What's up everyone? Travel is about to ramp up for work again and we just got back from traveling for the holidays to see family so I figured I should squeeze this in while I had time. I love the black pak grille and overall scheme and although I have bought several items already from Mina Gallery I didn't think it was necessary to spend $300+ on a grille I can "dip" myself. Having successfully tackled Plastidipping the chrome grille, trim and badges on my Cadillac this was going to be relatively easy.

How it sat before in all of it's dirty glory:






On to the grille:

Step 1: Mask off everything you don't want overspray on. Leave about a 1/4 to 1/2" gap when taping off the trim around what you want dipped so that you can peel it off later. Fortunately I don't paint for a living as you can tell from my masking skills but it works haha. *Note* I did not cover the radiator but you may want to if you are worried about overspray reaching it. I will tell you that not much will if you don't.


Step 2: Clean up your grille and apply coat 1. Wait half an hour for it to dry. It's not going to look super great on the first pass so don't stress out. Unfortunately the weather is cold right now and my can of Plastidip was sitting in the garage so I had to swap it in and out of a warm part of my house to keep it spraying correctly.


Step 3-6ish: Apply several more coats, in my opinion 5-6 is the sweet spot because it will be less vulnerable to rock "chips" and protect the grille better. On our particular grille make sure to be deliberate about spraying at diagonal angles and upward angles to get inside all of the crevaces. It is a pretty busy grille design so you don't want to miss any spots.



If it starts to look a little chunky that is fairly normal and it's made probably a little worse by it being cold. Just spray another layer over that area and the dip tends to settle out and smooth a little. Again I'm not the best painter so others can probably get a smoother final coat but the texture isn't noticeable unless you're 6" away

Step 7: Unmask and begin to peel off the excess from what you don't want the dip on. I chose to remove it from the R badge I had on the front as well as the growler. Wherever there is a "threshold" of trim to trim it should peel right up fairly easily leaving what is next to it intact.




I left just the chrome growler peeking through mostly because I was impressed that it came off of him that cleanly ha. I may end up pulling the "JAGUAR" ring off around him but for right now I'm going to let him stand out:




If you get any overspray, you can pretty easily rub it off with your finger or a clay bar will get it up pretty quick. This stuff is pretty awesome, it can ultimately be peeled off or redone again if you don't like it. Although it would be pretty hard to get it off all of the crevaces in your grille. I even did a TV stand for my wife since I had plenty left over with 1 can:


That's it! Post up if you have any questions!

 

Aren't you worried about plugging up your radiator?

 

Nope not at all. I had no issues on my old car which had the radiator pretty much right behind the grille. The radiator on the XF is pretty far from the bumper. If you are lazy like me and choose not to remove engine panels to put a drape over the radiator you will get a few small drops of over spray but nothing that is significant enough to block the fins or air flow significantly.

 

That looks good. I was hoping to do this and was wondering how it would turn out.

 

Sorry I disagree.
The finish is dreadful and amateurish and would look out of place on a £500 banger.
These are expensive prestige cars and this on has been besmirched for the sake of saving the owner around three hundred dollars for a beautifully finished grille.
I sincerely hope such an aesthetic crime wouldn't be perpetrated this side of the Atlantic!!!

As for not masking off behind the grille to protect the radiator from overspray, words fail me.

In the UK we call this a "botch job"

 

Nice first post!
There are plenty of true "botch jobs on your side of the Atlantic." Didn't I just see an episode of Wheeler Dealers where they saved a blue Range Rover on blue 24"s with blue leather interior?

I have already gotten several compliments in less than 12 hours on this side of the pond so it's a good thing that opinions are like ***holes right? Everyone's got one.

The mods have started to weed out the negativity on this forum so a bit of advice: It's cool to have your own opinion and to voice it but it helps to be more diplomatic about it Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

 

Just honest fair comment. Please don't take offence.

I'd rather hoped these forum become more than just "mutual appreciation societies" always applauding whatever anyone does.

Obviously opinions are subjective but I'm still unimpressed with the finish....
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/a...ine=1388869548

 

I hear you bud. Granted, if I see someone's car in person that I am not a huge fan of, I am respectful enough to not walk right up to them and tell them to their face. The anonymity of the Interwebs can make us all seem a little more abrasive sometimes I suppose.

To your point it certainly couldn't hurt for the finish to be a little smoother on the emblem but considering the temperature and the fact that I was not spraying the dip from a professional paint gun or in a booth I am pleased with it. Also keep in mind that picture is taken from less than 2 inches away so you are going to see every piece of texture. All Plastidip has a somewhat textured look as it is:
Clear coat Plastidip, all from Audis:



Red dip on an S2K

The best part about the stuff is if it bugged me I can peel it all off and do it again But it doesn't so I will keep rocking my amateur status~

 

We call it ghetto over here.
To each his own.

 

Wow tough crowd over here!

 

Hi WRX, thanks for sharing your mod.

I have to be honest, personally, It doesn't work for me but many will do as you have done I'm sure.
Each to their own, your car, your money and ultimately your choice.

We're all about being friendly but honest here I guess, although most of us try to perhaps tone our comments down some if they're not in the affirmative.

I don't think Engineered was rude to be honest, but perhaps a little harsher than was necessary.

When changes like these are made and posted as I have done myself in the past, not everyone agrees, we are all different after all.

I'm sure you're happy with it and thats what matters.

 

Jim, how about this for etiquette for the forum for subjective mods? A simple "I don't particularly like it", "I'm not a fan" or "I wouldn't on my car" would suffice as a vote of no when someone asks an opinion. If the OP isn't asking for opinions and has already done the mod, why should someone care that much to be so harsh? Just don't reply and anyone who likes it will follow the tips or ask questions. Seems easy right?

Now when there is something more objective or technical, a good debate is always interesting. Let's just keep it civil. Seems like many people get far too worked up about differences in opinions and resort to name calling and insults. This is supposed to be a fun and informative place to spend a little time away from the real BS in our lives. Why allow it to be negative as well?

The soap box is now available...

 

Like my Mom used to say- "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all".

 

2010 /avt007 - good points and of course make sense.

I especially relate to Rob's moms saying as my granny used to say exactly the same....lol

We all have different tastes, different opinions / accents / beliefs and ways of going about things, so its always going to happen to some degree or other I guess.

I think that generally those that can be rude, wayy too honest, in your face, objectionable and seem to be without filters almost, are gone from the forum. They are not welcome here.

You can very simply say, "I don't like it" or "its not my cup of tea"......"your car, your choice" without having to be brutally honest, going into great detail and labouring the point to where the OP feels almost attacked.



Back on topic

I thank WRX for taking the time to share this though as its people like him who help to make the forum what it is with the sharing of info / ideas / tips n tricks etc......

 

Real friends look out for their friends. You really shouldn't have a DIY done in a manner that negatively affects the warranty, performance and/or life of the vehicle without someone calling you on it. I'd guess had he taken the time to not impact the ability of the radiator to do it's job, the comments may have played out a bit differently.
I would hope everyone with technical knowledge on a DYI would always stand up and voice their opinion in matters that would void the warranty or affect the vehicles performance or life of the product.

 

What I failed to grasp the other day is that, apparently, when people post items on this forum it is so others can tell them how fantastic they and their mod/idea/comment is.
Innocuous, but rather bland.

 

It is the silly hat rule. When someone comes into a room wearing a silly hat it is ok to snicker and what not, so long as it isn't directly in the face of the silly hat wearer. That is just common respect there. Now if the silly hat wearer asks for an opinion on his silly hat, all bets are off. In this case he didn't ask for an opinion, he was just trying to be helpful. Unfortunately his help turned out to be potentially very costly to anyone who may decide to follow his advise and good ethics should always require a word of caution to others who may not be as knowledgeable.

 

Wow, so much to learn. Ethics......and silly hats too...

...and there was I thinking forum life was about exchanging information, gaining knowledge, sometimes a "shoulder to cry on" and, perish the thought, occasionally someone to brag to.

I didn't seem to have anything like these Jaguar fragile sensitivities to consider on the old Mercedes Benz forum.

 

Hmm...can't speak about the MB forum, perhaps a spade is a spade over there not sure?
Calling a spade a spade will more often than not get one into trouble at some point.

Forum life isn't so far removed from real life, lets be honest.....

If you tell someone like it is in real life, really honest straight AND to the point you generally won't be liked for it, give attitude you'll get it back and or probably get a punch or two in the process.....lol

There are all too often different ways of saying exactly the same thing, some can be quite harsh or even cruel and some a little kinder, but still getting your point across.

To be honest, I suspect you're an educated guy and are fully aware of this.

As stated above, its about being honest but with respect and with a little thought about the other guy's feelings.

 

I can easily say it looks good and leave it at that, but the finish wouldn't be up to my standards on such an expensive and upmarket car.