My Satoshi mod is a result of poring over the various threads and photos. I was interested in something different, something with the stealth look of the Raptor grille, but with Toyota lettering. So . . . .
The diamond grille comes from
Plastic ABS Universal Black Sport Mesh Grill Grille Car Stock OE Style 9"x42" C | eBay
I was pleasantly surprised when it arrived. It’s the perfect material, closely matching the stock grille except the openings are a bit smaller. I didn’t change out the lower grille and for now I can live with the size difference – the scoop has a diamond pattern that is even smaller yet.
The letters come from Woodland Manufacturing at
Powder Coated Aluminum Letters
On the Raptor grille thread at
Raptor Grill? I posted photos of my trial and error sizing of the letters. It was pretty easy to make them up in Photoshop and tape them onto my grille before I cut anything.
I settled on 3” aluminum letters, in the Arial Bold font (you can try it out on the Woodland website). I chose flush mount. Each letter comes drilled and tapped in three places for 10-24 threads. Threaded studs are provided (the letters are usually used as signs on walls with the studs holding them onto the wall). A paper template is provided (this is critical) showing actual placement of the letters.
Grille replacement –
1. I removed the stock grille using the drawings in the tech manual to show how to unhook it. It’s actually a really easy procedure, but getting the dern clips actually unhooked can be a PITA.
2. I cut out the stock diamond pattern using a flush cutting plier. I cut it as flush as possible, then I spent a couple of hours cleaning out ALL of the diamond pattern from the all of the surfaces. It was important to get it all out, and all of the surfaces clean and flush.
3. Got a 1’ x 4’ piece of 26 gauge paint lock sheet metal from local air conditioning company (in Durango, I just had to go down the street).
4. My friend Andy cut two ¾” x 4’ strips, then bent each one to give a 3/8 x 3/8 L, 4’ long.
5. Andy bent this “L” to fit the inside surface of the original grille assembly (he’s a sheet metal expert, one of many trades that he excels in). This bending and fitting is something that I could have never done, and is the key to the end result. He welded all the pieces together, smoothed off all of the rough spots.
6. When we were satisfied with the fit of the frame, we took it along with the letters and backing plate (I’ll get to that) for powder coat (again, just down the street).
7. After powder coat, I used 2-56 x ½ machine screws and fastened the new black frame into the factory grille assembly. Then I put in the plastic diamond mesh and glued it in using auto-body glue. I put the letters onto the mesh before I glued it in so I could be sure that letters were centered.
8. Reassemble the grille parts and put onto truck.
Sounds simple enough. This took a lot of time, especially when getting the interior surface of the factory grille assembly smooth and flush.
Letters—
1. Using the template provided by Woodland, I drew up a backing plate that would have two horizontal strips to keep the letters in proper position. Backing plate goes behind the mesh, so each letter has 3 10-24 studs holding it in place. Backing plate is ¼” aluminum plate that I cut to shape using Bridgeport vertical mill and a LOT of hand filing.
I’m not a machinist, so had to make two backing plates – here’s the first one, and you can see clearly that I’m not a machinist. But you get the picture of it’s shape – second one is much better and after powder coating it looks great.
The pink duct tape is what I used to first tape template to mesh material to set up positioning.
Here's a shot of the backing plate once installed. I haven't finished bolting it in, and after everything is LockTighted I'll spray the bolts and that dern silver pipe on the right side a nice satin black.
Here's a shot of the corner that shows how the L strip finishes off the edge.
And a full on frontal.
So that's it. I'll probably have to add to this as questions come up, so consider this writeup a work in process.
Over and Out
Toytec Boss lift kit and LR UCA.
Linear Mode
