Poor me,
I tried to pull off the DIY chrome grille trick, but must have left the paint stripper on there too long. The can says 15 mins and I waited 15 mins. As you can see in the pictures below, in some areas the chrome plating came off with the black coat, and in other areas the chrome plating shriveled up like crumpled aluminum foil. The grill looks like S*** from up close. Now I have to weigh my options between sanding it down to bare plastic and painting it gloss black and keeping the chrome L, or hitting up Luis and inquiring about a black chrome grille with black pearl emblems.
… Hell, might as well top it off with a black chrome trunk bar and door handles…
I tried to pull off the DIY chrome grille trick, but must have left the paint stripper on there too long. The can says 15 mins and I waited 15 mins. As you can see in the pictures below, in some areas the chrome plating came off with the black coat, and in other areas the chrome plating shriveled up like crumpled aluminum foil. The grill looks like S*** from up close. Now I have to weigh my options between sanding it down to bare plastic and painting it gloss black and keeping the chrome L, or hitting up Luis and inquiring about a black chrome grille with black pearl emblems.
… Hell, might as well top it off with a black chrome trunk bar and door handles…
Intermediate
Dam that sucks. I was going to do this mod once it gets warmer out. I'm alittle iffy now on trying. Don't want it to get messed up too.
Lead Lap
No.....WAY!!!! I have a friend who has a 'spare' grill if you want!!! PM me and we'll work things out =]
Lexus Champion
damn bro, your grille looks fossilized !
mine didnt turn out bad at all!, mine went fine and i let mine stay on for 30 mins using kleanstrip's stripper-x
mine didnt turn out bad at all!, mine went fine and i let mine stay on for 30 mins using kleanstrip's stripper-x
19x11.5 -51
Quote:
LOLOriginally Posted by fuzionn
damn bro, your grille looks fossilized !
I cant see pics at work but It sounds bad
... It might be to late .. .sell it for what you can get for it and get the all black chrome stuff now
Lexus Champion
WOW..I left mine on for about 10 minutes and turned out fine. Sorry to hear, hopefully someone can sell you theirs.
Those who have the 98-00 grill, I do not recommend this mod. Apparantly the OEM paint seems to be different. All the 01+ grills have came out awesome while the 98-00 looks like crud, including mine.
Rookie
I used air craft paint remover and left it on for like a minute and half, I had to do it a second time but it turned out good. If you do it again you should give it a try.
Lexus Champion
chroming 98-00 grilles tend to take a longer time than the 01 and up, but somehow your's came off too quick !
Lexus Champion
Quote:
Originally Posted by GSteg
Those who have the 98-00 grill, I do not recommend this mod. Apparantly the OEM paint seems to be different. All the 01+ grills have came out awesome while the 98-00 looks like crud, including mine.
haha i remember when you had to use a knife to scrape it off
Lead Lap
Just curious here, but, what brand of paint thinner did you get?? Please post a pic. You might have bought the wrong brand =/
Lexus Champion
any paint thinner/stripper would work, but different ones have their own time, when the product will start working.
Quote:
I appreciate it man, but I am fine with this one for now. I don’t plan on showing the car off anytime soon. I’ll probably sand it down really well and paint it, then sell it in the classifieds in a few weeks (if anyone is interested I will start accepting PMs now, then you can choose the color). Originally Posted by GS400RcrX
No.....WAY!!!! I have a friend who has a 'spare' grill if you want!!! PM me and we'll work things out =]
The black chrome is calling me… haha
Quote:
I wish I knew this before today. Oh wellOriginally Posted by GSteg
Those who have the 98-00 grill, I do not recommend this mod. Apparently the OEM paint seems to be different. All the 01+ grills have came out awesome while the 98-00 looks like crud, including mine.