The Mustache Painting Odyssey - A long journey

Be forewarned, this is a long story...

I liked everything about my new truck but I hated hated hated that chrome mustache, especially on the red body. On white or other colors it might not be as objectionable. Even on black you would only have two colors...black and chrome. But on the red it introduces a third color to the red/black scheme and it overemphasizes the droopy grill surround.

So I began a journey to change the color of that ugly thing. I visited 5 different paint shops and two wrap shops. I learned the following:

1. No wrap will match perfectly, (although there is a 3M satin film another member had found that will tone it way down). The bids around here were $400 to wrap the mustache, and it would probably last a few years before needing to be replaced. (on the front of the truck it will take a beating from bugs and gravel). My last Tundra I kept for 12 years, so I was looking for something more permanent.

2. Two of the five paint shops would not bid. They did not want to take on trying to paint over a metalized surface. (some other posts have mentioned they thought the satin chrome finish was painted, but it is not. The metal is deposited with an electroless plating process.) These two shops wanted me to buy new primed parts ($700 at the local dealer) and then they would paint and install for another $600-700. Ouch.

3. The three shops that offered to paint it said it would be expensive due to all the steps to prepare the surface and all the coats and sanding required to do it correctly. Also, matching to the 3U5 Supersonic Red color is particularly challenging. It is a complicated process to get the depth of the factory SS-Red (which is a $425 upcharge... for good reason I guess). The bids ranged from $600-$800, and that is if I brought in the parts.

I considered just living with the chrome mustache for a few months to see if I could get over it, but every time I saw my truck in the distance in a parking lot, I wanted to puke.

I decided to go with color matched paint, which hopefully will be a one-and-done permanent solution. With over $60K invested in the truck, it seemed like a small incremental expense in order to get a truck I am happy with.

The disassembly of the front grille/bumper assembly went surprising smoothly. I used a video posted by the CBI bumper guys to guide me. Based on advice of another member, I took out one more screw on the fender flares than they show in the video in order to have plenty if flex in the flare. Removal and disassembly took about an hour.

I had decided to go with the highest bidder on the paint job. I did my research and these guys know their paint. They do lots of custom and classic work, very little collision repair. I got a good vibe from their painter and he spent a lot of time with me explaining the process he would be following.

I ran the parts down to the shop only to find that their previous 3-4 day estimate only applied if I had pre-scheduled with them. As it was, it would be a week before they could start...grrrr. But my bad for not scheduling with them before I took my truck apart!

Well today, I picked up the parts and they look fantastic. The match is perfect. I had taken down one of the painted bumper corners for him to match to. He spent a lot of time mixing and shooting samples in order to perfect the match. In all, there were at least 14 steps in his process:

• 150# sand
• Etch/activate
• Epoxy primer
• sand
• primer
• sand
• primer
• sand
• base coat (specific to SS-Red)
• mid coat (specific to SS-Red)
• clear coat
• clear coat
• clear coat

I live in a very high cost part of the country (Northern Bay Area, CA) so I expect to pay more, but after seeing what they went through to get these matched and painted, the $800 seemed a teeny bit more justified.

And now for the pictures:

Here is the "Before:"



Took about an hour to get to this point... Goodbye Chrome!


Had to look a this for 10 days


I visited the paint shop this morning to pick up the parts and the painter Alex gave be a run down on what it had taken to match the SS-Red. He had to formulate a special base coat and mid-coat. He said any other color would have been easier, especially black or dark blue. Here is where he does his mixing:


And here are the samples he created in the process of getting a match. Each sample has three different tones as he played with all the variables:


I gently transported the parts home and began reassembly. It looked vastly improved from the git go:

(During the down time I had ordered and installed the decals for the grille)

Less than an hour in total and this was the result:






And... throwing this one in to show my new door handles....



Day one I am happy with my decision. Time will tell whether it will hold up to the elements and road wear. BUT... at least now I go out to my truck and not puke. That is a good thing.

 

wow, what an improvement man

looks 100% better!!

That stupid stash should be color match on every truck leaving the factory, it is really what makes it look fucked up with all the hodge podge of colors they throw at it

 

You gonna put PPF on it or just run it as is?

 

No PPF or wax or anything for one to two months while the paint cures. Probably overkill but not taking any chances.
Will use a little detail spray to remove bug juice in the mean time. The idea is not to cover the paint until is is fully cured and has finished outgassing... which takes a while due to all the coats on top of each other.

 

Much better and it looks perfect in the pictures!! Nice going.

 

This made me wish I coulda waited out and get a red TRD sport. The red is a very nice red. Woulda fit nicely into my other red toys.

 

I'm not keen on the body style of the 22 but that is a night and day difference. I wonder how it would look with the lower portion of the bumper below the grill color matched.

 

I thought about that but felt it would look too much like a 2.5 Gen... I do want it to be recognizable as the latest model!
Also, like most other body style changes that automakers make, they look radical at first and then everyone gets used to them and even copies them. (I know, I know, this is not always true...anyone ever like a Taurus? )

 

If you are completely satisfied with the quality of the work and feel you got your money's-worth, it would be nice if you named the paint shop that did that fantastic work.
Then others in your area could benefit and so could the paint shop.

Steve

 

This is exactly what I was thinking. For me, that would solve most of what I think is ugly about that garish front end.
But it's not my truck and it is wasaay better as it stands now. Good for you for getting it how you like it and I bet you not only help sell some 3rd gens, but it'll undoubtedly also create some great "discussions" in local showrooms: "But I want it with the body colored mustache. Don't lie to me, I saw it. A beautiful red one right here in California, the northern bay area actually"

 

Looks good. Are the door handles painted or wrapped? If painted was it included in the $800 cost?

 

Nice

 

I will PM anyone in NorCal who wants the name of the paint shop. They are nice guys and skilled.
I am happy with the result as of today, jury still out on longevity.

 

Replaced the chrome handles with red ones from roman @ Cool Springs. That was another $400 with shipping.
Badge overlay kit was about $140 with shipping.
I have the parts I need to do the rear... bumper arms and garnish... on backorder right now... so that will be about another $175 for the rear.
So all in I'm at just over $1500... and lots of hours spent researching choices.
Some might consider this extravagant, but it only moves the cost of the truck from 63K to 64.5K (got it for MSRP+taxes) and now I have a truck I am proud to drive rather than embarrassed.

 

I'm no fan of the stache but I have to admit your truck looked really sharp from the factory. Having said that, that paint job turned out really well!

 

The end result looks great and props to you for all of the research and effort to find the right painter and shop.....What I can't get out of my head (in looking at your "after" truck pic) is how it looks like a SR5 now. I don't know if the SR5 comes in the Supersonic Red, but wouldn't it have been cheaper to just get the trim from the dealer in that color from an SR5 part # if it did?

If not, your solution to the chrome problem looks fantastic!! Great job.

 

The parts from the dealer comes unpainted in a flat black plastic so you would still need it painted…but it’s much easier since the shop won’t have to “de-chrome” with the hopes that the paint adheres to the chromed plastic surface of the original.

Chances are not all the shops that do decide to touch it will go through that much work for a good end product as the OP seems to have.

I recently purchased the flat black parts from the dealer and getting them painted in 2 weeks (@Roman has the part #s on his thread…mustache local due to size)

 

Curious how the unpainted parts match with the flat black of the SR5 TR ORD grill? I've toyed with buying them and leaving them black, if they match the grill.

In the end, now that I'm dead set on going with a full bumper, I think I might leave the mustache alone. Especially after seeing CBI's latest photos. Removing the lower chrome mustache pieces makes the entire stache not near as jarring to the eye. I think the remaining chrome will look good after the full bumper goes on. Still up in the air though. I'll have to take the entire front assembly off when I cut & do the bumper install so I can decide then.

 

Yes, I did "downgrade" the appearance of the Limited to something akin to an SR5. I could have waited and waited for a fully-loaded SR5 to get a nearly equivalent truck, but who knows how long that will be. Maybe another year. And the cost would not have been much less than the Limited ( I built one out on the Tundra site and it was just about the same MSRP). And I needed a truck now not later.
If it was like the old days when you went into a dealer and placed an order for a specific truck with exactly the options you wanted, then I might have started with a SR5 and loaded it up. But those times are gone. Beggars can't be choosers.

 

I tried to get some shops to paint match the chrome trim on my Lexus GX460 and they wanted nothing to do with it.

 

I think he was asking if you could just buy the SR5 mustache in supersonic red instead of going through the whole process of having the chrome one painted.

 

It really is the chin that makes the whole thing awkward. Every 3rd gen I have seen with a bumper, CGI or real, has looked bad ass.

 

Amen to that.....I found that I can "upscale" my SR5 to a "limited-like" truck for less money and I got my truck ASAP....which was what I wanted. We had the same thoughts, just in reverse ;-)

 

Given the challenge of matching the ss red to the factory paint, I can see why Toyota is not selling color painted body parts. It is fussy and there is too much variation out of the factory is my guess. I looked at buying the flat black (primed) parts but that was $700 locally for parts and another $500 to paint...red. If I had a black or MGM truck I would think the black would look just fine and would have gone that route. And that is my backup plan if I run into adhesion problems with this paint job.

 

I was going to go the wrap route and just deal with the color difference BUT this looks waaaaaay better!!! I'd be willing to make the drive to Santa Rosa to use them. Looks good dude!!!

 

Took a few snaps of one of the unpainted parts (lower left mustache when looking at the truck from the front). The light is terrible I know, second pic is me holding it up over the chromed piece…you can see the chrome stache above it.



It’s more of a less glossy grayish/black to what the platinums fender flare/stache comes with vs the rough plastic texture of the grill.

My truck is MGM and I thought of just putting it on also…but upon closer inspection one would see the 3 different colors (2 textures) so figured I should just get it painted.

 

Yes…some of the better shops will not only vin match but need your truck (or a piece of it…mirror cap, gas door, etc) to ensure they get the exact variation right…just like your place of choice did.

 

Oh wow. That's an odd finish. I'm surprised it's glossy like that. Figured it would've been more of a matte finish.

 

That was exactly my thought too when I got it

 

Looks like those are the basic stache parts they slap on the stripped-down SR model. See below. Hard to tell from the pic on Toyota's website, but the base SR grill looks standard matte with a similar, semi-gloss black stache.