Write Up, 99-02 Mesh grill

[SilverBullet01]

so i was sick and tired of looking for a new grill for my car, so i worked up the gusto to make my own. figured i would share my knowledge with the masses. all of the pictures and work have all been done by me.

materials:
-gutter guard mesh (from Lowe's)
- primer rattle can paint
- flat black rattle can paint
- metallic gun metal rattle can paint
- sand paper
- dremmel
- zip ties
- gorilla glue super glue
- wire cutters
- painters tape
- sharpie
- drill with drill bits

all of which materials can be substituted with other things, or items. color is of your preference, and the same material doesn't need to be used

do this modification only if you are confident in yourself and you ability to do this work. i don't recommend tearing apart your car unless you are positive you can do this.

step one.
take off your grill. there are 3 tabs on the bottom and 4 on the top, search other forums for a how to on removing the grill if you dont know how. once the grill is removed i took off my front emblem to be repainted, and so it would not get scratched in the process.

step two.
take a dremmel, hack saw, or whatever you wish to use to remove the small middle fins.

before:

after the small sections were removed:

.

after they are removed, sand them down so they are even with the surrounding surfaces.

before:

after:

 

[SilverBullet01]

step three, painting:
sand down every surface you wish to paint. i kept all the silver, and repainted all the black so it wasnt so scratched up. i re-sanded every black surface, and cleaned them thoroughly with soap and water and dried them off. next i taped off everything, and you can never tape to much.

then i used a sandable primer

and then coated with the black. here it is after i removed the tape: and had the repainted emblem.

i chose the metallic gun metal to match the section around the license plate for my car

 

[SilverBullet01]

next i cut the mesh to fit behind. always cut large, and trim away so you dont have to use a new section of mesh. i marked off each part that needed to be cut, and fit each one accordingly. i painted the mesh gun metal, and used a clear coat to protect it, as i did with the newly painted emblem.

after everything has dried all the way, i attached the mesh via zip ties and gorilla glue.

after the mesh has been fit, and attached.

i will take more pictures outside in the daylight tomorrow to really show it off.

any questions? i hope this helped some of you that are wishing to do something like this

 

[Dreamw0rkz]

thats tight... i did that to mine aswell... but my mesh grille , i didn't put it where u can't take it off .. i just bent it so it would hold up and it would be easier to remove and repaint the silver mesh... hehe

 

[Clemsonfan15]

Looks good man. I'm considering getting a new grille just to experiment with.

 

[SilverBullet01]

thats tight... i did that to mine aswell... but my mesh grille , i didn't put it where u can't take it off .. i just bent it so it would hold up and it would be easier to remove and repaint the silver mesh... hehe

i was originally gonna put it in the front, but it was much more difficult to attach so it would not fall off, and much more difficult to cut and shape to fit in that spot

plus after i took out the smaller sections in between, and put the grill back on as i was just driving to work, i started to like the recessed look more and more.

more pictures will be posted later tonight once i get home from work. its a gorgeous day out so they should turn out really well

 

[Dreamw0rkz]

heres how mine looks like...

 

[SilverBullet01]

pretty much exactly the same as mine, but i used a different style of mesh, and i painted it

 

[00Spork]

Hey thats kind of what i did to mine a few weeks back... but mine is wayyyyy sicker ha ha. Sorry she was a lil dirty in this pic, the yota badge actually matches the color of my truck

 

[ric]

Hey thats kind of what i did to mine a few weeks back... but mine is wayyyyy sicker ha ha. Sorry she was a lil dirty in this pic, the yota badge actually matches the color of my truck

this pic does NOT do this justice, Ive seen this in person, very nice job, and the YOTA is just icing on the cake, lol

 

[00Spork]

Thanks ric, and thanks for the picture so i could show everyone lol

 

[SilverBullet01]

i may end up getting a jaos emblem for mine.

and while yes everyone, that does look fantastic, but the purpose of this thread was to give people a general write up on an easy/ clean way to do this. as of right now i didnt see any sort of grill modifications out there for a 99-02 model, so i took it upon myself to just go out and do it, and document everything along the way.

if you have any constructive criticism or any helpful ideas, that would be more than appreciated!

but of course praise to me is always accepted

more picture are gonna be uploaded momentarliy

 

[00Spork]

or any helpful ideas, that would be more than appreciated!

but of course praise to me is always accepted

more picture are gonna be uploaded momentarliy [/B]

Sorry, didnt mean to steal the thread, Props to you for makin a write up, you have more motivation than me.

 

[SilverBullet01]

not exactly motivation, its more or less a few extra bucks, a new digital camera, and some spare time

 

[Fo_SheeZy]

Looks good!

 

[SilverBullet01]

more daytime pics!

 

[Clemsonfan15]

I really like it during the day. I wish I could manage to do that to mine.

I'm not sure about the emblem though.

 

[SilverBullet01]

well the emblem doesnt stand out as much as it used to, so i may end up painting the chrome on the grill to match

 

[Sloan]

should i paint my grille black first and do this mod? or should i just leave it chrome and do it?

 

[rollingthunder]

nice! :bigok: