I should have taken pictures of my hood insert before I started, and along the way. Sorry, I didn't.It was sort of a spur of the moment thing I started last weekend and finished up this morning. I bought a 3M sanding pad for my drill and some duplicolor trim paint from Auto Zone. I took the hood liner off. It was soaked and nasty so I tossed it in the trash. Then I unbolted the hood insert. A few of the bolts were pretty rusty and I even had a bolt break. It didn't break off the insert, it just broke right below the nut. I figured there were enough bolts on there that I didn't have to worry about missing one.
My insert was really bad looking. It was faded pretty bad and had some really light areas, almost white. I think those were from when I tried to use the refinish restore cladding stuff on the insert. That stuff doesn't work on the insert like it does the cladding, at least not for me.
So anyways, I laid the insert on a table and sanded it with the 3M scuff pad in my drill. The pad was like red, coarse steel wool. It took the top layer off of the insert pretty well. It did leave swirled scratches behind though. After that, I sanded it by hand with some 600 grit sand paper followed by 1000 grit. I could still see the swirls from the sanding pad, but I figured the paint would cover them for me.
After all the sanding, I wiped it down with a paint prep wipe I also picked up from Auto Zone by the paint supplies. After that dried, I put down a coat of the trim paint. I waited a few minutes and put down another coat. I think I put down 4 or 5 thin coats that day, and put the insert in the garage to dry.
Today I got it back out and could still see the swirl marks from the drill. I wet sanded it with 1000 grit paper and washed it off, and the swirls were pretty well gone. I then put down 2 or 3 more coats of the paint, pretty much finishing off the can.
I have to say, it looks fantastic. I'm not overly confident in my ability to do anything, but it usually works out in the end. This is no different.
Here's a few pics:
This is what the hood looks like without the insert. Kinda nasty.
These are the drain holes. There should be rubber 90 degree connectors on the bottom side, with hoses tucked back into the hood. Mine were totally stopped up with dirt/gunk. I blew air through them and they seemed to clear up ok.
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Originally Posted by Ldub
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But Sam's looks great, looks stock to me, so maybe think about using that DupliColor.
