Painting Grille
 

Hi,

I was planning on painting the grill insert black on my 1987 300E, what is the easiest way to do this?

Just head down to your local hardware store and get a can of black high temp BBQ grill paint ! Pull off the grill and spray it down let dry good and put back together real no brainer! Will look good to!:D :D :D

Smokie

that looks nice.. id paint mine but its broken.. and i bet the original owner painted it gold as where its broken you can see grey sun bleached plastic

I used regular Krylon plastic paint. Any hardware store should carry it.

I don't remember what brand I used...but I used a Matte black finish as opposed to flat or gloss. It's probably closer to flat than anything else.

Got rid of that gray color that was chalking.

If you do a search on the forum, someone did a complete how-to on this with pictures. I think the trickiest part is dealing with the clips that hold the part you plan to paint to the grill frame.

Bill

i just got my grill from phil and it is grey.. an excuse to paint it black

Don, you can get a new insert for less than $25, paint it and replace
the broken one. Piece of cake.

Bill

i just put my new grill screen in.. i left it grey for now.. stupid hood star is a pita to put on

white grill?
 

I've seen a lot of people paint their grill black but I was wondering if anybody has painted theirs any other color. I think I saw someone on the forum with a red one but I'm not sure.

my old grill was painted gold.. which was done kinda bad.. they must of taped over the chrome and assembly because the whole thing wasnt painted..like behind under neath the fins and the whole lot

Instructions
 

*Disclaimer*
These instructions are for the W201 as opposed to the W124 (and i'm going strictly from memory) so some ofthe details may be off.

First of all, rather than the paints suggested above, I recommend that you find paint that is suitable for plastic bumpers. This paint has a little more 'give' to it than general purpose paint and will not crack and flake off as readily as general purpose paint would.

1) With the hood open, disconnect and remove the release lever from the grille.

2) On the W201 there are 4 hex head screws which hold the grille assembly to the hood. Two are easily seen, the other two are accessed through holes in the sheetmetal at the front of the hood.

3) once you have the grille assembly off, remove the clip that holds the hood ornament to the grille surround. I found thst this is most easily accomplished with a pair of large needle-nose pliers.

4) remove the Mercedes-Benz laurel badge from the grille surround. This is held on by a single nut and hold the top centre of the grille insert in place. BE GENTLE.

5) remove the retaining clips from both sides of the grille insert. These hold the insert in place in the surround.

6) CAREFULLY remove the chrome strips from the grille insert. The horizontal ones should slide out to the sides and the centre on slides out towards the bottom. There may be little plastic pieces that help hold the strips on.

7) ensure that the plastic grille insert is dirt and oil free and paint ot your heart's content. It will take you a little while to get decent coverage, but take your time and spray from all angles to ensure that you get coverage inside the holes as well. At least 2 coats is recommended, 3 or 4 wouldn't hurt.

8) assembly is the reverse of removal.

i just painted my grill black i used the krylon stuff for plastic.. it looks 100% better ill post a pic when my camera is charged