How to paint a P2 front grille in satin black - easy!

[M-R-P]

First... DON'T remove the front bumper...

Remove the black plastic rivets from the top of the bumper, under the bonnet...

Push the centre pin in till it clicks and just lever the whole rivet out.


Pull the top of the bumper toward you and look at the back of the grille, you will see 4 clips

(Sorry I forgot to take a photo!)

Wedge a screwdriver between the clip and the plastic blade on the grille (a bit fiddly).
Do this for all 4 of the top clips then pull the top of the grille away from the bumper.

Look down inside, through the gap you just opened between the grille and bumper. You will see the 3 clips holding the bottom of the grille on...

You can poke these individually and remove the the grille completely.
with the grille out, you will be confronted with something that had me scratchin' my noggin for a bit...

These little grippy washers are a pain. What i did was push the base of the blade, where it splits from the body of the washer. after buckling it it will pull off with a pair of long nose pliers (sorry, blurry pic)

Now the slash is off, give the grille a clean with carb cleaner or a 500 quid dishwasher

Mask the bits you don't want painted - I wanted to leave the chrome boarder as-is... TAKE YOUR TIME! You want this to be right

Hang the grill SAFELY somewhere and apply your favourite primer...
I used Metatec Cold Galv (cos I get it for free and it dries fast)


While you're waiting for the primer to dry, go put the bumper back together. If it doesn't seem to want to go back properly, look around the headlights as mine caught on the glass and had to be "manipulated" to get it back in.

Now apply the first coat of black, wait a few minutes, turn the grille 180 degrees and apply another. Make sure you have a good covering in the nooks and crannys - some bugger will spot it if you don't!
Repeat as required and allow to dry.
While you're waiting, repair the gripp washer thingys, first by hammering them flat, then jam a Phillips screwdriver through the hole to put the angle back on the blades...


When the paint has dried (I used a small fan heater) re fit the slash, using a deep 8mm-10mm socket to push the grippy washers back on.

You can then remove the masking tape.
The grille will just push back into the bumper.

Et voila! Job done.