04 Denali Grill Chrome Delete

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Tonyrodz

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I bought an aftermarket grill on eBay and had a body shop stains the crap out of it and paint the surround piece. I left the middle chrome which he said was a pain in the ass to mask off, which isn’t my problem to deal with.... lol. It’s got a couple little tiny chips from rocks but nothing major. The bigger problem I have now is that the side clip piece of plastic that clips into the fender is broken and I don’t know how to fix it other than just buying another grill and having it painted :banghead:
Maybe some JB Weld.
 

Rocket Man

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I can't let this go...I did a bit of searching and found this technique using bleach:

Go back a few posts and look at the results after a weekend of bleach by @Crippin87 . Not good. I invite you to try any of the stuff you see in those YouTube vids yourself. I sure did and won’t waste my time again.
 

the_tool_man

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Go back a few posts and look at the results after a weekend of bleach by @Crippin87 . Not good. I invite you to try any of the stuff you see in those YouTube vids yourself. I sure did and won’t waste my time again.

Yep. Saw it before I posted. Did you watch the vid I linked? He talked about concentration and temperature, which Crippin87 may or may not have factored in. Also, chlorine tablets (calcium hypochlorite) aren't the same as bleach (sodium hypochlorite), though I have to confess they may be similar enough chemically not to matter (<Scotty voice>"I'm an engineer, not a chemist Jim"). I do know that liquid bleach at say 6% concentration is cheaper than the equivalent dry powdered pool chlorine tablets to achieve the same pH. Neither are cheap in the amount needed to submerge an entire grill. But if we're paying a pro to paint it, we're beyond talking about $10 or $20 solutions, aren't we? I have a few ideas. If/when I do mine, I'll report my results. 'Till then, just remember I was only trying to help. I'm out.
 

Rocket Man

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Yep. Saw it before I posted. Did you watch the vid I linked? He talked about concentration and temperature, which Crippin87 may or may not have factored in. Also, chlorine tablets (calcium hypochlorite) aren't the same as bleach (sodium hypochlorite), though I have to confess they may be similar enough chemically not to matter (<Scotty voice>"I'm an engineer, not a chemist Jim"). I do know that liquid bleach at say 6% concentration is cheaper than the equivalent dry powdered pool chlorine tablets to achieve the same pH. Neither are cheap in the amount needed to submerge an entire grill. But if we're paying a pro to paint it, we're beyond talking about $10 or $20 solutions, aren't we? I have a few ideas. If/when I do mine, I'll report my results. 'Till then, just remember I was only trying to help. I'm out.
Gotcha. I just had no way to submerge the entire grill or the hydrochloride acid might have worked. It’s not too expensive when you dilute it. And you still have to pay to paint it. It’s just you’d save on part of the prep, and that’s maybe since Im pretty sure it still has to be sanded. I decided to have it done by someone else. Mine has held up real well but I have a friend who owns a body shop and he paid a helper to hand sand it so it didn’t cost me much.
 

Crippin87

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Yep. Saw it before I posted. Did you watch the vid I linked? He talked about concentration and temperature, which Crippin87 may or may not have factored in. Also, chlorine tablets (calcium hypochlorite) aren't the same as bleach (sodium hypochlorite), though I have to confess they may be similar enough chemically not to matter (<Scotty voice>"I'm an engineer, not a chemist Jim"). I do know that liquid bleach at say 6% concentration is cheaper than the equivalent dry powdered pool chlorine tablets to achieve the same pH. Neither are cheap in the amount needed to submerge an entire grill. But if we're paying a pro to paint it, we're beyond talking about $10 or $20 solutions, aren't we? I have a few ideas. If/when I do mine, I'll report my results. 'Till then, just remember I was only trying to help. I'm out.
I honestly never measured anything lol I just put several gallons in the water and a ton of tabs. I just kept adding until it felt right lol, obviously not enough though I guess. I also didn’t have a way to add hot water I just used normal temp water from the tap. Not going to lie he has me wanting to give it another go, but I wonder maybe suspending it and letting one end hang into a 5 gallon bucket of a more heavily concentrated solution, maybe straight bleach?
 

mountie

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Painting the chrome on plastic grill frame....

. A fine sand blast will allow the primer to adhere to the "bead-blasted" finish. Use a black tinted primer, so future chips won't show silver..

(Edit another thought)..... Use a 3M pad to scuff the surface. Easy & it will be good for a primer. ( Primer just needs a scuffed surface to bond)

You don't have to remove the 'chrome look'...... Primer only cares about the surface texture.

I did a couple "Overhaul'n" shows in Huntington Beach, Ca. with Foose in the old days... We had to do a mod FAST. When we had only hours left, a spray can would solve time limits!!
 
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