Vintage grille in black

[DarthLincoln]

I ordered a Badlands 2Dr which was perfectly setup with all the content I wanted in a Bronco. My one complaint about it is the grille, which i dislike probably the most of all the OEM grilles. It’s pretty flat, the staggered grille patten is not classic, and it is painted in a semi-gloss gray paint that doesn’t match anything else on the Bronco. The Base/Black Diamond grille I think is the best one which has some depth and a classic grille pattern in carbon black.

When I saw @Manx 1st gen tribute build (a truly stunning build), I decided to replace mine with the IAG Vintage grille. Only one problem: IAG only sells the grille in gloss white. There are no other white parts on the Badlands, and I’m not going for a heritage-style build with white painted wheels & hardtop that a white grille needs. Instead the grille would look best in carbon black or maybe hot pepper red surround with carbon black center.

Before committing to a design for a paint shop, I decided to try Hyperdip removable paint to see what it would look like in an all carbon black color. This is how it came out:

MUCH better! I did try it with and without the orange lens covers. I also tried the red-color ”BRONCO” letters that IAG includes with the grille, but the letters are very blocky and don’t look as good next to the orange lenses. So I removed and transferred the letters from the Badlands grille. I think this would look great with white lettered tires.

The Hyperdip was easy to do myself and took about 1.5 cans of the Frozen Black. With left over paint I decided to blackout my rear bucking bronco emblem. Very simple: no tight masking required, instead just peel off the paint on the sheet metal and it trims itself at the emblem.

I’ll keep it like this for a while to see how long the Hyperdip lasts, then will probably have the grille professionally painted.

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[Mkass]

I seen this done on chrome and it eventually wears off. Keep us updated

 

[DarthLincoln]

I seen this done on chrome and it eventually wears off. Keep us updated

Will do. This is only intended to be temporary to experiment with how it looks in all matte black. That was the reason I went with the Hyperdip. I do really like the look, so i may leave it on a while before I commit to a final paint. I’m also interested to see how it lasts on the grille. Other than cleaning, I did not prep the original white painted surface in any way before painting.

I’ll leave the blacked out emblem at the rear until it wears off, but it‘s not exposed to debris like the grille is. The nice thing is it‘s quick to redo it as needed, and I can always go back to the chrome whenever I want.

 

[DarthLincoln]

If anyone is curious, here is a collage of various combinations I tried before final assembly. Top row compares the two stock grilles, then the middle and bottom row is the painted IAG Vintage grille with white or red letters, with or without the orange lenses.

 

[Beach_Bum]

If one wants the Heritage grill (FORD lettering, smaller slots than the IAG, and there are only 6 across without encroaching on the headlamps), one could always paint it like the mule we saw last year.

 

[DarthLincoln]

If one wants the Heritage grill (FORD lettering, smaller slots than the IAG, and there are only 6 across without encroaching on the headlamps), one could always paint it like the mule we saw last year.

Nice. One of the things I don’t like about the Ford OEM grilles is the grille pattern doesn’t go all the way to the headlights, so there is a blank surface above and below the turn signals. if I went with an OEM grille I would choose Black Diamond over the Heritage. It has similar traditional grille pattern (tho 7 across), but it is recessed in the grille area giving more of a brow around the grille.

 

[broncorik]

I went a kind of similar route but bought Heritage grille which came in primer black and I painted it with a rattle can of satin special paint...and painted red letters gray. I wanted FORD and not BRONCO letters.

 

[Simple Man]

Here's my mix of the BD grill with VasherDesign's Classic

Style F O R D letters.

 

[Lowcountry Bronco]

Here's my mix of the BD grill with VasherDesign's Classic

Style F O R D letters.

Saw that before on Etsy, can you give a close up on the lettering please? I was wondering how they did the chrome around the red. TIA!

 

[MEAT_GOD]

I went a kind of similar route but bought Heritage grille which came in primer black and I painted it with a rattle can of satin special paint...and painted red letters gray. I wanted FORD and not BRONCO letters.

Hey, is that a bag placed over a winch? If so, is it any specific kind?

 

[broncorik]

Hey, is that a bag placed over a winch? If so, is it any specific kind?

Limited-time deal: Winch Cover, Heavy Duty Waterproof Dust-Proof Winch Protection Cover, Ideal for Electric Winches 8500-17500 lbs, Indoor/Outdoor (21.5” x 9.5” x 7.5”) - Black https://a.co/d/6l9izu0

 

[CMillBronco]

I did the horse on the tailgate with extra hyper dip I had as well after doing my trucks trim, it looks so much better than the satin chrome or whatever Ford has there.

Grill looks much better but I bet the outside rim color match would look even better.

 

[MEAT_GOD]

Limited-time deal: Winch Cover, Heavy Duty Waterproof Dust-Proof Winch Protection Cover, Ideal for Electric Winches 8500-17500 lbs, Indoor/Outdoor (21.5” x 9.5” x 7.5”) - Black https://a.co/d/6l9izu0

Sick, thanks! Glad it wasn't overpriced, as I'd have expected such a specific use-case item to be.

 

[broncorik]

Sick, thanks! Glad it wasn't overpriced, as I'd have expected such a specific use-case item to be.

I know, right? Tough to beat something under 15 bucks and it is holding up well...pretty heavy-duty for what it is.

 

[DarthLincoln]

UPDATE

It’s been about 1.5 years with the HyperDip on my IAG grille and i was surprised how well it held up. I got so used to it I delayed getting a permanent paint job.

here is how the Hyperdip looked after 10 months:

There are a couple spots where a rock impact smudged the hyperdip to reveal the white glass paint underneath, but very minor and less than i expected. Maybe the flexible quality of the hyperdip allows it to absorb impacts without breaking.

Anyway, for a permanent paint, I wanted to try painting the surround body color HPR, and paint the center to match the modular bumper (and all the other carbon black trim like wheel lips, door handles, cowl, mirrors etc) in terms of color and texture. For the HPR surround I used Automotive Touch Up spray cans, and for the carbon black center I used Rustoleum Truck Bed Coating.

Obviously, painting the body color surround myself with rattle cans would not have a professional look, but I was fine with that for my Bronco. I wanted to do it DIY like @BudgetBronco, avoid some cost, and learn about the process and limitations.

I foolishly only bought one can worth of the HPR paint, so I didn’t have the option to just paint the whole grille HPR and then paint the center carbon black like i should have done. I only had enough paint to cover the surround, so i had to mask the grille twice . I was impatient to get started and did not wait to order more paint.

I debated which to paint first and decided to paint the center first. I used 3M Automotive masking tape - 6mm tape for precision to define the edge and then 18mm tape and then some newspaper and magazines etc for large areas. This was pretty challenging to tape up the side ridge. Here it is ready for the center:

Then I masked the center to paint the surround, trying to leave a hair of black exposed for the HPR to overlap onto. The main challenge was the rounded corners which was easier to mask by cutting the wider yellow tape with the curve like so:

then covered the rest with tape and paper.

Here it is during the reveal before removing the final tape around the edge. I always thought I might add a black or gray pinstripe along the border between the surround and the center for definition (not a skill I have), but this yellow orange tape line actually is kinda cool. Maybe a Badlands orange-yellow paint line around the edge of the center might look good?

here is the grille unmasked in the sun to see the center texture,

Finally, here it is on the Bronco

Definitely not perfect, but I really like it

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