Exterior Modification

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Difficultly

						Remove you phone and don't plan anything this weekend as our going to be very busy.

• Flat head screwdriver
• Small Hacksaw (or equivalent)
• A tin of Metallic (or equivalent)
• Sandpaper (or small sander)
• Small amount of chicken wire
• Mesh
• Primer spray
• Spray paint (your cars Colour)
• Patients (lots of this needed)

Step 1

First you need to remove your grille from your car this can be don by pulling it out straight. You may find that it is very hard so get a screwdriver and press the retaining blocks down and pull out.

You may break one or all of the arms trying to get the grille out this is unadvisable but if you do do not worry as this can be fixed and will be covered later.

Step 2

Once you have removed the grille you can now cut out the shape you desire. For this walk through I have chosen to make the original Jap style grille so I have cut the top off, but you can leave the top on if you want to.

Step 3

Now that the grille is cut you will need to sand down the edges you nave created and make sure that they are level with the grilles original lines, any bumps you leave here will show in the final product.

Step 4

This is where the patients comes into it. You now need to fill the gaps in, what I have done here is put some chicken wire behind the grille gaps holding them in place with a small amount of Metallic. Then filled in the areas on top.

If you broke any of the retaining brackets when removing the grille from the car you can use the Metallic. to fix them at this point.

Step 5

By now you should have a grille that looks like this, totally filled with Metallic. (and some on your cooker too).

Step 6

At this point I decided to cut the mesh to the desired size below are a few hints for you:

1. Cut your mesh to large as you can remove some but you can not add some.
2. Break off all the broken ends as they will cut you and it hurts (believe me I know).
3. Do NOT bend the mesh yet this will come later.

Now come the really tedious part.

Step 7

Now you must sand the grille and re fill the areas that need it. You will also need to decide what you want the end design to look like at this point which will help you when filling. Once you have filled and sanded you need to fill and sand a few more times in order to get the grille totally smooth 100%.

Step 8

At this stage you need put your primer on. The rule of thumb for this is as follows:

1. Spray a light coat and allow to dry for 15 - 30 minuets.
2. Sand or fill and sand the areas needed.
3. spray the grille again more coverage on this time.
4. If the grille is still not to your desired effect repeat stage 2 again.

Step 8

Once you are happy with your design you need to spray it with your chosen colour. following the rules for spraying as follows:

1. Spray a light coat and leave to dry between 30 - 60 minuets
2. Spray the following coats of paint until you are happy with your result., you may need to resand the grille again to get 100% satisfaction.
3. Repeat as much as you have to to get the result you need.

Once you are happy with your spraying you need to take the grille mesh that you cut earlier and bend it into shape (remember that you need it oversized to fit behind the walls)

Step 8

To hold the mesh in to place I have used Metallic all along the rear if the grille. It dose not matter how messy this is as it will not be seen at the end.

Step 8

Your at the last stage now, all you have to do is look at the grille from the front and make sure that you are 100% happy with what you have done.

Step 8

Here is the final product congratulations on your new grille.

Pure P10

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Front grille Conversion