I painted my frontand rear accents aswell as the rear grille of the car at the beginning of this year and by now theylook pretty dull ifyou look close enough.

Id really liketo get the same type of polish that is used on the RX-8 mazda logo and MAZDA emblems sothat the work Ive donedown below could matchtheir luster. Is thereanyway I could have this done on the grille I painted?



(This isan old pic that shows the original work -- and that license plate frame is long gone)

 

the mazda emblems are chromed.
even the spray on chrome paint (the ones in a spray can) wont have the same effect :o

 

Ezzy is right but you can make your paint job look much better and much 'blingier' if you paint it once, let it dry for an hour, paint it again right over the top then let it dry for a few hours...here is the key part"
paint on a third layer, high gloss clear coat...that will assist in shinning up the look

 

How much money do you have? I know of the paint to use and the process. If you know a good auto painter, I can let you know the information. The aluminum finish is extrememly expensive for the amount but it goes a long way. I would be willnig to sell enough to do the job on the rear grille and accent, you just have to find the talent to do it.

Here are the particulars:

One, the surface to be finished has to have a mirror gloss finish, this means a good clear coat and some extreme sanding. I haven't looked close at the OEM grill to see if it is as smooth as the front or if it is textured. Second, the entire area not to be finished has to be masked very well. Third, the secret ingredient paint is applied over the clear coated black surface. Fourth, after 24 hours, the aluminum finish is to be clear coated again, two coats preferred. Then it will look as good as the OEM aluminum strakes and accents, maybe not as chrome as the badges but, still as clse to chrome as it will ever get.

Plastic can be chromed but it is very expensive. The process involves painting on an electroplate reactive paint (magneseium based, if I remember correctly). Then it is dipped in the chromium solution and a charge is applied. The area with the paint is chromed where as the area without it will not be as the molcules are attracted to the charged area of the paint. The tripple dipping that all chrome applicators claim is a joke as it takes three times to complete the process, so every chrome piece is tripple dipped. This grill is part of the rear bumper cover so the likelihood of anyone ever doing this is slim.

If you are good with an air brush, can do it yourself or know someone who can, write me, I will share the secret ingredient information. (It runs about $150 for a pint but you would only need a fraction of that)

 

Here's a thread where I posted some pics of the painted mesh on my Titanium 8. I only painted it once so far but I think that it looks pretty good.

www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?p=663575

 

Rx8rider you just painted yours recently. Of courseits looking fresh. I painted mine back in January

 

What he said ^. My painted grillwork is 18 months old now and looks as good as they day I spent $10 and 30 minutes doing it. The extra coats and the clearcoat IS the thing!

I also used a plastic "paint pre-conditioner" on the grillwork before painting so the silver paint sticks better.