So about a month ago I painted the trim on my RS4 grill black (I did the plastic/brushed aluminum trim, not my stock chrome). I scuffed it with 2 grades of sandpaper, hit it with some primer, then did 5 layers of flat black acrylic lacquer (sp?).

Anyways, I drove to and from Pittsburgh on Saturday (10 hours roundtrip) at about 80mph in rain the whole way. And THIS is what greets me at the end of my long trip...





(^^^oh, and those small bluish dots on the grill have been there for a few weeks and are a real PITA...they're all over my rearview mirror too!)

Sooo yeah. Gonna need to redo that, it looks like crap. I'll strip all the old paint off, sand the living bejesus out of it...then what? A lot of guys on the 'Zine have used Plasti Dip spray, and relatively few seem to have a problem with it chipping. I don't think I'd need a primer, just sand and give it 4-5 coats.
http://www.a4mods.com/index.php?page...outgrille.html

Think that's my best bet, or was the type of paint I used the first time way off?

 

No offense, but owned.

Isnt the RS4 painted silver on plastic? Maybe you should try stripping the silver paint first.

 

lol.. that sux man.. I sanded the crome trim then primed the whole grill w/o the rings on. then spray paintd mine with black enamel spray paint... no problems yet... i did this to my stocker tho..

 

if you're careful you can use electrical tape. I know it sounds cheesy but it works and it looks good. you wont even notice from a distance and it wont chip. I left my grill the silver since it matches but I've heard people tired of painting the chips and they said electrical tape works well.

 

sand it, hit with some laquer thinner, and repaint it

they have that plastic paint that you can spray on there, also if need be

you can get a can of clearcoat and coat is so the chipping doesn't affect the paint

 

Yeah, I'll sand/peel some of the paint off and probably hit it with some thinner. Is laquer thinner different from normal paint thinner?

And yeah, I think I'm going to try the rattle-can Plasti Dip and see how that works. I'm probably going to avoid the clear coat...I want the flat matte finish. The electrical tape will be a last-resort, but it's a good idea and I've seen pictures of it executed correctly. Looked good.

I think the problem is I'm trying to repaint that plastic trim instead of the chrome. I'll just scuff that crap with some 50 grit this time, and I don't think the Plasti Dip needs any primer/adhesion promoter.

It looks sooooo ghetto right now!

Thx

 

prep is 95% of the job some ideas for you
http://images.google.co.uk/images?q=audi+grill&hl=en

 

PLASTI-DIP!!!

it doesnt chip..

 

Yup, just picked myself up a can at Lowes, I'll give it an audition in a day or so. I'll sand/scuff/peel the existing paint off the trim, then hit the sand paper. Dunno about the thinner, not sure it'll be necessary. I'll definitely rub it down w/ some alcohol before the plastic.

Keep in mind, I never painted the mesh...all those little blue dots on the mesh are form some crap I got all over my car. My windows were all sticky, like some kinda sap. I have to work on 'em really hard to get them off, that's why the ones on my side mirrors and grill didn't come off when I washed it. Since I can't really torque down on them too much, I'll probably end up doing it all with my thumbnail. Grrrrr