Hi all,

Planning on painting the front grill surround of my blue octy II (maybe even the lower grills!) but im just wondering is there a thread some where on here with a "how to" with pictures on how to remove the chrome part of the grill without damage? I've been trawling the site for a while and failing to find one and any of the threads that have links don't seem to lead any where. (probably because there from 2010!! and no longer exist )

I'm sure they are out there somewhere i just cant find them!

I have new badges off the mk III to replace the originals so I'm not worried about damaging them, but the chrome surround is another story.

If anybody can point me in the right direction or has any pictures of the blue Vrs with colour coded grill id much appreciate it.

Cheers

I don't think there is one specifically but it is discussed in several threads on painting the front grille. None of which I can find at the moment.

You got to be very carful with the silver surround. I got mine ff with breaking just one clip basically prying them open with flat head screw drivers and teaspoons. You can buy a whole new surround with grille for £50 if you need a spare.

The chrome finish on the grille is unpaintable in that the chrome needs removing. You can do this with oven cleaner I think. Or by sanding with 500 grade paper.you would then need to use a plastic primer before top coat.

thanks lads, ive been trying all sort of searches and key phrases but id be more worried about taking the grill apart, the sanding shouldn't be an issue as i might have a few tricks up my sleeve

It's really easy to get the grille and surround off the car.... 6 hex screws and plastic clips that pop out easily when you push a 6mm socket over them. Separating the surround from the grille is fiddly but if you are patient and don't force the clips it's not too bad. If you warm it slightly it is more plyable as well.

My best tip is run a hot bath about 4" deep and let the grille soak for 30mins. Warms it up nicely. When cold they break very easy.

I painted the grille on my FL vrs myself just gave the chrome finish a good rub down with wet and dry and a few coats of plastic primer then a few coats of Race blue followed by a few coats of clear. I ordered a spare chrome surround and grille so I can return it to normal if I choose to.

I painted the grille on my FL vrs myself just gave the chrome finish a good rub down with wet and dry and a few coats of plastic primer then a few coats of Race blue followed by a few coats of clear. I ordered a spare chrome surround and grille so I can return it to normal if I choose to.

Very professional job well done. Did you remove the chrome to paint or just mask up the whole thing?

you don't have to remove the chrome just use and etching primer

Very professional job well done. Did you remove the chrome to paint or just mask up the whole thing?

I bought a spare chrome surround and grille to paint and swapped them around once it was ready

is it easy to swap them over if you order a full set of spares?

Very easy. That's what I have. You can buy a grille and surround from crashrepairparts.com.

Dont believe the old oven cleaner trick, all it does is clean it! sanded mine with an orbital sander until the copper was starting to show, coat of etch, 2 coats of 2k primer, quick 800 flat then base and lacquer. Was expecting it to chip easily but has been ok now for a couple of months

Ok, after failing to find help online I decided to tackle the grille myself, so here's how i go on WITH PICTURES!! :-)

removing the chrome surround was ok with a little care and some small flat head screw drivers i worked it off the only issue you may have is with the bottom of the grille its attached with four pieces of double sided tape. but again with a little care its not an issue.

the reverse of the chrome surround....

hand sanded it with 400 paper and because my local motor factor was out of plastic primer i just shot it with grey primer 3 good coats a light wet sanding and another coat of primer and its off to the painter in the morning as i'm painting the lower grills and bought a rear milo tech roof spoiler so he's doing the lot. just had a quick look and the primer is perfect.

ready for paint in the morning...

So, how did it go?

Picking up the painted bits in the morning had to leave the car with him tonight put on a MiloTec roof spoiler so pictures will follow asap :-)

Did you contemplate using PastiDip at all or is it not up to the job?

Did you contemplate using PastiDip at all or is it not up to the job?

can you get plastidip in race blue?

think i looked a while ago but couldn't find a matching race blue colour

thing with Race Blue is the grill only suits blue and not black like others

I like the black on blue

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pardon the poor photos was in a rush and the car is in need of a good detailing, im replacing the original badges with the new look badge and im in the process of taking it apart and carbon wrapping the black part in carbon wrap so should look nice. anybody know how to remove the boot badge? is it held with just tape or is it fixed with two studs also?

photos keep failing to upload its telling me "You have exceeded your allotted disk space for attachments " anybody help me out???

Try a hosting site like photobucket