yep its plastic coated with copper which they can then plate with a metal finish. like jay said its the same process how they chrome the badges ect.jaysrs4 wrote:Its a copper oxide with a plastic coating. The same coating on many plastic mouldings on modern cars.
I actually stripped my grill on my old R32 before I had it carbon skinned, you can't sand it off or strip it off, all you can do is pick it off and it cuts your fingers to shreds.
I'm sure you can find a second hand one off eBay easy enough.
if you ever want to strip the coating back to plastic submerge the part you want to do in bleach, this slowly reacts with the top coating and then the copper and eats it away.
sakimano wrote:I think it's stock, just failed badly. Two options
1. Buy new one (they're probably 150 quid)
2. Sand it and paint it. I would paint it black, black optics style
jaysrs4 wrote:^ +1 I'd buy a new one they're not expensive.
the frames are not available separately they only come with the complete front grill.MikeFish wrote:Not sure if Audi sell the frame part seperately, but they can be changed if you get one 2nd hand.
these grills have doubled in price in the last couple of years, budget £350 for the brushed ali and £400 for the black optics grill.
you can paint the frames, make sure the painter keys it well and uses a good etch primer.
obviously there is no paint code for the grill, but you can get a reasonable match by using one of the very fine/micro fine metallic flake bases you get on a paint mixing scheme.
second hand rs4 grills are hens teeth, but any b7 frame will fit the rs4 grill.
if you get a chrome one bleach it to remove the coating then plastic prime and paint, car paint will not adhere to chrome no matter how well its keyed or etched.
