Plastidip'd the front Grille surround

[BJM]

So yesterday I decided to have a go at plastidip. I've always liked the look of the Ibiza black edition grill without the chrome so I thought this would give that sort of effect.

So for my first try (you see where this is going!) I masked up an inch around the grille and the centre section:

A few coats later:

I left 15 mins between coats, done 6 coats in total and then left it for 90mins to dry. Then it was peel time. Now for those of you who have watched The YouTube videos of this stuff it looks very straightforward - I'm very patient with this stuff but even then I wasn't happy with it. A small bit tore on the bottom of the chirome which I tried to touch up with another spray of the stuff. It was alright from a distance but not so neat close up:

I was going to leave it like that for a few weeks and see how I liked the look. This morning I washed the car and water got under the coating and off it peeled!

I decided that as I was doing nothing but detailing the car today I'd have a look at taking the grille off. 20 mins later the grille is off, my new trim removal tools have came in very handy and the chrome trim has also been separated:

Leaving this;

5 coats of plastidip then a 90 min wait, clicked it all back together and;

I'm very happy with the result. For a £10 can of dip, plus I enjoyed doing it. I'll see how durable it is. If it doesn't last I'm going to get the trim painted gloss black.

I done the rear badge too - very easy as per the YouTube tutorials;

What's your thoughts?

 

[a22tenc]

Can you tell me how did you remove the grill?

 

[BJM]

Open the bonnet. On the black plastic slam panel there are 4 plastic rivets - remove these by turning the middle part 90 degrees then pulling the middle of them out. On the top of the grill there are another 2 plastic rivets, putt the middle of those out and remove them. You can then lift the plastic slam panel slightly and get your hand into the rear of the grill. On the back of the grill there are 6 clips holding it in. 2 at each side and 4 along the bottom. Release these whilst pulling on the front of the grill and it will come out.

 

[gallan92]

Did you remove the boot lettering or just mask round it?

 

[BJM]

https://youtu.be/FV_ULUKno5w

Have a look at this - this is what I done and it worked really well.

 

[gallan92]

thanks will have a look later

 

[propane94]

Did my grill surround in white, came out well and has survived 2 years with minor chips which can be touch up easily.

I would always recommend removing the surround over masking as over spray (especially in white) is obvious and a pain to remove!!

 

[PraiseTheSun]

Great idea, I just watched the video and i'm confused how it sticks to the emblems but not the body work. Different metals?

Think I'll give this a go on my front and rear badges over the weekend, do you know if it comes in different colours?

 

[BJM]

It's all about the gap from the bodywork to the letters - it tears a perfect line around them - I thought it would be a nightmare but it was all good. Yeah it comes in different colours. I got mine from plastidip direct via their eBay shop.

 

[a22tenc]

Open the bonnet. On the black plastic slam panel there are 4 plastic rivets - remove these by turning the middle part 90 degrees then pulling the middle of them out. On the top of the grill there are another 2 plastic rivets, putt the middle of those out and remove them. You can then lift the plastic slam panel slightly and get your hand into the rear of the grill. On the back of the grill there are 6 clips holding it in. 2 at each side and 4 along the bottom. Release these whilst pulling on the front of the grill and it will come out.

How did you managed to fit your hand inside ? I could barely fit my wrist and my hand is nowhere close to the grill.

 

[BJM]

Have you removed all 6 plastic rivets? The slam panel might need dislocated at both ends above the lights but I found a reasonable amount of space - and I have big hands! I did succumb to a few cuts right enough.

 

[a22tenc]

No way you can fit your hand in such little gap, I removed the 6 rivets yes, but only fitting my hand already scares me of warping the bumper as it is already forced and I don't want to damage it.

Can you show me a photo of where you put your hand or a video ?

 

[BJM]

Just like this ....

 

[a22tenc]

Thanks for the photo. Will try again later. But don't you feel your arm forcing the bumper too much to the point it's like going to damage the paint ?

 

[BJM]

The bumper doesn't get flex'd - just the black plastic panel - this is the second time I've been in to take the grill out and no problems at all. The surround is away getting painted gloss black after a stone punctured the plastidip.

 

[BJM]

Grill surround back from the painter and fitted - now in a very nice gloss back and much to my liking!

 

[wayanova]

Grill surround back from the painter and fitted - now in a very nice gloss

Hey there, this looks sick and I'd love to do it to mine (we have exact same car, year and paint). I've removed the 6 rivets and can get my hand behind the grill but how did you remove the clips? I've tried pushing, pulling, squeezing and using trim tools but I'm still doing something wrong, the clips don't budge

Can't find this information anywhere on the internet unfortunately, thanks for the help!

 

[BJM]

Hi, you either push the clips out the way or pull them in the way - they are quite tight and need a good bit of force to move them - once you've done one the rest are easy!

Good luck!

 

[Reiss160989]

Looking good. Should do the seat badge too. I've done exactly that on mine.

 

[vikram soni]

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