Powder coating grille

[Ronald Brooks]

Bought a new truck but not real crazy about the chrome grille. Rather have it color matching. Really costly to buy new grille and headlight bezels and have them painted iridescent pearl tricoat. I'm thinking the chrome can be powder coated if it's sandblasted first so it adheres.  Powder coating is a lot tougher than paint too. Has anyone tried this?

Edited October 13, 2019 by Ronald Brooks
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[SmokeyJoe101]

59 minutes ago, Ronald Brooks said:

Bought a new truck but not real crazy about the chrome grille. Rather have it color matching. Really costly to buy new grille and headlight bezels and have them painted iridescent pearl tricoat. I'm thinking the chrome can be powder coated if it's sandblasted first so it adheres.  Powder coating is a lot tougher than paint too. Has anyone tried this?

Powder coating only sticks to metal

[bullet3z]

Go get a wrap. They can color match it. Down the road if you don't like it or it gets damaged, peel it off and start again.

[mafd2]

1 hour ago, bullet3z said:

Go get a wrap. They can color match it. Down the road if you don't like it or it gets damaged, peel it off and start again.

Correct as per SmokeyJoe101; powder coat has to be magnetized and won't work on plastic. As for the post from bullet3z, You won't get a wrap to match the Iridescent Pearl Coat. GM is known for its high metallic content and you won't get that in a wrap.  It won't match and will look tacky and be too obvious.

[Adder1221]

I would try to get it painted man. I'm looking to getting mine done soon. 

[truck_newbie]

2 hours ago, mafd2 said:

Correct as per SmokeyJoe101; powder coat has to be magnetized and won't work on plastic. As for the post from bullet3z, You won't get a wrap to match the Iridescent Pearl Coat. GM is known for its high metallic content and you won't get that in a wrap.  It won't match and will look tacky and be too obvious.

Small correction, the powder has to be ionized not magnetized so it sticks to the metal. The key is not that the powder won't stick to the plastic because some branch of powder coating can be used on MDF wood. The key is that the plastic won't survive the curing temperature of 400F. @Ronald Brooks, for chrome on plastic, your only real option is to wrap as others have mentioned. Don't try to paint chrome as it will come off sooner than later. 

[LoneStar87]

Why don’t you just remove it if you don’t like it? I put a brush guard on my truck about 4 years ago and all the brackets and hardware is roached out. Thinking of removing mine. 

[mafd2]

1 hour ago, truck_newbie said:

Small correction, the powder has to be ionized not magnetized so it sticks to the metal. The key is not that the powder won't stick to the plastic because some branch of powder coating can be used on MDF wood. The key is that the plastic won't survive the curing temperature of 400F. @Ronald Brooks, for chrome on plastic, your only real option is to wrap as others have mentioned. Don't try to paint chrome as it will come off sooner than later. 

Yep guess I should've said electrostatically charged. Anyway you won't get powder coat to match high metallic paint. Chrome plastic and metal can be painted. It's all in the prep. I've had chrome plastic mirror covers and door handles painted on several vehicles with zero problems and good longevity. Also had a front chrome steel bumper painted that had a dent in it from a trailer hitch ball from someone who backed into me. When I got rid of the truck 5 years later, it still looked good with no peeling. Proper sanding or blasting and self etching primer on the metal is the key. The right body shop can do both chrome plastic and metal. 

[mafd2]

1 hour ago, Adder1221 said:

I would try to get it painted man. I'm looking to getting mine done soon. 

Agree. If you want it color keyed and for it to match, paint is the only option.

[truck_newbie]

1 hour ago, mafd2 said:

Yep guess I should've said electrostatically charged. Anyway you won't get powder coat to match high metallic paint. Chrome plastic and metal can be painted. It's all in the prep. I've had chrome plastic mirror covers and door handles painted on several vehicles with zero problems and good longevity. Also had a front chrome steel bumper painted that had a dent in it from a trailer hitch ball from someone who backed into me. When I got rid of the truck 5 years later, it still looked good with no peeling. Proper sanding or blasting and self etching primer on the metal is the key. The right body shop can do both chrome plastic and metal. 

That's interesting. Most body shops i have gone to won't paint chrome and if they do, they won't warranty it. It's good to know you have had good luck with it. 

[superhighsierra]

10 hours ago, Ronald Brooks said:

Bought a new truck but not real crazy about the chrome grille. Rather have it color matching. Really costly to buy new grille and headlight bezels and have them painted iridescent pearl tricoat. I'm thinking the chrome can be powder coated if it's sandblasted first so it adheres.  Powder coating is a lot tougher than paint too. Has anyone tried this?

The truth is that the chrome is a pain in the a$$ to sand down to the point where a primer will adhere. It will take 4 hours or so just to sand down the front bumper and it is a really messy job. That is why most body shops don't want anything to do with it. However, those that say it can't be done are clueless. If you sand it down well enough it's no different than painting a black bumper as far as longevity of the paint is concerned. I plan to paint my front and rear here in due time but make no mistake it is a hell of a lot of prep work and I can't imagine most body shops would be willing to do all of the prep work themselves. Here is the best video I have ever seen of anyone doing it...

 

Color Matching Chrome