Had the same problem with my '84 Westy.  What I did was to go over it with a
fine steel wool, this took off all of the old silver trim paint and left the
plastic clean and with a nice brushed finish.  I did not reapply the trim paint
and it looks great all black.

Bill Knight
Raleigh, NC

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@vanagon.com]On Behalf Of
> Douglas Holschuh
> Sent: Friday, October 30, 1998 11:55 AM
> To: vanagon@VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Paint Front Grill?
>
>
> The grill on my 84 Westy is looking all old and faded, and
> yet it's in good
> shape and isn't cracked or anything. Is there any way I can revive it?
> Specifically, I was wondering if I could (don't laugh) spray
> paint it flat
> black or something similar. Would this work, and if it would
> work, would it
> look good? Would the paint need to be heat resistant because
> the radiator's
> behind it? Has anyone ever tried this or is there another
> (obvious) solution
> that I'm overlooking?
>
> Thanks.
>
> ------------------------
> Doug Holschuh
> Bryan, Texas
> '84 Westy
> '99 Passat GLS (coming soon)
>