EOI - BJ/SP20 - Autoexe "style" front grill

[wheeler33]

I'm going to get a sample grill down first and be prob getting the rest mid sept. let you guys know how it goes.

[wheeler33]

Originally Posted by wheeler33

Hey guys,



Sports Mesh Grill - possibly $100 > $ 110

bought 1 pce sports mesh & will let you guys know how it goes, will get more once i know the quality. I didn't want to buy like 5 and have the quality and fit wrong. ended up $110US so roughly $127AUS inc postage.

[smurfy]

let us know how it goes keen on getting on too.

[wheeler33]

Will do, i'll put up some photos as soon as i get em. I'll have to decide if i want to get it painted car colour or black.

[marcs_sp20]

looks tacky unpainted, I mean look at the one Mat had on his last year at skidpan day..



I may also have something in the works that sits over the top of the grille, not giving away too much at the moment

[wheeler33]

Yeah 100% painting it, it just looks dull without it and i'm actually swinging to painting it car colour based from that shot marc. I'll have to wait until i can replace the rear bumper or get it patched up not sure what to do for the best result.

Ooh some magic in the works ay, exciting stuff marc!

[trent188]

can you get carbon fiber ones as well ?

[Clean_Cookie]

you can probably paint it to look like carbon fibre... what us rc car guys do with our bodies is get those grippy squares (used for opening lids etc) and use that as a template to get the "weave" pattern. id imagine something similar could be done on a bit like that?

like this but on a bigger scale
http://www.briansmodelcars.com/tutorials/tutorial/52

[wheeler33]

Originally Posted by trent188

can you get carbon fiber ones as well ?

Yeah they got the CF one up there, i just bought the pure black one for now, thought i'd keep it clean and consistent either paint it black or 20P blue.

Its about 1.5 weeks off arrival so i'll let you guys know as soon as it comes in.

[wheeler33]

Okay guys' the grill came in today. As I don't know what the Autoexe is like (in the physical) its hard to compare the builds, i guess Marc can help out with. Packing was great, all done in bubble wrap and enclosed in newspaper + a box.

Down to the detail, I wasn't sure what to expect as I've never handled a grill before but from the feel it was light weight (obviously because of the materials). It wasn't flimsy, build seemed pretty sturdy, the only part that raised concerned, was the mesh. Basically from looks was fine, strength wise you could bend it by pushing on it and probably snap it off the clips if you push really hard (but reminded myself this is a cosmetic mod, was constructed for looks)[oh i guess if you hit a bird it would go clean through :P] Comparing it to stock the mesh on stock = 100x stronger but i guess this mod is for show. It seemed to be connected okay and don't expect any problems. Overall I didn't mind the way it was built as long as it looked straight, would hold together, not rattle, fit nice and make my ride 10 times better looking.

Build: Fairly sturdy, mesh would only be the weak point (not the strongest, but does the job). Attached by clips molded into the fiberglass. But nothing to worry about

Looks: From the front it looks symmetrical no exterior bumps showing. on the inside obviously you have the fiberglass workings and clips.

Overall: I'd say if you don't want to spend $400++ on an original and you just want to give your car a different face its worth trying. But if your looking for a show car finish, perfect and build to match go for the Autoexe.

Me personally i'll have to see it on the car and i'll add a description to describe how well it fits the contours.

but here are some photos:






sorry about the grease marks :P was eating chicken

Let me know what you guys think, particular i'd like to hear what marc has to say comparing to his autoexe and his replica he had.

Cheers guys.

[wheeler33]

I also wanna compare...

Black:


VS

Blue:

[mynameisdaniel]

Same as i've got, if you look at the blue picture you posted that's a better version, it fits the bottom corners better than the one you have will.
The black grille looks alright on that car because it matches the headlights (still not as good as blue), but i reckon if you have chrome headlights painted is going to look a lot better than black.
I had black for ages and from a distance it looks like you have a hole in the front of your car... :P

[wheeler33]

haha they used the proper Autoexe photos for it. Yeah hopefully the fit ain't too bad. Otherwise i'll just whack the stock back on if its that bad. Was going to drill the holes in, put it on and go from there, picture it and try and get an idea with my rims and they way my car is.

[marcs_sp20]

OK, where to start

difference between AutoExe & knockoff grilles are how it sits against the front of the bumper. the AutoExe sits about half an inch from the edge of the bottom of the bumper (where the bottom of the grille sits) whereas the knockoffs sit flush

the Product seems to be of from those photos, in the first photo it looks to be twisted (just as Mad Mats was) but I think this may be due to the angle of the photo

I still reckon paint it blue

[mynameisdaniel]

Originally Posted by marcs_sp20

OK, where to start

difference between AutoExe & knockoff grilles are how it sits against the front of the bumper. the AutoExe sits about half an inch from the edge of the bottom of the bumper (where the bottom of the grille sits) whereas the knockoffs sit flush

Mine sits back from the front about half an inch too, might be slightly different eBay ones that sit flush also that twist won't affect the fitment once you bolt it down at the corners :P but the Autoexe looks like it has much squarer edges compared to the knock offs?

You might also want to find some way to hold the bottom of the grille down when it's in. there's only those two flimsy tabs holding it in place which didn't seem enough to me

[wheeler33]

Removing stock grill: Okay so i figured the 2 screws holding up the grill were fine, but then we have these one way clip things. How did you guys get that off with out snapping them? Cause i'll want them back when / if i need to put stock back.

Cheers!

[marcs_sp20]

lift from the bottom, as there is 3 tabs holding the bottom of the grille down on the bumper, but be careful

[wheeler33]

Haha done, was struggling thought i was doing it wrong but yeah got the clips and it all came out.

Drilled the holes and it wasn't as flush like you guys said, so i had to do some different measures on each side to even it out. I think it looks fine, not a tight fit around the edges, but i tried to make it look as symmetrical as possible even with the gaps.

[wheeler33]

what it looks like from iphone, and it was getting late and wanted to sleep! so i quickly took a photo.

[trent188]

photo not working ???