F250_JR
Veteran Member
I know there are tons of people who have plasti-dipped or just painted their chrome grills, or replaced them with GTI grilles. However, I read that someone had actually peeled off the chrome before painting, so I thought I would try that. If you think about it, peeling off the chrome allows you to remove most of the small pits from road grit, while also providing a much better painting surface (plastic) with better adhesion.
For starters, here is a before shot of my car, with the chrome grill:
The tool list does not include the screwdrivers needed to remove the grill-that part is pretty self explanatory. For the main grill, there are two screws on the top corners, and two other screws in the space below the bottom set of slats on eather side of the VW logo.
For the bottom side grills, there is one screw in each, plainly visible. It is on the inside end of the grill, vertically centered.
They are pretty tough to remove, just yank them hard. You can see in this picture the slots in the top and bottom edges where tabs from the grill reside. This gives you an idea of where the grill is attached, so that you can know where to pull. I found that pulling from the screw point outward worked best.
The center bottom grill also has 2 screws, attaching right inside the top edge. They are the same ones which were pictured earlier at the bottom of the main grill. They attach both grills together. The bottom center grill has tabs on the top which need to be loosened (gently), then the top can be pulled forward. After the top is pulled forward, you must reach inside to loosen the tabs on the bottom. Again, some force is required.
Here are the tools I used to remove the chrome from the grill:
And here is a picture of the chrome being peeled off:
Basically, I used the file to wear down an edge on each piece of grill, then I used a razor to loosen that edge of chrome. After I had a loose edge, the chrome could be pulled off. You will just need to experiment as to exactly how this will work best for you.
Here is a picture of the slats after they have been pulled off from the grill--you need to be careful to not break the tabs when removing them. I found the needlenose pliers very helpful with that. They must be removed so that you can peel off the chrome and paint them seperately.
And just for kickers, here is another picture of the chrome partially removed. This was before the slats were removed from this half of the grill.
Sorry I don't have all the pictures up yet, I will be adding more pictures tonight.
For starters, here is a before shot of my car, with the chrome grill:
The tool list does not include the screwdrivers needed to remove the grill-that part is pretty self explanatory. For the main grill, there are two screws on the top corners, and two other screws in the space below the bottom set of slats on eather side of the VW logo.
For the bottom side grills, there is one screw in each, plainly visible. It is on the inside end of the grill, vertically centered.
They are pretty tough to remove, just yank them hard. You can see in this picture the slots in the top and bottom edges where tabs from the grill reside. This gives you an idea of where the grill is attached, so that you can know where to pull. I found that pulling from the screw point outward worked best.
The center bottom grill also has 2 screws, attaching right inside the top edge. They are the same ones which were pictured earlier at the bottom of the main grill. They attach both grills together. The bottom center grill has tabs on the top which need to be loosened (gently), then the top can be pulled forward. After the top is pulled forward, you must reach inside to loosen the tabs on the bottom. Again, some force is required.
Here are the tools I used to remove the chrome from the grill:
And here is a picture of the chrome being peeled off:
Basically, I used the file to wear down an edge on each piece of grill, then I used a razor to loosen that edge of chrome. After I had a loose edge, the chrome could be pulled off. You will just need to experiment as to exactly how this will work best for you.
Here is a picture of the slats after they have been pulled off from the grill--you need to be careful to not break the tabs when removing them. I found the needlenose pliers very helpful with that. They must be removed so that you can peel off the chrome and paint them seperately.
And just for kickers, here is another picture of the chrome partially removed. This was before the slats were removed from this half of the grill.
Sorry I don't have all the pictures up yet, I will be adding more pictures tonight.
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