So, I decided to do a little experiment this past weekend and paint my chrome grill with "plasti-dip" or peel-coat. I think it turned out pretty awesome, it makes me want to pull off all my faded trim and have it professionally painted a matte black as well. However I do not want to damage the retainers when I remove the trim. Anyone know how that stuff comes off? Or will I need to take it to the body shop? Also, what do you think about the grill? (see attached)

 

Grill looks good. You not a fan of the fake peeling plasti-chrome?

 

The trim easily pops off. I had mine painted with the car to match a few years ago but the paint didn't adhere to the plastic too well on the trim around the bumper, just had to pop the trim out and touch it up but it's relatively simple to remove. Also if you don't want to paint the trim, mineral or baby oil works better than anything I've tried for the plastic trim.

 

Sounds easy enough, fortunately being a motorcycle mechanic I have a decent selection of soft plastic pry bars for trim.. My main concern was breaking a fastener that I couldn't see. I'm not sure on the paint either, I definitely don't want it chipping and peeling after I re-install it.

 

Plasti-dip could work if you want to pull them and paint them, if you don't want to pull them, clean the car, dry well and use a couple passes of mineral oil on a clean cloth or a microfiber applicator pad for waxing, and go over the trim. Wipe off excess from paint and it brings that trim back to life. A lot better than back to black and similar products I've used.

 

just saw a video on youtube where a guy used a heat gun to get rid of the fading on his F150. Gonna snag the heat gun from work for the weekend and give it a try. I'll post before and afters if it works out.

 

Interesting. I wonder if it stays flat after it cools.

 

Alright, I finally had an opportunity to try the heat gun trick. I have to say, it turned out better than I could have hoped for. I started with the back bumper since its trim was in the worst shape of all the pieces. I even took a picture of the bumper when I was at the half way point to show a side by side comparison of the before and after. I even managed to get the windscreen garnish that sits under the wiper blades. Sorry it took so long for me to get around to it, I've been workin' 6 day weeks to keep up with the Aquatrax recalls.. got kinda crazy there for a bit. Anyway, let me know what you guys think, only took about 1.5hrs with the heat gun at 750deg/F.