Paint OEM Grill Black

I have an SR5 TRD and all the front end chrome that comes with it. I'm currently on a dechroming mission and I'm wondering has anyone just painted the existing grill black? Or, I would likely have someone painted since I'd probably F it up somehow. It seems like a decent and cost effective alternative to buying a new pro grill/hood bulge.

Anyway, question is has anyone done this and how did it turn out?

 

Welcome from NY.

 

https://mcautoparts.com/collections/tundra

 

Painting the chrome usually does not work well.

 

That's what I suspected. I've looked at many posts, seems like it's not common for good reason. Probably just end up just buying a pro grill and hood bulge. That should look pretty sharp, blacked on my Silver 2014 SR5.

 

the pro grill and pro headlights look great when you are ready to complete the facelift. The pro led headlights look great and do a great job lighting up the night. I waited until cool springs Toyota had a free shipping promo.

 

I’m painting a spare one just to see how it goes.

Lots of sanding and cleaning, and it seems to be doing alright. I hit it with an orbital sander, and then did all the tight spots and back side by hand. 3 coats of bonding primer, 2 of regular primer, 3 coats of base, and 3 coats of clear. It needs wet sanded and buffed, but honestly for a DIY project I’m pretty happy with it.

 

That looks pretty good, how did you prep the chrome prior to the first coat of primer? Just a light scuff or a full sand down to the plastic?

 

I scuffed it pretty well. Here is a closeup pic of what it looked like before the final cleaning and first coat of bonding primer.

 

I did a spare surround/bulge in Spray on bed liner. I think it looks good and is holding up well.

Clean, scuff, reclean, reclean, degrease, alcohol prep etc, primer, adhesion promoter, 3-4-5 coats of Rustoleum (I forger order of primer and adhesion, but I followed directions).

$75 for parts and $75 for sprays. And I still have my original as a backup

You can also look into the newly released (maybe not released yet) Bumpershellz overlay.

Here is my DIY version, it has held up over winter without a mark. TPO Bumpershells on all 4 end caps.

Chrome Be Gone!

 

plastidipped 1.5 years ago. will eventually get new grill but looks pretty good still

 

That looks awesome! Like those fender flares too. Mind sharing where you got those?

 

Thanks
I wish I could tell you, I brought the truck used and they were already installed

 

For the bumper endcaps you can powder coat them, wrap them or cover them with Bumpershellz. Bumpershellz for the hood bulge and grille surround are near release. There is a a company that makes a cheaper honeycomb grille and surround.

I've seen people paint the grille with black paint but I haven't seen any follow ups on how well it held up over time. There are a few companies that sell grille inserts, ease of installation of these will vary by make. Most are not reversible

 

Glad to hear this; I'm going to paint my spare bumper caps in bed liner and see how it goes.

 

I’ve been looking for similar information on trying to paint or wrapping parts. Would wrap work?

 

Just to revive this a little, I just completed a set of end caps in bed liner that were chrome. Worst part of the entire thing was stripping the inside of the caps from their protective layer from the factory. Simple wire wheel with a drill took care of it, but it was time consuming. They turned out literally perfect and I will be doing my rear caps this same way. I did these just to see what it would be like and put for sale locally.

 

Saw some videos that were showing that oven cleaner will remove the chrome film on the plastic components. I talked to my local paint guy who's really good at his stuff. He talked me into a single stage rather than the base/clear for adhesion, durability, and flexibility. I'm going to give it a shot. Figured it was worth it to save on the ridiculous cost of those components color matched, not to mention the bumper caps, which I'll also be doing

 

Well done, looks awesome.

 

A lot of good feedback here, guys. Thanks.

In the end I bought a new Pro grille and painted the surround and color matched it to my truck. If any decent painter looked at it, they would probably throw it out. I'm happy with it, though.

It was easier than I thought. I just ended up cleaning it, scratch it up with 320 grit, 2 coats of adhesion promoter, 3 coats of rustoleum sandable primer, 3 coats base, and 4 coats clear. I bought a cheapo paint gun on Amazon and ran it off my air compressor. All the paint was ordered from automotivetouchup.com and the technique, or lack thereof, was learned on YouTube. Fun weekend project.

Here's the before and after:

 

looks great