From another person's thread, I posted the following...
I painted the following:
-bowtie emblems front/rear
-suburban lettering
-chrome on the grill
-grill mesh
I did it all myself with rattle cans...
I used Dupli Color brand from Autozone. So far its held up great for 5+ months, no chips. It's all in the prep though.
For the chrome grill (after taking the whole grill apart) I sanded the grill with 150grit to give it some bite. I think sprayed Adhesion promotor followed by 3 coats of primer and then 4-5 coats of Satin black.
For the grill mesh, I didnt sand. Just adhesion promoter, primer, paint. On the mesh I used Gloss black and then a couple coats of clear. (I wanted the mesh shiney)
For the emblems/letters: no sanding, adhesion promoter, prime, paint (Satin black)
I only sanded the chrome on the grill. It's really smooth/slippery so I wanted to give everything something to "bite" into. You dont have to sand it all off, just make it dull.
The chrome lettering I didnt sand though, way too tedious. I was more concerned about the grill holding up due to flying road debris.
The mesh and bowties are just bare plastic, so no sanding either.
tip #1
The adhesion promoter works great. Really allows the primer to bite into something and the primer then provides the bite for the paint. If you dont use adhesion promoter the primer/paint will probably flake off.
tip #2
Use a "tack" cloth to clean the part a few times before you start spraying
tip #3
Follow all instructions on the paint cans. If you deviate from the instructions problems/wrinkling will arise. For example, dont give coats "extra" time to dry. This is BAD. If the can says something like "apply coats 10 minutes apart within 1 hour" then make sure you do your coats right at 10 minutes. Dont wait 15 or 20. If you do, the paint will begin to "cure" and the next coat when sprayed on top will wrinkle everything and ruin it. This is the most important thing. READ, READ, READ. Have a clock/watch handy and even write down the times you sprayed at. Its OK to do more coats than 2-3 (the usual recommendation) as long as you follow the intervals and stop spraying within the time limit (usually 1hr).
tip #4
Make sure the primer, paint, and promoter are all compatible. Dont just buy the same brand name. Read the label and make sure you buy compatible stuff. (ie... Acrylic or Enamel, etc).
tip #5
Dont take shortcuts. Be careful once the paint it "dry". It takes 7 days to fully harden.