More pics...
I still need to paint the radiator, horns and other visible items behind the grille to give it a cleaner look.
Here is how I attached the mesh to the back of my grille. I chose not to do a flush style mesh so the mesh just sits flat against the back side of the grille. To get the cleanest look possible, I didn't want any screws, bolts, etc visible. On the top, I epoxied threaded rod in 5 spots against the inside lip of the grille opening. I made sure to position my mesh first then marked where the rods would fit into a mesh hole.
On the bottom, I decided to drill holes in the black frame support of the grille. I used 2 zip ties to create an anchor point for each hole. One zip tie is zipped closed below the frame and the top zip tie goes down through the hole, through the lower zip tie and back up through the hole and zipped closed. This creates loops to zip tie the mesh to. Overall, it is very sturdy and best of all, you cant see any of the anchors, including the threaded rod from the front of the grille.
I am still deciding on if I want to include an emblem or not. I purchased the FJ "TOYOTA" emblem but am not sure I like the white lettering. Black is more my style but I am afraid if I paint it, it will just look like a blob and not lettering due to the black support each letter is connected to. I have seen the sweet emblem mod one of the taco owners did but honestly, that is just too much work for me at this point. Any suggestions on how to paint my emblem?
I have had no experience with fiberglass, bondo, auto paint, or any of the items required for this style satoshi. It was very frustrating at times but overall, a great learning experience. If you want this look for your 4runner and have the motivation, go for it. Some words of wisdom so you can learn from my mistakes:
-When doing the fiberglass, make sure it is flush with the back side of the inside opening. I used tape on the inside of the opening (visible side) and the fiberglass clung to that tape causing it to be more flush with the visible side than the back side (confusing, I know). The reason this was an issue is when filling the holes, you want the fiberglass to be a backing to the bondo. If your fiberglass dips inside, there will not be enough of a gap for the bondo to fill and when sanding the bondo, the fiberglass begins to come through and get very thin. My remedy, other than cutting the fiberglass out and starting fresh, was to put bondo on the other side of the fiberglass as well to not only support it, but in a couple of spots where I sanded through the fiberglass, the bondo filled the hole from the other side.
-If you are painting to color match, be patient! Should be common sense I know, but its a huge pain if you aren't. I painted my grille the first time on a sunny day and after letting the pain cure for a few hours I got ancy and decided to flip the grille over to attach my mesh. The paint wasn't completely cured and after flipping my grille back over, I had a huge dent in the paint in one spot and another spot the paint was bunched up revealing the primer underneath. As result, I had to re-sand my entire grille, getting all the paint off and repaint. Quite tedious and expensive (considering a can of the color match and the 2K clear is around $60-$70 including shipping).
Other than that, take your time and ask questions if you have any!
Thanks for the write up i'm going to be doing this soon and i want to do the same style you have and also don't have any experience with fiberglass and bondo. Where did you get your mesh from for the grill?
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