miahjera04 Posted September 15, 2015 (edited) Ok, so after visiting a hydrodip/powercoat shop, body shop,vinyl wrap place today...I've learned that no professional shop wants to touch our grills, and my Lincoln dealer has told me the black, black label grill can't be ordered, and the part # doesn't even exist in their system. It's an exclusive part only on BL cars... So, with literally no other options, I set out to Lowe's and bought a can of black plasti dip, painters tape and got to work. Step 1: Clean the hell out of the grill. I used a plasti dip prep cleaner I've had from dipyourcar.com for sometime. Step 2. Carefully tape off every thing surrounding the two grille inserts. Take your time on this step, as it will make everything in the end easy and clean. There's some tricky edges around the inserts, but it's nothing too bad. Step 3: follow the instructions on the can, shake rigorously for 60 secs. Spray from 6-8 inches. Spray light coats!! Plasti dip looks soooo much better if you take your time and do light multiple coats. I did 4 , with 30 min breaks in between. Then let sit an hour before removing tape. Step 4: carefully, slowly remove tape,and other masking materials Step 5: stand back and smile. :) ...now that wasn't so hard was it? Edited September 15, 2015 by miahjera04 1 Robert Iggy Cerami reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JoeBrown Posted September 15, 2015 (edited) It's not something I would do because I like Brightwork. Having said that, I think you did a great job and it really looks very good black on black. Your instructions are easy to follow I'm glad you put it up. I'm sure other DIYs will appreciate it. Edited September 15, 2015 by JoeBrown Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drolds1 Posted September 15, 2015 I like it with your black car. I don't think it would look as good with my white MKZ. Kudos for your good work and resourcefulness. The good part about Plasti-Dip is that if you don't like it you can peel it off. BTW, if the part can't be ordered, what happens if a BL MKZ is in a front-end collision and the grille needs to be replaced? I'll ask my son about this. He's a certified Ford/Lincoln wholesale parts specialist. He deals a lot with collision parts. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
miahjera04 Posted September 15, 2015 Ya I'm super happy how it turned out. Make a trip to Houston today (1.5hr drive) and inspected the grille when I got back home, flawless... Holds up fine, 4 coats to thank for that. And please let me know what your son finds out, I had my Lincoln dealer spend 2 days making calls and no luck. Good question though as far as an accident... I'm thinkin black label maybe reserves their specific parts separate from Lincoln? No clue, either way... The dip surprisingly looks pretty good, especially for $6 vs a few hundred dollars I'm sure the grille would cost if it could be ordered.lol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drolds1 Posted September 23, 2015 I spoke to my son last night and he confirmed that are no part numbers for the BL grille in the system. So my question about collision replacement parts remains. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
miahjera04 Posted September 24, 2015 Ya, that's so bizarre Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
miahjera04 Posted October 9, 2015 Pic taken a few min. Ago, still go In strong.. And I wash this puppy 2-3 times a week.lol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drolds1 Posted October 21, 2015 I spoke to my son last night and he confirmed that are no part numbers for the BL grille in the system. So my question about collision replacement parts remains. Update: My son just told me that in order to get BL parts, a request to Lincoln must be completed with the owner's info., the VIN, etc. If the info checks out, Lincoln will send the parts to the dealer. No BL parts can be ordered for a non-BL car. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
miahjera04 Posted October 31, 2015 Wow, talk about real deal exclusiveness! I'm pretty sure all the do is take oem grilles and have them painted and some contracted body shop. That'd be my guess, or BL has their own paint/body shop Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drolds1 Posted October 31, 2015 They're trying to maintain exclusivity for the BL editions. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
miahjera04 Posted November 3, 2015 Seems like they're doing just that! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jholmes25 Posted November 6, 2015 Great looking. Excellent mod. Is masking easier than removing the grille? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
miahjera04 Posted December 1, 2015 Great looking. Excellent mod. Is masking easier than removing the grille? yes! i actually started to remove stuff, and could tell it wasn't gonna be fun, so i stopped before i got ahead of myself, didn't wanna jack anything up on my brand new car, just took my time masking everything off really really good Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZ MKZ h Posted December 24, 2015 Well it seems I'm late to this party, but I really like your blacked out grille. And a great idea using the plasti dip spray. I considered it on my car and did a photo test using "paint" to see if that black out grille would look stunning...so far, it's stock. But now considering the plasti dip spray...good for holiday pondering. Kudos on the grille. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
miahjera04 Posted December 25, 2015 Well it seems I'm late to this party, but I really like your blacked out grille. And a great idea using the plasti dip spray. I considered it on my car and did a photo test using "paint" to see if that black out grille would look stunning...so far, it's stock. But now considering the plasti dip spray...good for holiday pondering. Kudos on the grille. thanks! Still holding strong w/zero issues. Just bought the wife a mkc and I plan on doing the grille on hers the same 1 AZ MKZ h reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ObiwanJ Posted January 27, 2016 I'm also late to the party, but kudo for the grille touch. I see you're based out of Texas, but I'm curious as to how well the dip would hold up to where I'm at in Michigan. All of the crap they put on the roads to battle the snow and ice... I wonder what that would do to it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZ MKZ h Posted January 27, 2016 I'm also late to the party, but kudo for the grille touch. I see you're based out of Texas, but I'm curious as to how well the dip would hold up to where I'm at in Michigan. All of the crap they put on the roads to battle the snow and ice... I wonder what that would do to it. I have yet to paint out my grille, but spotting a new MKZ my same style at the dealership with a black grille it looks great. I did notice the headlight area on the new MKZ was also black but I'm sure not going to tackle that. To your thought on the "plasti paint" holding up under road crap, I'd say it most likely will work better than just using regular paint; it's tough stuff. I used it on a boat anchor so it wouldn't look rusty and ugly when on board...it lasted through 3 summers in AZ sun. Go for it and let us see a photo. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
miahjera04 Posted February 3, 2016 Yea, the beauty of plastidip is, you don't like it, peel it right back off. And you can layer the stuff on and it'll strengthen with every coat, so I say...go 4 it. It's cheap, so you got nothing to lose Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Johnny Fume Posted July 13, 2016 that grill looks amazing with the black body and rims. perfect match! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riff raff Posted July 20, 2016 Yep, that is nice work! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wm519 Posted February 21, 2017 The Grill looks great! Did you anything behind the grill to keep the dip from getting into the radiator area Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2013MKZ Posted February 24, 2017 Looks great, did the same thing a few weeks after I picked mine up... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tim Stieve Posted February 25, 2017 Im considering doing this or, using the new black chrome spray I have used for another project. Imjust not sure how it would look on m Bronze fire car Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
evo Posted August 28, 2018 I just bought a 2015 hybrid in black, and one of the first things i thought of doing was blacking out the grille, so thank you for this! I was pretty sure it would look better, but now I'm convinced, it looks SO much better! I have a can of PlastiDip Bronze also, I think I may try it with a coat of that to tie it in with the metallic paintwork perhaps? Just a hint of it mind... Nicely done btw, looks like it should be that way from factory! although I haven't managed to find a pic of the BL version anywhere 😕 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
