Guys,

I finally got the "thumbs up" from Satoshi himself. Here's the write up:

http://www.4runners.org/articles/satoshi



Bob

 

Yippee! Nice job. I am so looking forward to doing this to my own '00.
Mike

 

Very nice writeup!! Any ideas on if anyone has done this to a 2nd Gen?? Thanks

 

Looks really good! I wish I had had this write-up before I started on mine. Oh, well for a free-handed job without templates, I think mine came out pretty good Where did you get that black grill mesh at? I think I might end up re-doing mine with black, I just haven't decided yet.

 

Scarbro,

Phalanx axed me the same thing. I axed him for some pics but I haven't heard from him in a few days. I did manage to see and touch a 2nd gen grill and i think its possible. My main concern was that the grill's bottom part was not thick enough. It does look thick enough but I'd have to see detailed pics of the bottm as well as the back. If you can pull off your grill and take some pics (and post them here), I can give you a better guesstimate. Or, look at my grill and compare to yours and you should be able to tell too.

Goldtaco: as I learned from this mod, anything is possible w/ Bondo and fiberglass. However, I think it would be much easier to find a 96-98 grill and work with that. The newer grills (99 and above) had an unusual front, rounded grill shape that might be hard to get 'just right'. W/ the 96-98 grill, its very simple (but time consuming) to cut out the inner part of the grill while leaving the main "frame" (the chrome part) intact.

Jonathan: i purchased the grill material from my dealership. It was around $29. Well worth it b/c I didn't have to prep, prime, and paint it. The company's name is "GR Motorsports". There's a link to the pic of it so you know what it looks like. For now since you already have it done, why not just prep/prime/paint it black and see how it looks? and if not satisfied, buy the matrix or similar grill?

Bob

 

Ha, I was waiting to see a bbq hanging off the back of your truck

But, That looks great! Ive considered doing a grill mod, but figure its really pretty much covered from the hellas and not really worth it. You have prevailed again!

 

Austin...hmmm...bbq grille hanging off the back...not a bad idea. A hitch mounted grille!

And thanks for the nice compliment. Oh and again, sorry for the post re my truck's data/pic in your local 4ROC club. That was pretty boneheaded of me not to read the title.

Bob

 

yeah, like i said before, that really is a quality write up and leaves nothing to question.

i should have my version of this mod completed tonight, so i'll get some pics on here soon.

 

Nice write-up, Bob!
I do have one complaint, though, I now have Styx's "Mr Roboto" Stuck in my head
Domo Arrigato, Mr. Roboto....DOMO, domo...

BTW, did the endcaps work out o.k. for your brother?

 

Bob,

Excellent write-up as usual! You might have inspired me to saw up my new black grill.., but I have bumpers and sliders to work on first!

On a side note: Will that Toyota emblem take a "poor man's black pearl" paint job from a write-up I know of? Since I got all black pearls now I'd hate not to be matching.

Loosehead,

You are showing your decade!

 

Jayson,

Haha, i remember that song too. There's a few of us 30-somethings here. There was a VW commercial a year or two ago that revisited that song. Was pretty funny.

My bro and I are going to put those front flaps on this weekend. I'm sure it'll be just fine.

Bob

 

Brian,

Yes, the emblem could definitely have the black pearl paint applied to it. But unlike my writeup, I'd probably spray self-etching primer on it first since its metal.

Bob

 

Yeah, I remember that commercial...good stuff.

 

Nice write-up Bob. In all honesty, I had no idea it was that much work. Ever since school started, I feel lazy. I want it now! I want! I want! I want!

 

Nicely done Bob!
Answers all questions before they're asked

 

Hey Bob,

You did a very nice and detailed write up. So professional. Wow, that is an awesome mod. I was just wondering to see if you can use the "TOYOTA" emblem from 90 to 94 Land Cruiser to make that emblem a little bigger. Me too, I'm not fond of that T symbol on a newer Toys. Good Job!

Noel

 

Christian:

Yeah, getting the interior part of hte grill cut, prepped, painted, etc is the hardest, most time consuming part. Also, watching the multiple primer and paint layers drying is like watching grass grow. I say "do it!"

4x4: Wow, I don't know if you want to go with a larger emblem. IMHO, this is as large as you would probably want to go. Its very symmetrical within the confines of the grill material. Any larger, it would stick out like a sore thumb. The dimensions on this emblem is approximately 11" wide and 1.5" high.

Bob

 

The TOYOTA on the Land Cruiser is actually molded into the grille, it isn't a seperate emblem.

The older Toyota PU's (or is it 4R?) have the larger TOYOTA emblem if you want to use that one instead. Someone here already did it and I remember it looked pretty good.

 

The older Toyota PU's (or is it 4R?) have the larger TOYOTA emblem if you want to use that one instead. Someone here already did it and I remember it looked pretty good

First Toy,

Hey kewl, I will take a look into that. Thanks.

Noel

 

If I recall they changed it to the emblem on the 4R's in '92.
Mine is a '91, and I am pretty sure that was the last year for the lettering.