll post some pics with the pieces on the car later in the week.

 

[lkempf]

I have been wanting to do this myself. I have bought the paint and everything just haven't had the nerve to do it. What made it difficult? I was worried about the texture of the factory parts. Love the way it looks.

 

[acobra03]

Nice job! Did you use anything on the plastic to get the paint to stick?

 

[brandont70]

Great Job! Gives me the motivation to pull the trigger on this!

 

[RIO RED SNAKE]

Nasty, always wanted to do this, you should do your strut brace too, please post pics installed...same color shelby ftw

 

[Red-GT500]

Looks great! What did you use to take the texture off the plastic!

 

[fullboogie]

Damn fine job, man!

 

[Dasaliac03]

Looks good! Sub'n for pics of it all installed

 

[brian98svtsnake]

That looks great, I was going to have my paint shop paint mine vista blue and luckily I have no stripes. The bangstang one looks awesome but way out of my price range. Anyway, great job, can't wait to see pics of it installed

 

[iwannacobra5]

Looks great! What did you use to take the texture off the plastic!

3 coats of high build primer...wet sand it smooth after drying with 600 grit

 

[iwannacobra5]

to address everyone asking about the challenges...here you go:

1. you've got to clean the sh*t out of the plastic before spraying with primer. the first go round i cleaned with dawn, comet, and hot water, then sprayed primer. the primer basically peeled off, but it could have been from several reasons: 1. didn't clean the piece very well, 2. mixed primer improperly (too thick), and/or 3. sprayed on adhesion promotor too think and/or didn't let it dry completely. the second go round (after removing all the old primer) we cleaned it again with the above as well as a product called "klean all", followed by lacquer thinner. we did not spray with adhesion promotor again in fear that what we were using was junk. the lacquer thinner helps with adhesion anyway.

2. as noted by someone above, the front edge (rubber seal) needs to be taped off. tape has to be removed in between coats to avoid chipping when you remove it. you might still have some touch up to do afterwards (i did). if you paint the seal, you can bet on it cracking down the road.

3. make sure not to overspray your paint or you'll have puddles in the "valleys" of the radiator cover. after spraying the first time, paint puddled. we had to let it dry, then sand it out, then respray lol... no fun! all is good now.

those were the the BIGGEST challenges. when you have to re-sand and re-paint this stuff it becomes very labor intensive and time consuming. there's no telling how many hours i've got in it.

if i had to give you advice on doing it, clean the covers REALLY well. i know PPG makes a three step cleaning kit that i would look in to if i was you. although i'm not 100% sure why the primer didn't stick the first time, at least be sure you start with very clean materials so you can rule that out should there be any issues with primer not sticking.

thanks again for the comments. i'll post pics soon with them on the car. if you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

 

[Harry08]

Kleenstrip makes a product called Bulldog. Basically paint glue in a can. It comes available in aersol, quart and gallon cans. Apply 1 -2 coats, let dry and apply color as per instructions.

 

[iwannacobra5]

Kleenstrip makes a product called Bulldog. Basically paint glue in a can. It comes available in aersol, quart and gallon cans. Apply 1 -2 coats, let dry and apply color as per instructions.

That's what I used the first time. Again, I may have sprayed it too thick and/or didn't let it dry long enough. Didn't use it a second time.

 

[Quade]

That looks awesome man. I'd love to have mine done like that, but that's one thing I won't try on the car, paint of any kind.

 

[cobrakidz]

Should look good when installed.

 

[lkempf]

I work in the plastics shop of an auto manufacturer in the bumper paint process, and we use alcohol to clean and prep parts.

 

[brian98svtsnake]

Get them installed already, I want to see some pics lol

 

[iwannacobra5]

Get them installed already, I want to see some pics lol

Lol....gotta let that clear harden. I set them on the car yesterday just to get an idea and it looks sharp. Will post some pics in a couple days. :beer:

 

[99cobraUgotbit]

Subd for pics!!!!

 

[Ethereal_Zer0]

Wow, that looks great!