filling grille holes.

[nhojyauq]

I cant stand these damn holes on my R32 grille. I'm no expert with body work, can anyone help me out with the correct way to fill them and tips on the respray (with rattle cans). i want to do this myself for now until i have money to get it professionally done.

also, shaving the sidemarkers...i would like to do that body work as well. any tips on doing that?

much appreciated, thanks

[eurocars]

my vote is to live with it until you can pay to have it done professionally. shaving sidemarkers requires a respray of the front bumper and filling the holes requires the same. if you arent experienced with painting, dont do it. it probably wont turn out looking too pretty

[nhojyauq]

Originally Posted by eurocars

my vote is to live with it until you can pay to have it done professionally. shaving sidemarkers requires a respray of the front bumper and filling the holes requires the same. if you arent experienced with painting, dont do it. it probably wont turn out looking too pretty

yeah i dont plan on respraying the bumper, i just wanna get these holes and sidemarkers shaved myself to lower the cost.

[HyeWarrior]

This is actually a pretty easy DIY...

Take the shield off the car (duh). Go to Walmart or Home Depot and buy a tube of waterproof bondo and very very soft sandpaper. The kind I used when I had a GTI came in a little tube and was like putty. You don't NEED sandpaper, but if you're anal about having a baby's bottom surface, then thats the proper route. Take a little chunk of bondo, put it on a hole, and with one finger on the front of the shield and one finger on the back of the shield, press the bondo to cover the hole and get it as flat as possible. Don't put too much, but make sure its enough to stay in place and that the bondo isn't caving inwards towards the back of the shield. Play with it as much as you need to until you think you got it, but its best to have a LITTLE bit of excess bondo poking out of the front. Repeat this for all the holes. Next, take the sand paper and lightly sand down all the holes where you placed the bondo. Like I said, you don't need sandpaper, I just smoothed it out with an old gift card. It looked great from far away, but you could vaguely see the hole areas from up close because the drilled holes in my shield were pretty rough and left at a higher groove than the rest of the surface. So anyways, just make sure its a smooth and even surface. Now its ready for paint, that part's up to you

[nhojyauq]

thanks!

[Jbaker1121]

put the euro plate there until you can afford professional :)

[fahrenheitfarmer]

If you plan on filling the holes, you might want to consider just painting it all flat black, it'll be much more forgiving than trying to get the perfect gloss OEM look.

-FF

[easydubbin]

i'd be careful with bondo, it cracks when dry. use it for a backing, and then put a finishing putty on top of it. it'll be smoother and will fill in rough edges better. when thats dry, sand it down. definitely WETSAND, it'll come out a shit ton smoother. also, sand the WHOLE shield, nothin nuts, just rough up the surface, and prime the whole thing. if you only prime part of it, the final color may come out differently on those spots. WETSAND the primer to make sure you're smoooov. put 2-3 coats (clear coat if you don't want matte) and you'll be set.

trust me, sand, prime, and repaint the whole grille. it's the first thing everyone looks at, and it'd be a shame if it was just a little off. I literally did this last weekend, plastic welded instead of bondo, and it came out perfect

[dustinwark]

pretty sure he already gotten it filled and painted professionally

[easydubbin]

damn. i hate when i don't look at OP dates.

[nhojyauq]

Originally Posted by easydubbin

i'd be careful with bondo, it cracks when dry. use it for a backing, and then put a finishing putty on top of it. it'll be smoother and will fill in rough edges better. when thats dry, sand it down. definitely WETSAND, it'll come out a shit ton smoother. also, sand the WHOLE shield, nothin nuts, just rough up the surface, and prime the whole thing. if you only prime part of it, the final color may come out differently on those spots. WETSAND the primer to make sure you're smoooov. put 2-3 coats (clear coat if you don't want matte) and you'll be set.

trust me, sand, prime, and repaint the whole grille. it's the first thing everyone looks at, and it'd be a shame if it was just a little off. I literally did this last weekend, plastic welded instead of bondo, and it came out perfect

thanks man

Originally Posted by dustinwark

pretty sure he already gotten it filled and painted professionally

and nope i did it myself.