Post your Satoshi Mod Pics Here!
- Thread starter fightman80
- Start date
timmytimtim
New member
What I have on the 2000 right now.
Really like the subtlety of the color (I painted my front wheels this color as well) but the large block letters still let it pop a bit. My brother was quizzing me on the wheel color (Duplicolor self-etching primer that I intended on using as, yaknow, primer.. but liked the look) and then whipped this grille out just after Christmastime. Coolest gift I've ever received.
PS, yes- this means I have an extra grille taking up space in the basement if anyone needs one
Really like the subtlety of the color (I painted my front wheels this color as well) but the large block letters still let it pop a bit. My brother was quizzing me on the wheel color (Duplicolor self-etching primer that I intended on using as, yaknow, primer.. but liked the look) and then whipped this grille out just after Christmastime. Coolest gift I've ever received.
PS, yes- this means I have an extra grille taking up space in the basement if anyone needs one
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Out of curiosity for anyone doing this. If you're using bondo on the inside of the plastic part of the grill before you paint, what's your finish like? I found that it was REALLY hard to cleanly sand this area, and while it looks "fine" it's nowhere near as clean as I want it to be.
My Satoshi Mod
I finally got around to doing this, and I think it looks great. I got my custom mesh from custom car grills, just their standard perforated mesh. It was a little tall for the 98 grill, but I solved this by using longer screws to attach at the top, with some spacers. Otherwise, it was perfect and took away the hassle of having to cut, bend and paint my own grill. The 60 or 70 bucks was definitely worth the saved time.
I did cut up my stock grille, using fiberglass and bondo, but I ran into two issues, one is that I couldn't really get a sander or even sandpaper into the tighter spaces properly, and the "sandable" primer I used didn't dry as quickly as I wanted, resulting in a less than optimal finish on the inner part of the grill. You can't really see it, and maybe someday I'll fix it, but I called it good enough.
Instead of the bigger Toyota emblem, I went for the smaller metal emblem. And finally, I go the raptor lights from SRQ. I like the round ones vs the more rectangular ones I see around. The perforations in the mesh were a bit small for the lights to pass through so I had to drill holes, using a block of wood with an appropriately sized hole clamped down on the mesh and a table in order to keep the drill bit or mesh from walking.
Wiring was the easiest part, took about 10 minutes. I just soldered all the positive wires from each individual light together, and then soldered that to a wire that I ran into the fusebox behind the battery and stuck the wire into the tail-light fuse. I did the same with the grounds, except running that one to the ground on the body near the battery cable on the driver's side. I zip-tied the wires into the plastic grill to make sure they don't touch the radiator, and ran the wires behind the headlight.
Up next are the morimoto HID mods.
I finally got around to doing this, and I think it looks great. I got my custom mesh from custom car grills, just their standard perforated mesh. It was a little tall for the 98 grill, but I solved this by using longer screws to attach at the top, with some spacers. Otherwise, it was perfect and took away the hassle of having to cut, bend and paint my own grill. The 60 or 70 bucks was definitely worth the saved time.
I did cut up my stock grille, using fiberglass and bondo, but I ran into two issues, one is that I couldn't really get a sander or even sandpaper into the tighter spaces properly, and the "sandable" primer I used didn't dry as quickly as I wanted, resulting in a less than optimal finish on the inner part of the grill. You can't really see it, and maybe someday I'll fix it, but I called it good enough.
Instead of the bigger Toyota emblem, I went for the smaller metal emblem. And finally, I go the raptor lights from SRQ. I like the round ones vs the more rectangular ones I see around. The perforations in the mesh were a bit small for the lights to pass through so I had to drill holes, using a block of wood with an appropriately sized hole clamped down on the mesh and a table in order to keep the drill bit or mesh from walking.
Wiring was the easiest part, took about 10 minutes. I just soldered all the positive wires from each individual light together, and then soldered that to a wire that I ran into the fusebox behind the battery and stuck the wire into the tail-light fuse. I did the same with the grounds, except running that one to the ground on the body near the battery cable on the driver's side. I zip-tied the wires into the plastic grill to make sure they don't touch the radiator, and ran the wires behind the headlight.
Up next are the morimoto HID mods.
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307Vintage
Member
It looks great! Good Job.
4Runner4Leon
Senior Member
4Runner4Leon
Senior Member
Yep, I'm seeing it the same way. I think I'll go with the raptor mesh instead, it's more classy.
sleepydad
Senior Member
I'm going to be doing one of these in the near future.... can you post back if you find a decent deal on the raptor mesh stuff.
I like it and have been wanting to try it.
but first I need to get my body frame swap done. then grilling mod.
Js'00imited4runner
Member
4Runner4Leon
Senior Member
Sure - I'm probably going to take the lazy way out and buy a preformed mesh from 1996-02 Toyota 4Runner Mesh Grills by customcargrills.
I'm still torn between raptor and diamond mesh, the raptor seems a little too modern for the old truck, the mesh seems more "vintage" so maybe more appropriate? decisions decisions...
4Runner4Leon
Senior Member
Wanted to post back the picture of my completed grille, though somewhat obscured by the bumper. I went with the premade mesh as stated above. Pretty decent item, though I did have to do more massaging on it than I would have expected to. Overall I like the raptor style:
Here are some "in process" pictures:
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Endlessblockades
Senior Member
[MENTION=198376]4Runner4Leon[/MENTION]: Looks great! Did you source/use new mounting clips or make the originals work?
P.S. My Spiker Ultragauge bracket arrived at my work today, but I called in sick - bummer!
P.S. My Spiker Ultragauge bracket arrived at my work today, but I called in sick - bummer!
Mushroom_Toy
New member
Wanted to post back the picture of my completed grille, though somewhat obscured by the bumper. I went with the premade mesh as stated above. Pretty decent item, though I did have to do more massaging on it than I would have expected to. Overall I like the raptor style:
Here are some "in process" pictures:
One of the best looking ones Ive seen! Can def. tell there was time spent on it. Very clean.
4Runner4Leon
Senior Member
Thank you! I have a bunch of spare grille clips laying around, but the aftermarket grille came with pretty nice clips, so I just used them.
Sorry you missed the UG bracket, don't call in sick today
.
octanejunkie
Elite Member
Tell us about your grille mesh, Leon...Here are some "in process" pictures:
I need to redo my grille someday
4Runner4Leon
Senior Member
octanejunkie
Elite Member
Thanks, Leon
How does it attach to the bezel frame?
Pics of that?
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