OCC Grille

Thanks to Mike (DBeaSSt) for the grille.



I started the project today, but only got as far as shaving and priming before the rain started.




I've got an idea of what I'm gunna do with it, but that's a secret for now. If it turns out the way I want it, it should be pretty cool.

These damn pictures won't rotate

It's all that Kingsford.... it weighs the pic down....

Looks like it will be a white racing stripe.

Krzdimond wrote:

It's all that Kingsford.... it weighs the pic down....

LOL yea, we have a little bit of charcoal in there. That pic is actually of the one area of the garage that is NOT covered in random stuff (I know, we have a one car garage, and no cars in it. It frustrates me too )

Pink laces!

Well, I worked some more in the pink laces today, but I'm not sure I like the end result. I've still got some more stuff to try over the next few days and hopefully I can get it to where I'll deem it acceptable. Otherwise, I'll have to revert to the plain, boring idea of painting the center section like the rest of the body.

I'll let you know how it goes.

92cappy wrote:

Krzdimond wrote:

It's all that Kingsford.... it weighs the pic down....

LOL yea, we have a little bit of charcoal in there.

I counted today. We have 6 bags of charcoal in our garage.

Time to break out the grill......

A bag never lasts more than a couple of days around here.

Well, although it didn't turn out exactly how I wanted, and it isn't quite done, I couldn't help putting it on and seeing how it looked. Here's a little teaser. It doesn't look like that IRL though, so you'll all still havta wait for the reveal

Krzdimond wrote:

Time to break out the grill......

A bag never lasts more than a couple of days around here.

Well, I'm not gunna get much use out of it this summer unfortunately. I work noon to 8 five to six days a week all summer. Doesn't give me a lot of time to cook as much as I'd like.

Glad you're liking it and the teaser looks good.

What'd you use to fill the emblem space? Getting ready to do one myself once I find the right thing to put there.

Regular bondo filled in the space. I put a piece of masking tape over the hole in the back to keep it from pushing through. Worked perfectly.

That's what I"m likely to use as well. Haven't been able to think of anything lighter AND just as easy to use. Had thought of fiberglass.

Fiberglass would be more pain than its worth IMO. The hole for the emblem isnt that deep, so bondo works well.

That was my thought as well. Bondo is quick and easy, and in thin layers like that, not heavy at all.

Looking forward to pics of the finished product!

92cappy wrote:

Krzdimond wrote:

Time to break out the grill......

A bag never lasts more than a couple of days around here.

Well, I'm not gunna get much use out of it this summer unfortunately. I work noon to 8 five to six days a week all summer. Doesn't give me a lot of time to cook as much as I'd like.

Well you should be up cooking breakfast or something...

I did my new one with bondo, and it worked out nicely. I did not even plug the hole. I have the old one if anyone is interested. The center is painted red, and the chrome is fading a little (that is why I painted the chrome black on my current one).

Fred what are you asking for your old one?

One step forward and 3 steps back today. Just as I thought I was getting close to finishing too

Just saw this. What happened?

Well, I had an incident where heat, humidity, or likely a combination of both "melted" the paint I had on the grille. I had let the last coat of paint dry for ~20 hours to make sure that it was completely dry. I picked it up to begin cleaning it, and after cleaning, I noticed that my fingerprints were left in the paint. Well, long story short, the paint is completely ruined, and I'm going to have to sand it down to at least primer (and probably all the way back to the plastic) to get out all the grooves left from this incident. I have never seen this sort of thing happen before.

Most likely too many heavy coats. Light coats are best and make sure they coat flashes (dries) before you add another. Primer is BAD about this; the paint will "skin" but still be wet underneath. This will cause the problems you mentioned.

Water based paints will dry with a heat gun or hair dryer and solvent based will dry faster with UV heat lamps such as the sun.

Let the part "hang out" in the sun for an hour or so to "bake".

Make sure you use a correct catalyst with your paint. I had an issue with a paint store not selling me the catalyist, and I did not know it was supposed to have catalyist. The paint did some really wierd stuff.

This was all rattle can paint, and it had been baking in the sun all day. It was completely dry when I took it off of the car. It was only when I was handling it for 10 minutes or so that it started to "melt" and once it started it only got worse.

Dang. Hope you're able to get it cleaned up and repainted without too much headache.

Hopefully. The problem will be time. Ive got 2 days off over the next 2 weeks.

92cappy wrote:

This was all rattle can paint, and it had been baking in the sun all day. It was completely dry when I took it off of the car. It was only when I was handling it for 10 minutes or so that it started to "melt" and once it started it only got worse.

Did you happen to mix lacquer with enamel

You know, im not sure. Probably. Does doing this cause this type of reaction? Why?

92cappy wrote:

You know, im not sure. Probably. Does doing this cause this type of reaction? Why?

Yes it does make that reaction, it will NOT CURE

Should I let the lacquer cure before I spray the enamel? Or will it still cause a problem?

Will still do the same, the two different paints do not react correctly, needs to be stripped, and start all over.

Ill double check what ive got to be sure thats the problem. Thanks for the info.

To over simplify things. Look at it like oil and water. Better to stay with the same "line"

Duplicolor primer with Duplicolor color and Duplicolor clear. All can be had at your local auto parts store and Walmart for about $6 each.

I'm using all duplicolor, but my top coat was duplicolor chrome. Not sure if its enamel or lacquer, but it didnt like the base paint. It seems cured now though, so im not really sure..... *shrugs*

If you put lacquer based paint over enamel, it will cause the enamel to pucker, and pull up from the surface. I did that once on a model airplane. You have to use an "equal" or "cooler" paint on top of the first one. A "hotter" one will cause all kinds of issues. A lacquer is hotter than an enamel. Epoxies or urethanes are pretty much inert once cured.

How humid was it? I've had that issue if it was pretty humid and I went too thick. Sometimes an extra day, others strip it all off and start over....

Sorry for the late reply, it's been a busy weekend. It was fairly humid, which is what I originally attributed it to. I'll try it again with some lighter coats, and give it some extra time to dry, when I get back around to it.

Soooooo what's the verdict. Did you get it straightened out / fixed

I haven't had the time to continue working on it. Monday is my second day off in as many weeks, and it's supposed to rain, so I doubt I'll be able to get anything done again.

I figured out that it wasn't the paint (enamel on enamel), so it must've just been the humidity.

It doesn't look too bad from far away, so I can live with it as-is (for now)



Here are some pics of what happened with the paint:





I used plasti-dip for to 'black' the previously chrome part of the grille. Plasti-dip is supposed to peel off quite easily, and create a clean break at any seam. Unfortunately, due to the problems with the paint, here's how it peeled:



And here is how the paint looked ~20 hours after painting (picture was taken about an hour after painting, but it looked the same)

Dude, that paint is on THICK!!!!

There is no reason the hole should be that deep. Light dusting coats then a final medium wet coat is all you need

There are many layers here. 3 coats of primer, 2 coats of white, and one coat of the chrome. That hole is all the way down to the plastic.

I would sand and repaint the center section. It looks like there is some tape residue on the paint. Tape off the part you do not want painted, sand and paint (lightly). You want enough to cover and let each coat dry thoroughly, before putting the next type of paint on it.

That's what I intend to do. The tape residue is actually the reaction of the paint to having tape on it. The tape was there for the plasti-dip (I was running out, and didn't feel like painting the entire center section). I think the problem I had last time was the humidity. I was trying to get it done before the rain came, as it was raining every day that I had off. I knew that I was pushing it, but when it *seemed* to dry fine after the last coat, I thought I was in the clear (no pun intended).

I didn't really like the way it turned out anyways. I'm thinking I might take another direction. The 'chrome' strip looks a little odd, and isn't as shiny as I'd like it to be. so I'm not really too bummed about it, because I was likely going to re-do it anyways.

I used regular satin black paint on my chrome after sanding it lightly with 400 carbide paper. If the plastidip is easy to cut, cut it at the corner on the bottom of the recess, and paint the center to the outside of the channel. I did the black on mine at the Daytona car show on Friday evening, in the motel parking lot.