Grille respray - this will be my first attempt with paint, send help :) day

[wildejon 7]

My grille is in serious need of a makeover. The previous owner made a right mess of it so it is cracked all over.

Are all 205 grilles the same? It seems to stand proud, which I don’t remember from my previous. It might just be the terrible colour though.

It should be cherry red and currently looks like flaky orange model plane paint

 

Any idea where I should start?

Can I sand it?

Should I disassemble it at all?

Is there a dummies guide to not messing this up?!

 

Thanks,

Jon

[steve@cornwall 100]

You could dis assemble it , but the plastic is quite old and brittle now and the clips are liable to snap, so I would just mask off the areas you don't want paint on. You can certainly sand it. In recent years I have found that rattle can paints are now pretty much useless, some going on great and then, several months later, separating to a leathery finish which get  worse and worse in time. I totally rattle canned my  red  gti12 years ago (link in Sig) and was really pleased, but recent work on some accident damage has shown the  paint to be a waste of effort, around 40 -50 hours of prep and finish and a year later about the same to strip it all off again! 6 months after painting a motorbike tank in Halfords auto paint last summer, it completely washed  off when I spilt some petrol on it, shame I wasted money on decals too! 

 

1 final voice of doom..... cherry red is awful to match!!!

[wildejon 7]

Thanks for the encouragement

 

Pretty sure I will end up with a full spray one day, not yet though, it is kind of expensive and I’d like to do other bits while it’s stripped.

 

Looks like I need a plan still!

[steve@cornwall 100]

Give it a go! You may find you get better materials (different regs) away from UK. Get some paints and practise on disposable items. 

 

The surface you apply paint to must be lightly sanded all over (keyed) to give the paint something to adhere to and some panel wipes would be  useful to take all finger marks etc off the surface immediately prior to painting. When you paint the grille, hang it on wires or similar, follow th  instructions regarding shaking the tin , applying light layers and the timing between coats. Also, avoid damp days.

[wildejon 7]

Yeah, why not?!

 

I can just sand it to remove all the crappy peeled stuff and that is all I need as a base right?

It really is terrible, at least I can't make it any worse, or at least I don't think I can

 

I did some painting on a kit car many many years ago, that didn't end up terrible. It was black and not red though and also far less on display!

 

Thanks dude

[pug_ham 245 3 Cars]

All 205 grilles are the same but getting a colour match (especially for cherry red) will be almost impossible or by pure luck so you might as well give repainting it a go yourself.

 

The front section does comes off from the backing by use of pliers to squeeze the tabs that hold it in, have a look with the grille removed & you should see what I mean.

 

The three bar grille guide on the main site might give you an idea on ow they come apart but I could easily be wrong.

 

g

[wildejon 7]

Paint ordered today.

 

I will have to wait until tomorrow to collect though and I can give it a shot over the next few days (if we have some dry ones)...

 

Once sanded, do you know what I have to use to de-grease it? Can I just use the bike cleaner I have?

 

Thanks Graham

[Tom Fenton 1,547]

Personally rather than deal with some s*itty old paint that may well react, I'd buy a new grille front and paint it, then swap over

 

e.g.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PEUGEOT-205-1983-TO-1996-NEW-FRONT-TOP-GRILLE-OUTER-OLD-STOCK-190/122850181182?hash=item1c9a71003e:g:Jn4AAOSwm3paKkFH

 

Key it with scotchbrite, degrease with panel wipe or methylated spirit, prime, key, degrease, and paint.

[wildejon 7]

That is a really good idea