Sport Grill Arternative..

[Baller]

Most agree the sports grille is the way to go in terms of looks, however, I don't have the cash to waste on things like this, as I'm saving for insurance / tax to get my car back on the road after now 10 months on my driveway, killing me a little more each day!

Ive spend today painting the brake calipers, and am happy with the results, I'll be spraying the inside of the headlights body color too, and this got me thinking about spraying my standard grille black.

I'm thinking of keeping the logo silver (obviously) and also the chrome effect around the outside, but just sanding back, priming and spraying the main part black.

This will give a more agressive, or sports grille kind of effect, but save me a fair bit, and give something a little different.

I'm a little concerned over time about stone chips etc.

What are peoples ideas?

[Rory]

I painted the chrome edge of my standard grille green as my car is green, but the bars on my grille are very dark anyway, i'll link the thread shortly

I assume you have the 4 bar grille where the bars are more grey?

Edit: Linky

[Parthiban]

I'm not sure if the early 4 bar grilles are the same, but most grilles in the Lexus range are chrome underneath - if you just strip the top enamel coating (using acetone or similar) they actually look pretty cool.

Can't find a pic for now, but it's been discussed before and the standard grille in chrome looks really quite good :)

[Baller]

Yeh thats the grille i have - although I also like your idea to cut out the bars and mesh it! Then I could just buy a lexus logo off the net and glue it on!

I also like the "non chrome" look too... so many decisions, so little money!!

[Rory]

I had thought of cutting the bars off mine and black mesh, but never got round to it, and I was going to use the smaller L logo off a wheel centre cap instead of the standard size grille logo, although I couldn't decide whether to put the logo in the middle or near where the sport logo on the sport grille is, I may still give it a go sometime

[Dr Barrie]

Hello everyone..........the grill on my IS200 SE Auto appears to be simply black paint..... is it true that, underneath, this is a chrome finish?

If so l would like to clear this paint off and revert to the chrome finish.

What would members use to do this please ?

Your advice would be appreciated

[Parthiban]

Found the thread I was talking about on my.is............here's the info off there (obviously I take no responsibility if this doesn't work!)

1. Take grill off

2. Go to the store and buy some spray on paint remover (works best) or some strong acetone. (Glove are nice too to work with)

3. Spray it on, or apply it with paint brush, however you chose to do it.

4. Let it sit for however long the bottle says. i think mine was like 30 minutes. It starts bubbling when it is ready.

5. Scrape it all off. A strong powered hose works nice too!

6. Do that a few times until its all off. Looks really nice!

Personally I think acetone is the way to do it, paint remover might be too tough and strip the surface of the chrome as well. Borrowed some pics below off the same thread I got the info from.......

[Baller]

Found the thread I was talking about on my.is............here's the info off there (obviously I take no responsibility if this doesn't work!)

1. Take grill off

2. Go to the store and buy some spray on paint remover (works best) or some strong acetone. (Glove are nice too to work with)

3. Spray it on, or apply it with paint brush, however you chose to do it.

4. Let it sit for however long the bottle says. i think mine was like 30 minutes. It starts bubbling when it is ready.

5. Scrape it all off. A strong powered hose works nice too!

6. Do that a few times until its all off. Looks really nice!

Personally I think acetone is the way to do it, paint remover might be too tough and strip the surface of the chrome as well. Borrowed some pics below off the same thread I got the info from.......

hmm thats odd - My grille looks kind of like the pics above already and I want it black! I can only assume the paint has worn off mine over the years, ive never noticed it before!

Think I'm going to go down the black spray paint route first, will I need to sand it all back (all those little holes wil take ages!) or can I just clean it up and spray on a primer first?

[Rory]

the other alternative is look for one of the darker ones on eBay, as they do sell quite cheaply, and sell yours on eBay adding a couple of quid to cover the rip off fees, and it should cost u next to nothing then and be easier than sanding all the little holes, lol

[Parthiban]

hmm thats odd - My grille looks kind of like the pics above already and I want it black! I can only assume the paint has worn off mine over the years, ive never noticed it before!

I doubt it as it's unusual for the enamel to come off on its own (do you have a pic?) It's probably just that the 4 bar grille has a silvery bronzey kind of colour, it's not black like the later 3 bar grille was.

Those pics aren't brilliant, but once you remove the enamel it's actual chrome underneath, just like the Lexus badge.

[Rory]

even the later 3 bar grille came in more than one shade, unless my old one just needed a clean

[Steviewevie]

even the later 3 bar grille came in more than one shade, unless my old one just needed a clean

There's only one part number for it for the UK.

[Rory]

i'm thinkin i'm wrong then lol, i have a pic with my car next to another and the other one is much darker, unless he also painted his bars black, but on some meet pics from a while ago mine is the same shade as most

[Steviewevie]

This last pic seems very slightly odd to me. I can imagine if they were showing a "before and after" shot, but it seems to be a pic of an early, stripped 4-bar grille (fitted to the car), and a later OEM 3-bar grille.

[Parthiban]

This last pic seems very slightly odd to me. I can imagine if they were showing a "before and after" shot, but it seems to be a pic of an early, stripped 4-bar grille (fitted to the car), and a later OEM 3-bar grille.

Have to agree, is a bizarre pic, but maybe it's just to show the chrominess by placing it against a black grille?