DBS Grille Painting
Discussion
Due to my temporary job hiatus over the summer and general extreme cheapness I thought Id tackle the grille on the DBS myself rather than spend the £700 or £800 they cost new. Id read a fair bit about Plasticoat paint and watched a few vids on youtube so thought Id give it a go, worst case being if I screwed it up I could peal it off, or go buy a new grille! I went for gunmetal grey with an aluminium metaliser top coat as I thought Id try something different. Paint cost £32. Labour £Free!
The grille was in a terrible state and was like this when I bought the car (excluding myself from all blame!). I bought some special soap cleaner from Germany that was meant to get rid of this type of milky corrosion and it did feck all.
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The grille came out reasonably easily. I botched it somewhat as I undid the bolts holding it to the frame and pulled it out leaving the two outermost support posts in place as they went down into the bumper.
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It was a very delicate job though as many of the fixing points were cracked or broken. A decent amount of superglue was used and I put the grill back in when I was finished very carefully! For a 6 year old car I was surprised at the state of the brittleness of the supports.
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I gave the grille a good wash in the bath!
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The grille hanging up in my home made spray booth!
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2 coats of the gunmetal grey. I was tempted to leave it at this.
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2 coats of the aluminium metaliser. For future notice if anyone tries this, dont do it in your bedroom, everything sparkles now!
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I was really annoyed at myself as in my haste I got some overspray but as you can see from the top slat the overall affect I was going for looks not too shabby. On the car you can barely see the defect but the next time Ill get it spot on.
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The grille fitted back in.
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Im happy with the overall effect. It will be interesting to see how it bares up to general abuse with stone chips and washing but after a few weeks the coating does seem pretty sturdy. The plasticoat finish is a rubbery texture matt.
The grille was in a terrible state and was like this when I bought the car (excluding myself from all blame!). I bought some special soap cleaner from Germany that was meant to get rid of this type of milky corrosion and it did feck all.
[/URL]The grille came out reasonably easily. I botched it somewhat as I undid the bolts holding it to the frame and pulled it out leaving the two outermost support posts in place as they went down into the bumper.
[/URL]It was a very delicate job though as many of the fixing points were cracked or broken. A decent amount of superglue was used and I put the grill back in when I was finished very carefully! For a 6 year old car I was surprised at the state of the brittleness of the supports.
[/URL]I gave the grille a good wash in the bath!
[/URL]The grille hanging up in my home made spray booth!
[/URL]2 coats of the gunmetal grey. I was tempted to leave it at this.
[/URL]2 coats of the aluminium metaliser. For future notice if anyone tries this, dont do it in your bedroom, everything sparkles now!
[/URL]I was really annoyed at myself as in my haste I got some overspray but as you can see from the top slat the overall affect I was going for looks not too shabby. On the car you can barely see the defect but the next time Ill get it spot on.
[/URL]The grille fitted back in.
[/URL][/URL]Im happy with the overall effect. It will be interesting to see how it bares up to general abuse with stone chips and washing but after a few weeks the coating does seem pretty sturdy. The plasticoat finish is a rubbery texture matt.
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