How To Install Custom Front-end Grills
Materials needed:
Phillips screwdriver
Flathead screwdriver
Dremel tool (nice to have but you don’t really need one)
8mm socket
10mm socket
1/4″ Expanded steel (You can get this stuff from just about any welding shop)
Something to cut the mesh with (I used tin snips)
Some cardboard to make templates with of the grill openings
1/2″screws (you’ll only need about 2 or 3)
“Liquid nails” adhesive (You can get this in the shower caulk isle at your hardware store)
Simple Green or other type of VERY GOOD cleaner
Wire brush (or any other hard bristle brush)
Primer (If the paint you use requires it. I used Rustoleum brand)
Paint (whatever color you want the grill to be)
Clear coat
NOTE: Before you get started and start tearing into your bumper, I would like to say that I take no responsibility for the accuracy of the intormation below. I’ve recalled this to the best of my abilities. I did this about 3 months ago, so some things might have gotten lost. I’m only human
1) Ok, first off you’ll need to pull off you bumper. There’s nothing to it. If you look inside your fender well, there you’ll see one screw holding the bumper up. You can either use an 8mm socket, or a Phillips head screwdriver. There’s one of these on each side.
2) Now use the flathead screwdriver to pop out the plastic plugs that run along the top of your grill. There should be 8 of these.
3) Underneath the bumper there are 4 screws/bolts you’ll have to take out. Towards the middle of the bumper there are 2 10 mm bolts you’ll have to take out. They’re about 12″ back from the front of the bumper. The 2 screws you have to take out are towards the outside of the bumper. If you’re not sure which ones, You’ll see once you try to pull the bumper off.
4) If you’ve done everything mentioned above you should now have one bumper sitting in front to you, looking something like this…
5) On the back of the upper grill you’ll see some screws. Take those out to pop off the upper grill. Around the grill you’ll see a ton of little screws holding the 2 piece grill together. Take those out.
6) By now you should have 2 pieces of your top grill. You can either keep the factory mesh material or cut it out using a dremel tool or wire cutters. Don’t cut this stuff out unless you’re positive that you’re willing to replace the grill with the mesh material. Once it’s cut you’re stuck with it.
7) Since you’re in a cutting mood now anyway, do ahead and cut out all the horizontal and vertical running plastic things in the bottom grill. You can even take out the license plate holder since the s screws holding the plate to the bumper itself are more than enough to keep it in place for all of us unlucky people who actually have to have a front plate. I left mine in, don’t ask me why.
8) Next are the brake ducts. The brake ducts are a real touchy thing to cut out. Again, a dremel tool would be really nice, but if you’re careful you can use a razor knife. Be VERY careful when using the razor knife, because you can (and if you’re not careful, will, like I did) slip and cut a gash into your bumper. Do this for bothe the brake ducts.
**For everybody who is concerned about water and their engine….I don’t have an AEM, BUT I have my U-tube cut, and I have NEVER had any problems with rain (VERY heavy rain), or car washes. And Yes, I leave my engine running in the car wash. If you have an AEM you’ll probably need to clean the filter a little more after this mod to you bumper.**
9) Now for the fun part of actually cutting the mesh. Somebody told me that they used cardboard to cut templates of the grill openings and then transfer them over to the mesh. I never thought of that when I was doing mine so I pretty much went with the trial and error way of cutting a little off here and a little there until it fit. I strongly suggest the cardboard template way though. When you transfer the template over to the mesh, make sure you leave some 2-3″ long tabs around the mesh so you can fasten the grill. For the bottom they should be about 2″ wide. For the brake ducts and the top grill, about 1″. These will be VERY important in keeping your grills in place, so don’t forget them.
10) Test fit them to make sure they fit. The upper grill can be a bit tricky. The grill should be placed over the front piece and the tabs bent around to face the front. The back piece will hold the entire grill in place once everything is put back together. You need to make sure that the tabs you leave don’y get in the way of the factory screw holes.
11) Once everything lines up right and fits nicely you can clean and paint the pieces. I used simple green and a wire brush to get all the grease and other crap that may have came from the welding shop. You want these pieces as clean as possible. I used “Rustoleum” paint which doesn’t require any primer and is very tough paint. This step should take some time since the more coats of paint you use, the harder it’ll be for rocks and bugs to chip the paint on the grill. I put between 8 and 10 coats of paint and just about as many coats of clear coat over the paint.
**Let everything dry for a few hours before yout handle the pieces. Again, you shouldn’t be in a rush when doing this**
12) To fasten the brake duct grills in place, take the grill piece, stick it through from the front, and bend the tabs that you left up and over the plastic pice on the back of the bumper and shown above. Since you can’t use screws to hold this in place, use A LOT of the liquid nails glue. I found this stuff to work great. Do the same for the bottom tabs. The lower grill CAN be a bit tricky. Make sure that you grill lines up perfectly along the front, and then use a screw to fasten the bottom tab into place. Do the top tabs the same as you did the brake duct tabs. Make sure you use plenty of the glue.
13) Now for the top grill. You should place the mesh over the front part of the grill with all the tabs facing forward. Now take the second part and place it over the first pice and the metal mesh. Screw both pieces back together using ALL the screws you took out in the beginning. You shouldn’t need any glue to keep the whole thing together.
14) Let the glue dry over night preferably and bolt the bumper back on. If you did everything right it should look something like this….
**When putting the bumper back on make sure you don’t forget to put the styrofoam piece from the back of the bumper back in. I’ve done this and it sucks. Your bumper will have no support and start sagging in the middle. Use electrical tape to hold the piece in place because it WILL NOT stay put by itself.**