GTS Grill Refurb

WaveyDavey

Junior Member
Messages
69
Now I'm no expert at this sort of thing, which is exactly why I'm posting this - on the off chance this motivates someone else to have a go.

I removed my grill to gain access to change my front emblem, and in doing so noticed how tired it was looking, with faded plastic, red stripes turned pink, cracked and missing tabs, etc:










The air dam behind was sound but faded and stone chipped:





So I used some Meguires Ultimate Black to darken the plastic, and a lick of Rustoleum Hardhat satin black on the metal grill:




The chrome work also looked a little tarnished, so I removed it all and gave it a buff with some polish: Before:



After:




The badge also got a polish, and a lick of Ferrari red Humbrol:






Then to the main grill. Numerous cracks meant the thing was extremely flimsey, and 3 tabs had broken off - two of which were still on the car. I cut up some aluminium strips and JB Plastic Welded them in place to repair and strengthen the plastic:








This appears to have fully restored its structural integrity, and the tabs appear solidly reattached. The visible side got a skim of bumper filler and a sand:




I also filled any prominent lumps and bumps from stone chips, and sanded the whole thing with 600 grit to key the surface:






After a wash and wipe down, the whole thing, including parking sensor mounts (which also got sanded) were primed with Halfords grey plastic primer:




My skim of the crack repairs hadn't been 100% successful, so I hit them with a few coats of U-Pol high build primer:



These areas were then sanded:



To be honest, the results weren't still perfectly smooth, but given that the grill previously had massive cracks and chunks missing in these areas, which was only noticeable up very close, a very slight indent when looking from a a few inches away, tucked between the slats of the grill, wasn't worth losing sleep over.
 

WaveyDavey

Junior Member
Messages
69
I then hit it with numerous fine coats of basic Halfords satin black:



The sun was pretty bright and the camera struggles to pick out the finish, but it looks beautifully inky black and smooth:




Chrome trim reattached and slapped back onto the car, and I must say it's a huge improvement. The indentations in the chrome (from stone chips) are the only thing that show it isn't brand new, to my eyes at least:



 

ChrissGT

Member
Messages
341
I was planning to get my air dam done too. I was looking at gyeon trim. Any reason why you chose to not paint the air dam?
 

Ryandoc

Member
Messages
1,839
Great job and good for you for having s go at it. I’m currently mid job on spraying up my wire meshes, never done any spray work in my life, grey primed yesterday andcar I the
Garage till I get a chance to finish it later in the week.

Grills are about £600 I replaced mine a couple years ago !
 

Felonious Crud

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
21,012
Top work, that, Davey. My previous efforts on that same grill were far less enduring than yours will certainly be! And, I suspect, yours will be more robust than a new one.
 
Last edited:

lifes2short

Member
Messages
5,821
nice job, top tip for anyone trying/wanting to repair plastic trim, 2 part mitre bond is fantastic and is super strong, I've used it on various cracked plastic trim pieces and securing clips that are virtually hanging off, impressive stuff, it's normally used in the building trade for plastic fascia board trims and mdf mitred joints etc , worth having in your garage/workshop

 

WaveyDavey

Junior Member
Messages
69
I was planning to get my air dam done too. I was looking at gyeon trim. Any reason why you chose to not paint the air dam?

I painted the metal mesh, but the plastic surround part is that quite malleable, rubbery plastic that felt like it would be better to 'back to black' rather than paint.

Plus it was so pockmarked with stone chips that to prep it properly for a decent paint job would have resulted in more filler than plastic!
 

WaveyDavey

Junior Member
Messages
69
Top work, that, Davey. My previous efforts on that same grill were far less enduring than yours will certainly be! And, I suspect, yours will be more robust than a new one.

Haha, I saw some evidence of a previous glue repair! I'd highly recommend that JB weld stuff, should you ever need to glue the Aston back together!
 

WaveyDavey

Junior Member
Messages
69
Great job and good for you for having s go at it. I’m currently mid job on spraying up my wire meshes, never done any spray work in my life, grey primed yesterday andcar I the
Garage till I get a chance to finish it later in the week.

Grills are about £600 I replaced mine a couple years ago !

As everyone says, it's all in the prep. That and very light coats!
 

Gazcw

Member
Messages
7,696
Unless prices have just increased. I purchased my new gts grill from Scuderia for £433 delivered in January. I then had to swap pdc holders for a new shape and I got these from Ross for £18.