Painting grill header??

G

gte636p

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Atlanta
I need to replace my grill header on my '98. My Jeep is white, and I seem to have stumbled across header panels that are made with white fiberglass, more specifically this one:

http://market.autopartsfair.com/jeep-exterior_parts/catalog-item-6245.html

Now then, my question is whether or not this comes with a gel coat and whether or not it can be put on without painting. If not, is there any special primer needed to paint on fiberglass? A better parts source that has panels pre-painted? The list can go on and on...
 
Why do you think that this header is made of fiberglass? I don't see anything on that web page that says it is made of fiberglass....maybe I missed it...If you save the picture to your desktop and zoom in on it, it doesn't even look like it's white...(and its upside down).
 
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I got a very similar one off of e-bay and it was fiberglass. Stay away from the black ones as they are plastic. No it does not come with a gel coat so you will need to prime and paint it. I used a self etching primer then hurculined it, turned out great.
 
Wow Sherlock, let's take a small picture and scale it up on our desktops and then draw conclusions as to what we see. that sounds like an awesome plan to me!!! Oh, wait, if you look close enough there's a unicorn in there too. It must be yours.




Thanks for pointing out that it could be plastic. The part is CAPA certified (which probably doesn't mean much). I'd love to find a fiberglass one somewhere locally, but it's probably not going to happen. Are the CAPA certified ones a bust too?? Searching has turned up some yeas and neas for them.
 
gte636p said:
Wow Sherlock, let's take a small picture and scale it up on our desktops and then draw conclusions as to what we see. that sounds like an awesome plan to me!!! Oh, wait, if you look close enough there's a unicorn in there too. It must be yours.


Thanks for pointing out that it could be plastic. The part is CAPA certified (which probably doesn't mean much). I'd love to find a fiberglass one somewhere locally, but it's probably not going to happen. Are the CAPA certified ones a bust too?? Searching has turned up some yeas and neas for them.
Click to expand...

Get a boneyard one and repaint it. It will align better with the fenders and less of a problem with warpage and cracking.
 
like stated above, steer away from the plastic ones, they dont line up nearly as easy as the fiberglass ones and in my experience they need the inside leading edge that faces the hood reworked and sanded to look right. I have bought a few of the plastic ones just to save a buck on rebuilder projects, and now looking back I would def buck up and buy the OEM replacement ones that are already painted (not always available though). A lot less work, but a lot more money too.
 
all I was trying to do was add some value....I read through eveything I could find on the site you posted, and didn't see anything that said they were fibreglass...so, that is why I asked why you thought they were fibreglass....Seems like you were the one drawing conclusions...no problem in the future ...I just put your posts on my ignore list.
 
McQue said:
all I was trying to do was add some value....I read through eveything I could find on the site you posted, and didn't see anything that said they were fibreglass...so, that is why I asked why you thought they were fibreglass....Seems like you were the one drawing conclusions...no problem in the future ...I just put your posts on my ignore list.
Click to expand...

LOL
 
Thanks for the help guys. I'm gonna be buying the one I posted and make do for now, but keep an eye open for an OEM unit to replace this one. This is my DD and I don't think I'd get very far without the passenger side lights.
 
that's way pricey for a header panel
and shipping will be a ton more (did you get a quote?)
I've seen OE used ones on Ebay for half that
or hold out for something local but don't get ripped off
 
shipping = free

the 60.00 one "looks" to be the black plastic one everyone is mentioning. the white one posted "looks" to be the unit that's currently on the heep anyway. bought the car last summer, and both fenders are loose, and the header doesn't exactly line up perfectly.

I'm really giving it ~ a week and a half. If nothing shows up on Ebay, locally, or in a junk yard then I need to move on something. Somewhat positive reviews on the white one trump absolutely horrid reviews fot the black plastic header.

It may be a flawed plan, but no right hand lights = a ticket just about equal to the price of that header (and nets me no parts to replace it with).
 
I picked up an ebay one a few months back for $49. Arrived a few days later in all it's white fiberglassy or sbc glory, took it down to the body guy I deal with and he had it painted up nice within a couple of days. The fitment wasn't BAD but it could be better. There's a small gap on the righthand side where it meets the fender and the hood gap is a little larger than normal but otherwise it looks good. can't beat $49 bucks either :)
 
So was it a new one obviously or did you find a used one?? I assume it was new so was it the one that has the picture of the white header panel?? Thanks As long as the fit was close to decent i dont care i am just going to ram this one into a tree to! LOL
:wow:
 
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