# Painting Radiator Shroud



## Falco21 (May 11, 2010)

I noticed a while ago that my radiator shroud has many scratches and marks on it. I wanted to paint it black again to make it look a lot better than what it does right now. While figuring everything out, I realized that the shroud is a rough material and some of the scratches are a little deep. Not too deep though. I searched on ls1gto.com and saw that a lot of people have very smooth gloss black shrouds. I was wondering how I could go about making mine this way? Or is there an aftermarket shroud that they have purchased? 

I figured maybe I could fill in the scratches with an epoxy or something and sand it down to be even. But how would I make the shroud smooth, not like the current material which is rough and scratchy like? 

Appreciate the help
:cheers


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## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

You'd have to sand it down with progressively finer grades of sandpaper and then paint it.


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## Weisberg16 (Jan 5, 2011)

1. PRIME IT.
2. Sand with a progressively finer grit sand paper. 
3. wipe it clean. VERY CLEAN.
4. Spray your paint. Wet sand in between coats. Wipe clean.
5. Lay your clear coat. Wet sand in between coats.
6. Buff it out. It will be shiny


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## Falco21 (May 11, 2010)

Would it work if I used a Filler Primer?


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## Northeast Rod Run (Oct 29, 2008)

Weisberg16 said:


> 1. PRIME IT.
> 2. Sand with a progressively finer grit sand paper.
> 3. wipe it clean. VERY CLEAN.
> 4. Spray your paint. Wet sand in between coats. Wipe clean.
> ...


Why would he wetsand between clear coats? Thats a waste of time



Falco21 said:


> Would it work if I used a Filler Primer?


No!

Just sand the part smooth and paint it. Best thing you can do, is get a paint that is used on flexible parts. If you're looking for a "almost factory" look but smoother, just use the paint they have for refinishing bumpers. It will flex and twist with the shroud without cracking and it has pretty much the same gloss as the factory piece. Just a little duller, which i think is a nice custom touch

One more thing. you only want to go down to about a 400 finish so the paint will have something to bite into


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## Falco21 (May 11, 2010)

Ok so basically I should just sand the piece down until its smooth? Honestly, I hate that scratchy material that it came with. I tried before but I'm pretty sure I put no where near enough time into it.


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## Northeast Rod Run (Oct 29, 2008)

Falco21 said:


> Ok so basically I should just sand the piece down until its smooth? Honestly, I hate that scratchy material that it came with. I tried before but I'm pretty sure I put no where near enough time into it.


Sand down to a 400 grit so that the paint has something to bite into. Wetsanding helps not clog the paper as much when you're sanding plastic


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## Falco21 (May 11, 2010)

But will sanding it down like that, cause the scratches and such to smooth out as well, or will there still be lines where they once were? I will serach for a picture of the shroud the way I am talking about.


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## Falco21 (May 11, 2010)

Here is a picture showing it in a way, just without the flames. I would also love to paint my fuel rail covers like that, and the strut bar.


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## Northeast Rod Run (Oct 29, 2008)

Falco21 said:


> But will sanding it down like that, cause the scratches and such to smooth out as well, or will there still be lines where they once were? I will serach for a picture of the shroud the way I am talking about.


That's why you're sanding it, so you can get rid of any scratches


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## Falco21 (May 11, 2010)

Well yea that's the main reason. That and the fact that it looks so much better smoothed out like in the picture. But I asked that because I thought that since some of the scratches are deep, the filler primer will fill these up before sanding. I wasn't sure if just sanding it would get rid of them.


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## Northeast Rod Run (Oct 29, 2008)

Sanding will get rid of a lot bigger scratches than any filler primer ever could. Don't overthink this, it's not brain surgery. Just grab some sandpaper and keep going until you're happy with the results


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## Falco21 (May 11, 2010)

Thanks man! I tend to over think things quite often lol I will do it when I get home and post some pictures of the results


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## Falco21 (May 11, 2010)

Well I sanded it yesterday with 400 grit for a long time. Made sure everything felt smooth. Just painted on a sandable primer, and then I am gonna progress to a higher grit. Here is the piece after the first primer coat.


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## Northeast Rod Run (Oct 29, 2008)

In your second pic, it looks like you have deep sanding marks in the cover. Seems like you needed to step up in progressive grits before you got to 400

Also if you go with too fine of a grit (I personally wouldn't go any finer than 400), you aren't going to give a good enough surface for the paint to stick to, and over time the paint will start to flake off


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## Falco21 (May 11, 2010)

No the scratches in the second picture are part of the scratches I was talking about that were there. Those are not because of me sanding, those were there from when I first bought the car. I did finish the job now, and I will post pics of the final piece, which came out awesome. Very glossy, and looks great. The only finer grit sandpaper I used, was sanding in between paint coats and the clear coat.


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