custom grille mod
01-26-2012, 07:10 AM
#21
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Guys I honestly wish I knew. It looks like it but, there isnt much available on the tubes? And all I know that bolt is good for is catching your leg and making others laugh 
I bought the truck 2 years ago from a friend in Arkansas and he didnt have a plow on it that I knew of and we dont typically get enough snow to need one? Them peices have always puzzled me but I have thought the same thing..
I bought the truck 2 years ago from a friend in Arkansas and he didnt have a plow on it that I knew of and we dont typically get enough snow to need one? Them peices have always puzzled me but I have thought the same thing..
?
01-26-2012, 07:57 AM
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Thanks for the reminder though! I have a few mounting ideas now and maybe when I get this thing to fit right I can go ahead and spring for the McMaster stuff. I don't mind wasting $10 occasionally ... $80 is another story. I'm finishing up on a quick camper shell mounting system right now, but when I'm done (and I'm almost there) I'll be doing the grille again.
01-26-2012, 08:09 AM
#24
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When I did this on my old civic I bought a sheet of it at Lowes for like $10-15. I was amazed at how thick this stuff really is. Turned out pretty good. Its amazing how much a grill changes the look of a vehicle.
Heres the link I used when doing the grill on my civic:
http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=857357
Heres the link I used when doing the grill on my civic:
http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=857357
01-26-2012, 08:24 AM
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When I did this on my old civic I bought a sheet of it at Lowes for like $10-15. I was amazed at how thick this stuff really is. Turned out pretty good. Its amazing how much a grill changes the look of a vehicle.
Heres the link I used when doing the grill on my civic:
http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=857357
Heres the link I used when doing the grill on my civic:
http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=857357
That stuff from ace looks a lot sturdier, too. Mine is basically just a wire mesh. Stay tuned!
01-27-2012, 06:38 AM
#26
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Yeah the mesh stuff I picked up was super tough to cut. Youll definitely need a nice pair of wire snips to cut with.
Thinking about taking my grille off this weekend and attempting it. Ill probably be installing my new H4 Hella 100/80w bulbs anyways
Thinking about taking my grille off this weekend and attempting it. Ill probably be installing my new H4 Hella 100/80w bulbs anyways
01-27-2012, 06:51 AM
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Sweet! Let me know how it goes! Pics too. Is that mesh really 1/2" thick? Like it says it is? I haven't made it to Ace or Home Cheapo yet to look.
01-27-2012, 07:12 AM
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... that makes a hell of a lot more sense lol. I just looked again and it says it's 13 ga so not even 3/32"
01-28-2012, 05:30 AM
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Thanks for this thread. I am going to do the same thing on my truck. I found a site that sells insert material in bulk sizes. http://customcargrille.com/categories.asp?cat=92 I want a look like the new trucks but I hadn't thought about the fogs...that is a nice look.
Last edited by Pondboy; 01-28-2012 at 05:35 AM.
01-28-2012, 08:35 AM
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Thanks for this thread. I am going to do the same thing on my truck. I found a site that sells insert material in bulk sizes. http://customcargrille.com/categories.asp?cat=92 I want a look like the new trucks but I hadn't thought about the fogs...that is a nice look.
Great site! And decent prices too. I'll see what I can find at the hardware strore, but if i can't find it, then that's next. Come back and post pics when you're done!
02-02-2012, 07:39 PM
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02-11-2012, 06:04 PM
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Almost finished with the grill!! Just needs paint, then I can put it back on. Pictures tomorrow! I'm pretty happy with how it's turning out. And I even taught myself how to "weld" plastic!
02-12-2012, 01:38 AM
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Thanks for your patience everybody. If you've already done a mod of your own, please post up some pictures so people can compare and get some good ideas as to what they'd like to do to their own rig.
I decided to buckle down yesterday and finish up this project so I can wholeheartedly move on to something else. I started after work and worked til about midnight and then came back to it again today at about 3 in the afternoon and finished up at about 8, so it was fairly labor intensive, but I wanted it to look as good as I could get it and still be as sturdy as could be. Alright, here we go:
First things, first: remove your grille assembly. Be really careful when doing this because it's pretty easy to break either the grill or the retaining clips (though I've newly acquired the skill of fixing cracked ABS plastic). There's a little tab for each clip that you need to slide down and it should slide right out. Mine took a little finagling because I think my front bumper is pushed back just a tiny bit, but enough to make the grill and headlight door assembly hard to just pull out. Once you get it out, remove both headlight doors via the three screws on the back so you're left with just the center grille piece.
Next, using a hacksaw blade or a Dremel (I found the Dremel to work a little cleaner) remove the black plastic center, being careful to leave as much of the sides as possible. Make sure you keep these cutouts because you can use the plastic from them to fill any cracks or low spots. You'll be left with two little half moon cut-outs on the left and right side because of the center plastic 'beam' that holds the emblem in place and we'll use the leftover plastic to fill these. That'll get fixed later if you're up for it. Again, be gentle with the grill because if yours is all original, that 20 year plastic is probably pretty fragile. Once you get everything cut out, clean up any of the little 'nubs' and corners left around the rim. You want nice straight lines so your mesh will sit flat on your grill. Use sand paper and/or a Dremel attachment to smooth out the nubs completely because we'll be putting a coat of paint over this and you want it to look smooth. Don't forget to clean up your 'half-moons' a little too. Here's mine all cut up and cleaned up:
Next heat up your soldering iron. This will be our 'welder.' Use the leftover plastic and cut out two small rounds the same shape as your two half-moon cutouts. Once they match fairly close (they don't have to be perfect) put a piece of masking tape or duct tape on the back side of the grill and lay your rounds in place for welding. Once everything is set up and your soldering iron is hot, gently push the edges of each piece of plastic toward the other in a 'kneading' or 'zippering' kind of way. Just like you would with steel or aluminum, you want to bring a little bit of one piece into the other and vice versa. Once you get them sufficiently melted together, you'll see that the seam is sort of a low spot, but this part is necessary to have a good strong hold. Once it's snug in there, take some of the left over plastic and, using the soldering iron, 'shave' melted plastic onto your seam and smooth them over getting them as flat as you can. The more uniform you make it, the less you'll have to sand away later. If you need a better idea of how to do all this, there's a couple good videos on youtube explaining exactly how to do it. Here's the view from the inside looking out:
After you've welded up the visible side, remove your tape and do the back. Here's a view from the back looking toward the center before I welded this side.
Once you get the back side welded (it doesn't have to be as pretty, obviously, because it wont be seen) clean everything up nice and smooth. You should be able to run your fingers over the 'splice' without feeling it. If you can feel it, you'll be able to see it once we paint it, though only if you're looking for it
. I used my Dremel with a couple different attachments of varying course-ness.
After working with all that plastic, it's time to mess with some steel again. Get out your mesh (I think I ended up using about a 6" x 38" piece to allow me to bend up the ends so I could actually screw it to the plastic grill.
Lay it out and cut any of the mesh that gets in the way of it laying flush against the back of the grill. Try not to cut too much of the plastic supports because they're what makes the grill strong. I also added a few, small angle bends in the overhanging steel mesh for some added strength and easier attaching. Just a flat piece of mesh is pretty floppy. Think "I-beams" and you're on the right track. I tried to take a picture at an angle so you could see what I mean.
Lays in there nice and snug
Before you put everything permanently together, you should get everything painted separately. Tape off anything chrome on the grill and shoot a couple coats of black on the inner walls of the grill. I used a satin black because my steel mesh came powder coated gloss black and I didn't want to go from a straight flat black into the gloss. I thought it would look sloppy. The satin worked great without being too glossy itself. Also, something else you're going to want to do to keep it from rusting is paint whatever you cut on the steel mesh. I just used a spare can of Plasti-Dip I had and shot whatever bare metal spots I could find. This stuff has a matte finish so be careful not to get any on the mesh that you'll see when it's installed on the truck. While this is drying, take a can of flat black spray paint and hit everything on the truck (around the radiator area) that you'll see behind your new grill. I didn't paint my actual radiator fins because I don't want the thing to over heat, but everything else back there I gave a quick spraying. This is so it wont show through as well with the new 'open-air' grill.
Now to mount everything up. I used one self tapping screw per side to give it that extra touch of holding power
Be careful to pick a good spot for your screw so the protruding threads wont interfere with your headlight doors that you'll re-install shortly.
Zip tie the mesh in place, using the plastic supports as anchors.
You may have to cut a slot or drill a hole or two to make sure the zip ties are tight and out of sight.
Zip tied in place and screws tightened down. Ready for assembly!!
That mesh isn't going anywhere!
All that's left is to re-install the headlight doors and then put the whole grill assembly back on the truck! Be mindful of the retaining clips again, make sure they're all lined up before you push it back into place. It should just snap right in! Tada! All done!!
That turned out as well as I could have hoped! I'm not completely done as I plan on either putting some Hella Black Magics behind the new grille or mounting a ProComp light bar to the front and doing it that way. Thats for another time, another thread, and another paycheck, though. If you made it to the end of this ridiculously long posting ... thanks!! And good luck with yours! As always, don't forget to post your pics on here too, and don't hesitate to ask any questions. Godspeed.
- Jake
I decided to buckle down yesterday and finish up this project so I can wholeheartedly move on to something else. I started after work and worked til about midnight and then came back to it again today at about 3 in the afternoon and finished up at about 8, so it was fairly labor intensive, but I wanted it to look as good as I could get it and still be as sturdy as could be. Alright, here we go:
First things, first: remove your grille assembly. Be really careful when doing this because it's pretty easy to break either the grill or the retaining clips (though I've newly acquired the skill of fixing cracked ABS plastic). There's a little tab for each clip that you need to slide down and it should slide right out. Mine took a little finagling because I think my front bumper is pushed back just a tiny bit, but enough to make the grill and headlight door assembly hard to just pull out. Once you get it out, remove both headlight doors via the three screws on the back so you're left with just the center grille piece.
Next, using a hacksaw blade or a Dremel (I found the Dremel to work a little cleaner) remove the black plastic center, being careful to leave as much of the sides as possible. Make sure you keep these cutouts because you can use the plastic from them to fill any cracks or low spots. You'll be left with two little half moon cut-outs on the left and right side because of the center plastic 'beam' that holds the emblem in place and we'll use the leftover plastic to fill these. That'll get fixed later if you're up for it. Again, be gentle with the grill because if yours is all original, that 20 year plastic is probably pretty fragile. Once you get everything cut out, clean up any of the little 'nubs' and corners left around the rim. You want nice straight lines so your mesh will sit flat on your grill. Use sand paper and/or a Dremel attachment to smooth out the nubs completely because we'll be putting a coat of paint over this and you want it to look smooth. Don't forget to clean up your 'half-moons' a little too. Here's mine all cut up and cleaned up:
Next heat up your soldering iron. This will be our 'welder.' Use the leftover plastic and cut out two small rounds the same shape as your two half-moon cutouts. Once they match fairly close (they don't have to be perfect) put a piece of masking tape or duct tape on the back side of the grill and lay your rounds in place for welding. Once everything is set up and your soldering iron is hot, gently push the edges of each piece of plastic toward the other in a 'kneading' or 'zippering' kind of way. Just like you would with steel or aluminum, you want to bring a little bit of one piece into the other and vice versa. Once you get them sufficiently melted together, you'll see that the seam is sort of a low spot, but this part is necessary to have a good strong hold. Once it's snug in there, take some of the left over plastic and, using the soldering iron, 'shave' melted plastic onto your seam and smooth them over getting them as flat as you can. The more uniform you make it, the less you'll have to sand away later. If you need a better idea of how to do all this, there's a couple good videos on youtube explaining exactly how to do it. Here's the view from the inside looking out:
After you've welded up the visible side, remove your tape and do the back. Here's a view from the back looking toward the center before I welded this side.
Once you get the back side welded (it doesn't have to be as pretty, obviously, because it wont be seen) clean everything up nice and smooth. You should be able to run your fingers over the 'splice' without feeling it. If you can feel it, you'll be able to see it once we paint it, though only if you're looking for it
. I used my Dremel with a couple different attachments of varying course-ness. After working with all that plastic, it's time to mess with some steel again. Get out your mesh (I think I ended up using about a 6" x 38" piece to allow me to bend up the ends so I could actually screw it to the plastic grill.
Lay it out and cut any of the mesh that gets in the way of it laying flush against the back of the grill. Try not to cut too much of the plastic supports because they're what makes the grill strong. I also added a few, small angle bends in the overhanging steel mesh for some added strength and easier attaching. Just a flat piece of mesh is pretty floppy. Think "I-beams" and you're on the right track. I tried to take a picture at an angle so you could see what I mean.
Lays in there nice and snug
Before you put everything permanently together, you should get everything painted separately. Tape off anything chrome on the grill and shoot a couple coats of black on the inner walls of the grill. I used a satin black because my steel mesh came powder coated gloss black and I didn't want to go from a straight flat black into the gloss. I thought it would look sloppy. The satin worked great without being too glossy itself. Also, something else you're going to want to do to keep it from rusting is paint whatever you cut on the steel mesh. I just used a spare can of Plasti-Dip I had and shot whatever bare metal spots I could find. This stuff has a matte finish so be careful not to get any on the mesh that you'll see when it's installed on the truck. While this is drying, take a can of flat black spray paint and hit everything on the truck (around the radiator area) that you'll see behind your new grill. I didn't paint my actual radiator fins because I don't want the thing to over heat, but everything else back there I gave a quick spraying. This is so it wont show through as well with the new 'open-air' grill.
Now to mount everything up. I used one self tapping screw per side to give it that extra touch of holding power
Be careful to pick a good spot for your screw so the protruding threads wont interfere with your headlight doors that you'll re-install shortly.
Zip tie the mesh in place, using the plastic supports as anchors.
You may have to cut a slot or drill a hole or two to make sure the zip ties are tight and out of sight.
Zip tied in place and screws tightened down. Ready for assembly!!
That mesh isn't going anywhere!
All that's left is to re-install the headlight doors and then put the whole grill assembly back on the truck! Be mindful of the retaining clips again, make sure they're all lined up before you push it back into place. It should just snap right in! Tada! All done!!
That turned out as well as I could have hoped! I'm not completely done as I plan on either putting some Hella Black Magics behind the new grille or mounting a ProComp light bar to the front and doing it that way. Thats for another time, another thread, and another paycheck, though. If you made it to the end of this ridiculously long posting ... thanks!! And good luck with yours! As always, don't forget to post your pics on here too, and don't hesitate to ask any questions. Godspeed.
- Jake
