GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

With winter on its way - I know I won't have a chance to do any painting for a while - so I wanted to quick get this mod done because it's always irked me. Grey plastic grills on a black car (slap Pontiac)Anyway - I took out the grills by removing 3 plastic plug screws and two screws that double for hood bumpers. Then uncliped them from the front facia.The trick to getting the chrome off is using a micro flat head screwdriver. That really made quick work of those pesky ABS plastic clips.Yes, I had metal mesh on my lower grills. I got bored one night and decided to give it a try. It looked pretty good - but the galvanized steel look didn't... I left them on for rock protection of my lower condensor and I planned on painting them black.Two coats of enamel black, with two coats of clear coat. With 2-3 hours of drying time between the black and clear.Anyway, here's the end result:

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Another from the front.

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Looks nice!

And just for giggles - I left the chrome trim off the grills when I installed them. This actually made it easier as the trim parts share the same clip slots as the facia clips. Makes it easy to install the grills then just snap in the chrome trim.I wish my digicam photographed black better. I'm going to wait until twilight and see if I can get some really good contrasting photos. It looks 100% better than the factory grey color.

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I like the blacked out look. looks more like an 03'-04'

Very Nice! I love the color matched grills. It looks best and more finished with the chrome trim on. Without it, it looks unfinished. Good Job!

Looks like a whole different car without the chrome. Much improved!

keep the chrome off! looks nice!

Looks good. Chrome on or off it still looks good. So many mods I want to do and only one hand. Damn, surgery sucks.

Thanks everyone, I really like them too. It was an easy mod, but makes me much happier with the looks now.I liked the no-chrome look from a distance - but the grills have slots and a channel around them for the chrome parts, so it looks ugly upclose.If I get around to it - I might sand and paint the chrome parts black. I do like the looks of all black up front.Maybe I'll keep my eyes on the junk yards... seems that most that end up there are front crushed though Now to take care of that big red badge on the front...

Looks good. I never even really noticed the grilles were gray.

Quote, originally posted by rAERRK »Looks good. I never even really noticed the grilles were gray.I didn't either when I was buying... then when I did notice, I was like "(removed)?" I guess I was more excited to have a new car with working A/C then matching plastic grills.

Binary... You are my friend!!!Ima paint mine tomorrow and wanted to make sure i could take them out.Thanks... ill post pics of mine on here when im done!

Nice work, binary...and now you got me thinkin' about doing the same on mine. Don't know if I'll go with enamel, but maybe a satin finish...as long as they're darker.

I like it Looks very nice

Looks better w/o the chrome in the pic, but I know what you mean about getting up close.

painting mine right now... ima do the lower ones when i have more time... lemme tell ya, it looks 100X better then that dull grey color.I just wish i had a small section of the garage to isolate for my painting purposes!

got the grills painted... well just the two top ones for now.

Grills look great... both of ya!Looks like you are still advertising for your dealership Mrizzle... are they worth it?We need a before and after shot... side by side.

LOL!!! yeah i think ill sand there name down and get some paint pens and write MRIZZLES VIBE on it! these are the two best i have together... when i paint the bottoms ill show before and after.

Would you get a shot of the full front end. What do you think , will it look better if you also paint the chrome?How difficult is it to remove the chrome also?

the chrome pieces are a tad tricky to take off but pretty simple.Umm im staying with the chrome because my rims are black and chrome.You could paint the chrome though... another member painted them a nice red color.Ill have a full shot later today, and after i paint my bottom grills"to each their own"EDIT: more pics by request!!!

Def looks a lot better than stock!

I painted the grill and the trim ring, TWICE. The first time I used bumper black, and Krylon without clear. Within 6 months the trim ring was chipped unmercifully and the bumper black was 75% pealed off. I removed the remaining bumper black with a power washer, and repainted with Krylon, sanded the trim ring and repainted with more Krylon, and painted mucho coats of clear. So far so good.

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No offense, but after seeing that, I think I would leave the chrome trim alone!

I like the way your grill's came out I wounder how it would look if it was painted in the same color as one's car, like say mine is a frosty and I painted mine in white, I wounder if that would look good. Has anybody done this yet? if yes please post pic's.... nuvibe

Quote, originally posted by harryyiii »I painted the grill and the trim ring, TWICE. The first time I used bumper black, and Krylon without clear. Within 6 months the trim ring was chipped unmercifully and the bumper black was 75% pealed off. I removed the remaining bumper black with a power washer, and repainted with Krylon, sanded the trim ring and repainted with more Krylon, and painted mucho coats of clear. So far so good. Are those the AVS headlight trim pieces? Those might look sick painted the color of the car....mmm i need a pair Painting the trim the color of the car or black looks good. I think a all black vibe with all black grill/trim would be sweet looking as nothing else is chrome on it.

Lookin good.

My two cents says to leave the chrome on. I really like the way it pops against the black. More of a finished look. I'm thinking the black grill will go good with my red paint. I know what I'm doing this weekend!

They are the AVS partial (quasi-legal) headlight covers from autoeverything.com. I painted the grill trim ring black to match the black trim theme (powder coated roof rails, the AVS covers, removed side labels, and the black painted vibe label on the back.)

yea i need to redo mine and the lower front bumper aswell.Heres the link to my pics of when i painted mine before they started to peel off. http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=19439

What sort of paint is recommended and do I need to use a primer 1st? I went to Menards today to look at paint, but all they had was Rustoleum Paint and it says its for wood or metal...not plastic. Does it really matter or should I be looking for spraypaint for plastics?

Krylon fusion for plastic, the stuff dries in 15 mins, the grilles were back on in an hour. It only needed two coats for the black, but so far after a month, nothing has chiped off. I didn't use any primer.

i used a light primer with some dupli-color (brilliant black) paint. and 2-3 coats of clear.Mine came out great. adn from afar they look really good an make the front end stand out.

Quote, originally posted by VforVIBE »Krylon fusion for plastic, the stuff dries in 15 mins, the grilles were back on in an hour. It only needed two coats for the black, but so far after a month, nothing has chiped off. I didn't use any primer.Not sure if it's the clarity of the pic or what but those grilles are so damn clean looking...much better than factory IMO. Did you use the same brand of paint for the red over the chrome? Was it a mettalic red?

Well I got mine painted, will post pics here soon. Though Im a bit embarassed....looked at my bumper this morning and there is a scratch in it, looks like a rock was the culprit *sigh* my lil dragon has a scratch

Quote, originally posted by LUVROK »Not sure if it's the clarity of the pic or what but those grilles are so damn clean looking...much better than factory IMO. Did you use the same brand of paint for the red over the chrome? Was it a mettalic red?The black is shinny, and it still looks clean, much slicker then before. I did use the same brand, Krylon, but the red is metal X (which is for chromed things) where as the black was fusion (for plastics). If you want to use it, paint a clear coat over it.

Quote, originally posted by VforVIBE »The black is shinny, and it still looks clean, much slicker then before. I did use the same brand, Krylon, but the red is metal X (which is for chromed things) where as the black was fusion (for plastics). If you want to use it, paint a clear coat over it.ooohhhh V