I wanted to quickly add these pictures and tell you all how I repainted this. It took me a lot of time, only because I wanted to take my time and do it right.
The first thing I did was use gel paint stripper and a plastic scraper to remove the paint.
At first I only sanded the embossed area where the paint was going to stay. I just wanted to remove any rough edges and excess dirt to prep for painting.
I spray painted the entire thing with 1200F high temp gloss black paint (Home Depot). I let it dry for a few hours, then reapplied. I did about 5 coats.
Next I sanded the entire plate - the embossed part will go untouched since it is below the surface area. First I used 220, then 320, all the way up to 8000 grit. This had it looking pretty shiny, but didn't cut it for me.
The next thing I did was get some Liquid Ice polishing compound and a dremel with polishing attachment. I worked the entire plate. This took a bit of time but in the end it came out pretty shiny.
I got a Dewalt buffer and buffed it out.
I had a nice finished product, but had to go back and respray because something got into the embossed area and faded the black paint just a little. I could have left it go, but I was being meticulous at the moment.
That is why you see, on the second picture, the top and bottoms taped off, then I applied some petroleum jelly to the area that I did not want painted. This took some time, I used a lot of Q-tips. I then resprayed, and carefully removed the blackened petroleum jelly with more Q-tips (I didn't want to have any seep down into the paint, so I didn't just quickly wipe it off).
If you have any areas with unwanted paint, you can rub the Liquid Ice on that area with a Q-tip, but be careful not to let it get down into the embossed area. You can rinse with water if you do - that is better than rubbing it away with a cloth.
In the end I took a cloth and some aluminum polish and shined it up some more.
I spent wayyy too much time on this (maybe 8 actual hours total over the course of 5 days), but I had some trial and error. I just wanted to share this with you all to give you some ideas if you were looking to repaint your intake plate.
If I can give you a word of advice, it is to TAKE YOUR TIME. Let the paint dry. Let it sit overnight, and re-apply.. Don't be a in a hurry or else you will screw it up and have to start over.
--Shawn
The first thing I did was use gel paint stripper and a plastic scraper to remove the paint.
At first I only sanded the embossed area where the paint was going to stay. I just wanted to remove any rough edges and excess dirt to prep for painting.
I spray painted the entire thing with 1200F high temp gloss black paint (Home Depot). I let it dry for a few hours, then reapplied. I did about 5 coats.
Next I sanded the entire plate - the embossed part will go untouched since it is below the surface area. First I used 220, then 320, all the way up to 8000 grit. This had it looking pretty shiny, but didn't cut it for me.
The next thing I did was get some Liquid Ice polishing compound and a dremel with polishing attachment. I worked the entire plate. This took a bit of time but in the end it came out pretty shiny.
I got a Dewalt buffer and buffed it out.
I had a nice finished product, but had to go back and respray because something got into the embossed area and faded the black paint just a little. I could have left it go, but I was being meticulous at the moment.
That is why you see, on the second picture, the top and bottoms taped off, then I applied some petroleum jelly to the area that I did not want painted. This took some time, I used a lot of Q-tips. I then resprayed, and carefully removed the blackened petroleum jelly with more Q-tips (I didn't want to have any seep down into the paint, so I didn't just quickly wipe it off).
If you have any areas with unwanted paint, you can rub the Liquid Ice on that area with a Q-tip, but be careful not to let it get down into the embossed area. You can rinse with water if you do - that is better than rubbing it away with a cloth.
In the end I took a cloth and some aluminum polish and shined it up some more.
I spent wayyy too much time on this (maybe 8 actual hours total over the course of 5 days), but I had some trial and error. I just wanted to share this with you all to give you some ideas if you were looking to repaint your intake plate.
If I can give you a word of advice, it is to TAKE YOUR TIME. Let the paint dry. Let it sit overnight, and re-apply.. Don't be a in a hurry or else you will screw it up and have to start over.
--Shawn