View Poll Results: What's your grill preference?
OEM -- leave it alone
14
22.95%
OEM -- delete the burger
16
26.23%
JDM -- black on black
20
32.79%
JDM -- painted to the OEM theme
11
18.03%
Voters: 61. You may not vote on this poll
Grill Customization Options
#41
Maxy, what did you mean when you said "you have to make drilling holes"?
And what's your response to Zero's comment when he said he wasn't impressed with the fitment?
Still trying to learn more about this 2-slat JDM grill, and so far you're the only one who's playing in this thread and actually has one.
And what's your response to Zero's comment when he said he wasn't impressed with the fitment?
Still trying to learn more about this 2-slat JDM grill, and so far you're the only one who's playing in this thread and actually has one.
#46
I like the JDM grill since it looks clean and is not too flashy. Also like the mesh behind. I personally would go black on black but with your car color I might paint it like the OEM grill.
#48
While we're at it, I have a question. When I paint my grille black, do you think it'd look best in gloss or flat black? I have a feeling that it's gonna end up pretty glossy no matter what because I'm doing a clear coat too. Hmm... I just don't know.
#50
That's pretty clever. And easily undone, too.
One of the things that's bubbling up in consideration is that a blackened grill looks bests if you bake open the headlights and darken the housing.
#51
#52
I just can't get into the Burger-less grill. It looks like someone cut the nose off the cars "face" It just looks too plain without it.
Of the ones you listed I'd say Option #3 is the most visually appealing.
The only idea for my grill is too paint the face of the slats in the same finish as my TE wheels (Hyper Silver/Chrome Shadow whatever you want too call it)
Of the ones you listed I'd say Option #3 is the most visually appealing.
The only idea for my grill is too paint the face of the slats in the same finish as my TE wheels (Hyper Silver/Chrome Shadow whatever you want too call it)
#54
I have the cmods grill i just installed 2 weeks ago, i had it painted to match my car, blends in pretty good, ill have a picture later if you want.
if you want to buy a OEM grill to mess with i have mine so you dont have to drive around without one, one of the mounting holes on the top was damaged when i took it out.
As for the bolts for the cmod grill i did take my oem one out to see where the mounting points were, and drilled holes where they belong. It did have some small surface cracks on it from the factory that the shop filled in for me. shipping was fast surprisingly.
if you want to buy a OEM grill to mess with i have mine so you dont have to drive around without one, one of the mounting holes on the top was damaged when i took it out.
As for the bolts for the cmod grill i did take my oem one out to see where the mounting points were, and drilled holes where they belong. It did have some small surface cracks on it from the factory that the shop filled in for me. shipping was fast surprisingly.
#55
Now that I can easily remove and re-attach the grill, and have studied the OEM grill carefully in my hands (and cleaned it on my kitchen table, suffering my wife's rolly-eyes), I have a much better appreciation for the design details that go into the OEM grill.
Regarding the 2-slat JDM, although I haven't seen it up close, I'm guessing it's much more simplistic in comparison, and that this absence of design consideration would be evident on the car.
Butting that conclusion up against the amount of effort to de-badge the OEM grill, and I end up exactly where I started: keeping the OEM grill...
...for now, at least.
Regarding the 2-slat JDM, although I haven't seen it up close, I'm guessing it's much more simplistic in comparison, and that this absence of design consideration would be evident on the car.
Butting that conclusion up against the amount of effort to de-badge the OEM grill, and I end up exactly where I started: keeping the OEM grill...
...for now, at least.
Last edited by Rochester; 10-18-2010 at 05:59 AM.
#56
lol i vote against doing all that work..the money you dump into that you could have already bought an ebay badgeless grill and have it painted for the amount of time/money you dump into your oem one..then you also have the peace of mind of going back to oem with just a few nuts/bolts/whatever holds it down.
#59
Personally, I've never understood the visual appeal of CF. But there sure are lots of people who plotz over it.
#60
John, just out of curiosity, have you seen carbon fiber in person?
I was never a big fan of it until I saw a carbon fiber hood first-hand. Something about the way it reflects in the sun is addicting to me.
I was never a big fan of it until I saw a carbon fiber hood first-hand. Something about the way it reflects in the sun is addicting to me.
#61
So yeah, you're right... I would have to see the CF grill with the naked eye in order to make a final assessment.
Good point.
#63
Ok, so I painted my grille black today. (Krylon Fusion black and Duplicolor clear coat) I'm gonna wait a while to put it on the car so the paint can cure for a bit and become a bit more chip resistant, etc. But here's a pic as it sits now (just an iPhone pic). I'll post more of it on the car when it's on the car
#66
i have the ebay grill you guys are talking about. what i did was cut it out with a power saw and it doesnt show at all anymore. i had the grill for about a year now and im starting to miss the burger
#67
#68
I don't know why that is. But I used my dremel to cut the metal bracket that holds the lower horn in place and moved the horn up so theyre level. 5 minute job.
#71
Using this thread to explore options and have discussions on the grill brought me to that same conclusion. I'm leaving well-enough alone.
However, now that I can easily remove and re-install the grill, I am replacing those rusty old horns. So as of this morning, there's a PIAA Sport Horn 400/500 Kit working its way cross-country to my front door.
#74
Oh, and with regard to the horn comments on this thread earlier, here's what I did. I painted them black with some extra paint I had left over. In the first pic you can see that I ground the bracket so that I could get the horns level (or mostly level )
#76
I'm not sure yet. Imma sit with this for a while and then we'll see what I think. I've baked those cursed headlights like 5 or 6 times and I don't know if I can stomach the process again for a while I like the black grille look though... even with the non-blacked-out headlight housings. Not saying I'll never paint them... I might someday, but for now I'm good with it. If I had a black car I'd probably be obsessed with blacking everything out, but as it stands, I'm not haha. zero2sixtyZ, your car has always been one of my favourites on the forum. In a perfect maxima world, my car would be a Black 03 6MT... but I'm almost as happy with my car, so it's fine.
Last edited by jowo9; 10-20-2010 at 06:39 PM.
#77
Jowo9, nice job on the photos.
That grill has a clean look to it. Not sure how much I like it, but I don't dislike it either. And it looks like you did a quality job.
The bay is looking great. What are those wires on the passenger frame... do you have a grounding kit?
Good to know about getting creative with the horn brackets. I'll be installing those PIAA's in the next week sometime, and I'll probably have to do something about those brackets too.
That grill has a clean look to it. Not sure how much I like it, but I don't dislike it either. And it looks like you did a quality job.
The bay is looking great. What are those wires on the passenger frame... do you have a grounding kit?
Good to know about getting creative with the horn brackets. I'll be installing those PIAA's in the next week sometime, and I'll probably have to do something about those brackets too.
#78
Here is mine,I still might paint the burger black too but i'll wait till its on the car to determine that..but if i dont I'm gonna buy a new emblem. I'll put up pics tomorrow when I put it on.
#79
#80
Jowo9, nice job on the photos.
That grill has a clean look to it. Not sure how much I like it, but I don't dislike it either. And it looks like you did a quality job.
The bay is looking great. What are those wires on the passenger frame... do you have a grounding kit?
Good to know about getting creative with the horn brackets. I'll be installing those PIAA's in the next week sometime, and I'll probably have to do something about those brackets too.
That grill has a clean look to it. Not sure how much I like it, but I don't dislike it either. And it looks like you did a quality job.
The bay is looking great. What are those wires on the passenger frame... do you have a grounding kit?
Good to know about getting creative with the horn brackets. I'll be installing those PIAA's in the next week sometime, and I'll probably have to do something about those brackets too.
Yeah, those wires on the passenger frame are just grounding wires. I could have gone with some better quality wire, but those were cheap, 8 gauge, and local. I'm sure they do the job just fine (and that's an easy thing to upgrade if I ever decide to).
I grounded the block at the stock block ground (wow, that sentence sounds pretty wonky if you say it out loud!). Also grounded the IM, the tranny, the battery, and the alternator (with 2 wires)... oh, and then a couple places on the timing chain cover area.