EXT: Accord grill hack

[ikayto]

How long is it taking you fellas to sand?

for the chrome, it should take a while.

[Hondatuner998]

I think I'm just going to go the razorblade route. Sounds like it will come out better that way and be a little faster.

[ikayto]

i would try soaking the grill in bleach for 3 days, it'll strip the chrome clean off.

[Bruce Banner]

For the chrome all u need to do is use a rough grit and rough it up and paint.
I did that.
the only hitch I have now is smoothing out the inside all around.
I used putty to fill the giant holes where the H was and it's taking some sanding to so far and I don;t have it smooth yet.
What grit are you fellas using?

[Hondatuner998]

Ok so here is the 1990 grill I'm using for this. You can see what I have done so far. I am now to the point where I can't figure out if I should fill the gap where the Stainless meets the grill. I'm not sure what the G-square one looks like up close so I am not sure.

You can see here how they are 2 pieces that screw together:






Screws that attach the Stainless:

[ikayto]

it's looking good, just sand that goo down and work off some more of that chrome plating. The reason why you're sanding the chrome off so much is because the paint wont stick to it as well and will easily, chip off, dont forget some layers of clear coat.

did you put something in the gap and bondoed/jb welded it to the grill?

and no, dont try to fill where the stainless meets the grill, no1 will see it is a 2 piece, and you'll just be painting it, so leave it

[MikeW]

i wish the 9091 girlles fit the 9293s. im currently working on "hacking" mine. If it works out ill post some pics.

[Hondatuner998]

I'm doing the same thing right now. I think I can get my 90 grill to fit my 93 with a little modification.

[MikeW]

Ok. Its taken me almost a year, but i am literally in the middle of doing this. Id post pics but my phone is dead. ill post before/after pics later. I got bondo but no JB Weld. Ima go the same route maroon did. Im gonna use little pcs of the leftover plastic as fill. JB Weld em in place. Bondo the holes. Sand it down and paint.

I also found that sanding the chrome is simple but time-consuming. Spent about 5 minutes on each pc. I think i used a 180 or 220 grit. Painted those flat black.

Im still not sure if i wanna cut the "H" out of the middle. I want that look, but i dont wanna screw it up

BTW - i hand sawed the middle out and i had to cut off as much as possible with the saw, then i 60-gritted the rest down. The auto part stores are closed, but Wally World should have some JB. Ill probably only have time to set up the end pcs and let the JB set before it gets dark. Tomorrow ill start filling with bondo, sanding that down and then hopefully get it painted. Im not sure if im gonna cut out the "H" or use mesh. Ill post up whatever i end up doing.

[MikeW]

EDIT: Did anyone use a clearcoat on top of the flat-black or did you just use multiple coats of black? I know clear is a good idea, but it always put a shine on things..

[Hondatuner998]

Thats what I did. I took small pieces from the black portion of the grill i cut out and jb welded them in place. I did the same for the huge gap where the H in the center used to be. You can get a flat or matte clear coat. But I would definately do that. 2 or 3 coats of flat clear coat.

[MikeW]

i know black clearcoat exist for car paint, but where can u get it? Home depot? sherwin williams?

[ikayto]

i used semi gloss clear coat on semi gloss black and i likey ;p

[Hondatuner998]

Nice work Man! Looks great. I think im gonna go with the body color for a smooth appearance and paint the mesh either semi gloss or flat black. I was looking at the 90-91 grill I'm hacking side by side with my 93 grill and they are almost identical. I shouldn't have a problem getting it to fit. Hopefully.

GreenCB7:
You can get semi gloss and flat clear coats at all the autoparts stores around here. I usually go to NAPA for all my painting supply stuff. They usually carry everything that Autozone or Advanced does not carry.

[MikeW]

ill have to check there. We only have o'reily's here. Theres 1 Napa and 1 Autoxone but no Advanced...i miss them lol

I just got done bondo-ing and im waiting for it to cure/dry then ima sand and paint. I took some pics, and ill take more, and ill post em up later