Bokenator
Well-known member
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- #1
Hey all, I enjoy the forum and I am constantly using the resources here to figure things out, so decided to finally contribute.
One thing that I hated about my 2023 Ford Lightning Lariat was the color of the grille. I finally broke down and decided to Plasti-Dip it. The difference between the Geometric Gray-ion fine Satin Metallic that came OEM and the Plasti-Dip is subtle, but in my mind worth it.
See below for before and after images:
I found a link to a YouTube video that Intellibeam put together titled "Ford F-150 Lightning LED Emblem Swap" and will be referencing the steps in his video if you need more information than I can put together here. Here is the link to his video:
The steps you need to perform within Intellibeam's video to remove the grille are as follows:
Step 2 - remove the 5 poppers on each side of the frunk lid and the L-shaped plastic piece (X2) - requires trim removal tool of some sort.
Step 4 - remove the 6 bolts along the lower edge of the frunk using a #10mm socket.
Step 9 - pull the grille forward firmly but slowly and disconnect the wires. In the video, he disconnects three wires, I only had to disconnect 2.
Step 10 - remove the 3 #10 mm bolts holding the camera to the grille.
It took about 3 cans of Plasti-Dip to complete the grille transformation, as well as the two sections of lower bumper. I removed the upper portion of the bumper by curling my fingers around the upper edge at the corner of the opening and pulling out sharply. A couple of clips popped out, and then I was able to work my way around. I chickened out on the lower bumper section, and popped about 6 clips along the top and then used painters tape behind that. I couldn't figure out how it was mounted to the bottom, and figured I had pushed my luck far enough for one day.
For those that don't know, Plasti-Dip is a removeable rubber coating, so I can go back to OEM look with a half hour or so of work. I had previous done the rims, and was happy with the results. Some people prefer the finish color of a Rust-Oleum (home depot) type paint, and I have heard you could top off a full application of PlastiDip (5-6 coats) with that for a more glossy finish. I haven't ever done that, so perform that at your own risk.
The way I look at it, I now have a platinum grille for about 2 hours worth of work, and I saved the $900. With this post, you can now probably take off the grille in about 20 minutes, and paint and snap everything back together in an hour and a half. Good luck!
One thing that I hated about my 2023 Ford Lightning Lariat was the color of the grille. I finally broke down and decided to Plasti-Dip it. The difference between the Geometric Gray-ion fine Satin Metallic that came OEM and the Plasti-Dip is subtle, but in my mind worth it.
See below for before and after images:
I found a link to a YouTube video that Intellibeam put together titled "Ford F-150 Lightning LED Emblem Swap" and will be referencing the steps in his video if you need more information than I can put together here. Here is the link to his video:
The steps you need to perform within Intellibeam's video to remove the grille are as follows:
Step 2 - remove the 5 poppers on each side of the frunk lid and the L-shaped plastic piece (X2) - requires trim removal tool of some sort.
Step 4 - remove the 6 bolts along the lower edge of the frunk using a #10mm socket.
Step 9 - pull the grille forward firmly but slowly and disconnect the wires. In the video, he disconnects three wires, I only had to disconnect 2.
Step 10 - remove the 3 #10 mm bolts holding the camera to the grille.
It took about 3 cans of Plasti-Dip to complete the grille transformation, as well as the two sections of lower bumper. I removed the upper portion of the bumper by curling my fingers around the upper edge at the corner of the opening and pulling out sharply. A couple of clips popped out, and then I was able to work my way around. I chickened out on the lower bumper section, and popped about 6 clips along the top and then used painters tape behind that. I couldn't figure out how it was mounted to the bottom, and figured I had pushed my luck far enough for one day.
For those that don't know, Plasti-Dip is a removeable rubber coating, so I can go back to OEM look with a half hour or so of work. I had previous done the rims, and was happy with the results. Some people prefer the finish color of a Rust-Oleum (home depot) type paint, and I have heard you could top off a full application of PlastiDip (5-6 coats) with that for a more glossy finish. I haven't ever done that, so perform that at your own risk.
The way I look at it, I now have a platinum grille for about 2 hours worth of work, and I saved the $900. With this post, you can now probably take off the grille in about 20 minutes, and paint and snap everything back together in an hour and a half. Good luck!
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