boozbuster673

Hello, this is my first DIY, so please bare with me. today I have finally painted my Si Grill that will be going on my 99 Hatch in the next coming days. First off i will list everything you will need. This will also work an Si Lip. Also for your stock black side moldings, and side skirts, although those do not come painted so, less sanding (YAY! [

Things you will need (Well, things i used anyways):
600 and 220 Grit Sandpaper.
Bulldog Adhesive Promoter (I used a brand from my local auto paint store).
My paint store also mixed me paint in a can to match my paint code, i suggest 2 cans just to be safe, or if your painting a Lip as well or something.
Rubbing Alcohol.
Paper Towels.
Bath Towels.
Rubber Gloves.
Face Mask.

A BIG WORD OF ADVICE: As with any DIY Paint job, or paint job in general really, GOOD PREPARATION = GOOD OUTCOME. Take your time, don't rush. Don't get mad or frustrated because sanding sucks, and trust me, you most likely will. Anyways... moving on.

First, remove your grill molding from the grill mesh backing. there are 13 screws that hold it together on the back. This is pretty self explanatory so i don't feel i need to post a pic.

Second, clean the grill, water and soap works fine, considering the paint is gonna be gone anyways, you mainly just don't want dirt to be sanded into the plastic.

My grill Ready to be sanded.



Take your 220 Grit sandpaper, and sand this bad boy down. NOTE: Sanding is ridiculously tedious! Be Patient! This will remove all of the paint, and basically return this sucker to its bare form, raw ABS plastic. It will take some good effort and probably a few beers and some cigarettes (If your a smoker). Again, Sanding is ridiculously tedious! Patience is a must.

After your all done getting all the paint off of your grill, relax, take a break. Check your phone. Maybe go crack VTEC if that's your form of relaxation. Anywho, Return to your grill afterwards, and wash off all the sanded paint, dirt, and debris with your trusty garden hose. Return to sanding with your 600 sandpaper, don't worry though, this doesn't take as long as before, as it is basically to smooth out any rough edges, and ensure a good paint bond. After all is said and done, again wash your grill with water, dry with a bath towel, it will leave some fibers on it, but don't worry, this will all be cleaned off before paint.

This is what you should have after your are done sanding. (I am painting an Si Lip for my car as well, so both of these are included in the pic). As you can see they are both down to their natural form of basically flat black, its almost grey, if you're wondering, that is what you're aiming for.



Now, put on your rubber gloves, take your rubbing alcohol and paper towels, and wash your now sanded Si grill very thoroughly. You specifically want to get rid of all fibers left from your bath towels, Finger prints, Dirt, Grime, whatever it may be, GET IT CLEAN AS F*CK. After it's clean, you are ready to paint.

Prepare your painting surface in an inside environment (Such as a garage) use a flat surface preferably (Table's work well), and cover up anything you don't want to get hit with overspray. You will want every part of the grill that will be painted to be hit with paint, so try to mount it at an angle using some sort of object under it, please note my JDM dustpan. Also don't mind the white spots, those are merely imperfections in the plastic. They will go away upon painting.



In my garage, i opened the side door which is about 20 feet away, and closed the garage door. I opened my garage door slightly after each coat of Adhesive Promoter, and Paint.

When you're ready to begin painting, take a deep breath, put on your face mask, and get ready for the easiest part. Use VERY LIGHT coats, you do not want your paint to run, or overspray and leave marks all over the place. Be even and fair with all of your paint. I used 3 coats of adhesive promoter. 5 Minutes between the first and second coat, and Ten minutes between the second and third coat. Make sure to get the area under the top face, it tends to be difficult to reach while spraying the rest.

Wait 20-25 minutes before you start painting, if you wait any longer, the adhesive promoter will dry, and thus be useless. You want it to be slightly wet/tacky so it can obviously, promote adhesion. I was told by many to use 3-4 light-medium coats, but i wanted to be extra careful, seeing as i didnt want to sand it again, so i used EXTREMELY LIGHT coats. Wait 15-20 minutes between each coat. Again, MAKE SURE you are even and don't go on too strong, or else it will run, leaving you very unhappy. After the first coat, it really didn't look painted at all (good thing). After the 3rd the paint definitely showed and was getting better and better after each coat. I ended up using 6 coats after it was all said and done. The shiny spots on the sides are merely due to my camera's flash. The paint is completely there, it's just kinda shiny. [:

My grill 30 minutes after Final Coat.


Let it dry for a few days, i left mine laid suspended across two cardboard boxes in my garage, don't leave it on the floor, dust will get on the still wet paint and cause you loads of disappointment.

After all is said and done reattach it to the mesh backing, remove your civics bumper, and Install your freshly painted civic Si Grill by removing the old one from the screws holding it to the top of the bumper and replacing it with the Si grill. Oh, and you might want to put your bumper back on, just saying.

Thanks for reading everyone. Enjoy [:

joeshmo

Nice writeup but I'm curious why in the world someone would remove the paint with 600 and then rough it up again with 220? This seems absolutely backwards to me. I'm guessing you're just being very careful to not take too much of the plastic away with the paint? Also, for that 600 grit, I think wetsanding is much easier with higher grits like that and I had no trouble removing every trace of paint from a spoiler I was painting using 400 wet. Took me maybe 20 minutes but a spoiler is much easier to sand.

As far as final cleaning prior to primer, I suggest a true W&G remover over an alcohol but it probably won't matter much. I've heard alcohol is actually better at getting fingerprints off but I always use W&G.

Great advice with the not placing on floor and using MANY MANY thin coats. Especially with complex pieces like this, thin coats are a GREAT thing.

D16SiHatch

so is this single stage urethane, base-coat clear-coat, or what? an hvlp gun?

this is more like a how to paint things in general if anything

D16SiHatch

i thought maybe he meant to say he did a final sand at 600 and just put the other number, but i may be wrong.

good writeup anyway. a lot more coherent and useful of a post than most new people with a low post count contribute.. lol

joeshmo

I'm guessing so as well with the grits. And I think that this is probably sprayed on using an hvlp or touchup gun, he likely got a pint of the color coat and he doesn't mention clearing it so it must be single stage. It is strange however that he didn't mention an activator. Also, single stage paint will dry in under 2 hours generally so I think leaving it a couple of days is un-necessary. Perhaps he used a pre-mix acrylic enamel or lacquer? Those could come in (spray) cans, would take several days to dry fully and not require activators...

boozbuster673

I am sorry, I wrote it backwards. LOL yea I'm going to edit it right now. 220 for removing the paint, 600 for smoothing out. We all make mistakes . I didn't wetsand as I didn't feel it was necessary. Since 600 is very fine, but not fine enough to not have any effect on already completely sanded down material, i felt it was right for smoothing it out prior to cleaning. The paint I bought from my local auto paint store was single stage and in a rattle can (Spray Paint), Clear coat was included in the base paint. No need for clearing, I also chose this method because clear coating in a separate coat on plastic can lead to wrinkling of the paint (Tried and tested myself). Also, I say to let it dry for a few days, just so the paint gets hard and FULLY dried, don't want to get hit with a rock chip and have your fresh paint chip off.

Gdeorta

jumping from 220 to 600 seems like alot of work, having to use the 600 grit to get rid of the 220 scratches, would of been easier to use 220,400 and then 600, maybe substitute 220 for 320. dont think you really had to sand it all the way down, wet sanding it with 400 and then 600 would've been enough and easier. Not Bashing you just my 2 cents looks good though good job.

boozbuster673

You're right, i suppose i could've wet sanded it and then painted it. But I was told by a few people that with ABS plastic you're goal is to sand it literally all the way down to the barebone plastic, otherwise the paint would not bond and chip/flake away very quickly, it was a lot of work, but came out well. I don't think wetsanding would have satisfied me as much. Also, going from 220 to 600 wasn't really all that bad. 220 is just gritty enough to take off the paint really well, but not gritty enough to deeply scratch and eat away at the plastic. The 600 really wasn't 100% necessary, but I'm somewhat of a perfectionist.

pxlds

to just add the molding part you painted do i have to take of the bumper or does it just clip in if the grill is on already?