Should I paint my Pignose like BJs logo?

[rang-a-stang]

So the "chrome" on my pignose grill is starting to peel. It looks like I covered it in shiny duct tape and it is REALLY bugging me. You can see it here:

I can't afford a new grill and I LOVE BJ's logo.

I know Jeep used to, mostly, black out the grill on Cheif's in 79. Like this one:

So I'm thinking about painting the whole grill satin black, except the very outer chrome and around the head lights. I would peel off all the peeling chrome, prime it the inside, and paint it. It would look like this:

Has anyone ever done this? Does anyone have any pictures? I also want to stick one of the old AMC 401 badges on it where the old Jeep logo was (my jeep logo is long gone). What do you guys think?

[Probesport]

You could do it with spray plasti-dip and if you don't care for it, just peel off.

[rang-a-stang]

You could do it with spray plasti-dip and if you don't care for it, just peel off.

I thought of that, too but it would be a bear to peel off if I don't like it and it does not last very long if I do like it. Hm. Possibly.

[Probesport]

Its all about the thickness of it. If its thick enough it will last and be easy to peel off. You can always pressure wash it off too, I've covered some car parts like a roof and pressure washed off a year later.

[Fearless]

I like the way mine turned out. I did the outer trim too.... Just seemed to blend better with a black truck..






HTH

[WrenchMonkey]

I was also convinced into going the plasti-dip route once... while it is kind of cool that "it can just peel off" for all the effort of it you could also "just" paint it a different color. That crap took me hours to get off the rubber trim around my windows... "don't worry about the glass" they said, "it'll just peel off" they said... never again. I should have given up and bought new trim, seriously. And then the excuses roll in, "oh you must not have made it thick enough, peels fine then" yeah, according to them you only need 40 spray cans for a proper coat. gtfo. and screw plasti dip. Lack luster product, lack luster results, the impermanence of the product is it's best selling point... think about that.

Commit. Choose what you want and do it. With real paint.

[rang-a-stang]

I like the way mine turned out. I did the outer trim too.... Just seemed to blend better with a black truck..






HTH

Wow! You weren't kidding! It looks AWESOME with the black paint/rims/bumpers/tinted windows. What paint/primer did you use?


My wife says if I put too much black on my Yellow Cherokee, it will look like a bumble bee. LOL! So I think I will stay away from tinting my windows and will leave my bumper chrome.

I've had good experiences with Plasti-dip on some cars, but with the amount of bends, details, etc. in this grill I am unsure if it would come off easily or not. I may just, like WrenchMonkey said, commit and do it.

[Fearless]

I blasted it for an even finish, then a coat of primer, followed by 3 coats of rattlecan Gloss Black.... I think I used Valspar brand paint, but anything other than the cheapest will produce good results if you take your time.

and yes, if the truck had been anything other than black I would have left the surround trim to break it up.

[rang-a-stang]

Last night, I committed. I started to peel the "shiny duct tape" off. Tonight, I hope to finish peeling it off. this weekend I will remove the grill and pressure wash it. I will also polish the outer chrome and feather/fill any cracks or nicks. hopefully I will get it primed and painted by Monday.

I also bid on an AMC 401 fender badge to go where the Jeep badge once was.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/262839608767?_trksid=p2060353.m1431.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I was unsure at first, but now I am pretty motivated. I need to figure out how flat I am going to go. I want it to match the factory Jeep finish on the black around my windows so it looks like Jeep did it. Maybe I will do a glossy black on the areas that were chrome and flat on the areas that were grey.... hmmmm...

[rang-a-stang]

I peeled the "Shiny duct tape" off last night. Didn't take much doing at all. a razor blade was all I really needed. It really is a metal coating, its not paint. It's also very sharp! I have the cuts to prove it. It already looks better!

Here's all the crap I peeled off. This represents about 30 minutes of work, total.

(funny story on the twinky box in the pic). A friend of mine gave it to me because "he had them for a while and didn't want them anymore". I took them home to give my kids. My son opened one, bit into it, and immediately spit it right back out saying it tasted funny. I looked at the box and they were 2 years expired! I thought "HOW OLD ARE THESE?!? If they are 2 years expired, they must have been made 12 years ago!" I thought it was funny so I stuck them on my desk. They have been there for about 3 years now waiting for the next un-suspecting sucka to eat one. Or maybe they will be a snack for after the Zombie apocalypse. But I digress.

Next up, I remove the grill and pressure wash it. I will also be doing a little bit of body filler on it to cover up where the "chrome" ends and begins under the paint.

[rang-a-stang]

this weekend i was able to pull my grill and clean it, Then I went over all the chrome tape stuff with 220 and sanded it until it was like brushed nickle.

Then I hit it with my pressure washer and soap.

When it had dried I taped and sprayed the metal areas with self etching primer. Once it was was dry I bondoed around where the tape was cut. Then I primed the whole thing with sandable primer. I am waiting for that to dry and will sand it this week some time.

My plan is to paint the areas that were chrome with high gloss black and the areas that were not chrome with satin black. I left the ring around the headlight chrome and the outer edge of the grill chrome. I'll post pics in a little while, too.

[rang-a-stang]

Ok, I'm done. Here's how it came out.

The portion of the grill that sticks up into the hood (the top of the pignose) was ghetto chrome'd by the previous owner so I won't be offended if you think it's gross.

I did the areas that used to be chrome with gloss black and the areas that used to be grey with satin black. I wish I would have used flat black instead of satin so there would be more contrast. I polished the chrome areas with 0000 steel wool and this metal polish I have had since the mid-90's and am REALLY stoked on how well it shined up. Forgive the muddy water spots...

I like how it came out, I don't love it. It does look much better and I am glad I don't have the peeling chrome anymore. These pics were taken at Costco where I as buying new lug nuts (mine are all original, rusty, and mismatched). Little tidbit of info, new lugnuts at Costco were $.48 each. I'm waiting for my travel claim to payout from my last trip and when it does, I will install the AMC 401 emblem where the old Jeep emblem was. I'm excited!

[letank]

These pics were taken at Costco where I as buying new lug nuts (mine are all original, rusty, and mismatched). Little tidbit of info, new lugnuts at Costco were $.48 each.

thank you for the tip... do you have a refnum for the lug nuts

as for the grille, I used specialty spray paint for plastic bumper, from SEM, I only peeled the center section. Yes I should have done the whole grille but ... this is for another time, I did not have a practical material to cover the black recessed area of the grille.

[rang-a-stang]

That looks nice, too! Maybe i should get some of that SEM paint for my Ghetto chromed area, it looks pretty bad.

Yep! my receipt shows item number 113127, description: LUG NUT 13/16 x 7/16". Our studs are 7/16 x 20. I installed mine tonight (after undercoating my wheel wells). I'll post a picture tomorrow in the sun.

[letank]

That looks nice, too! Maybe i should get some of that SEM paint for my Ghetto chromed area, it looks pretty bad.

Yep! my receipt shows item number 113127, description: LUG NUT 13/16 x 7/16". Our studs are 7/16 x 20. I installed mine tonight (after undercoating my wheel wells). I'll post a picture tomorrow in the sun.

thank you, a better idea of the sem for plastic bumper applied to the bike, color is titanium, with a coat of clear coat 2 part with the catalyst, so gasoline spills are not going to wash off the paint



I need to finish the grille, as it is now, grey center and chrome extremities, yes , it is not prissy, only an idea! seats are missmatched, headliner is really not stock, even the door panel are 3 of a style and a lighter color, so is the carpetting...