Satoshi Grille Write Up

So after reading many of the write ups on how to do a satoshi grille and looking at all the pictures I finally decided to go ahead and do my own. Since I didnt want to cut up my perfectly good factory grille I ordered one from partsgeek.com (http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/2009/toyota/tacoma/body_mechanical_-ar-_trim/grille_assembly.html)

It came in two pieces


a front piece


and a rear piece which is the piece that gets all the work done to it.


First thing I did was cut the center out to allow for the grille to be put in later ( I saved the cut out piece to use later)


Detail of cut out before flush trimming
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After getting the plastic down flush using a sanding bit on a dremel and I found a file very useful where i couldnt fit the dremel


I then used some cardboard and made a template of the pieces that were cut out. I cut up the piece of the grille that was removed earlier to get some flat pieces of plastic to epoxy in place of the gap.


Using Heavy Duty Loctite epoxy I glued some tabs on the back of the filler plastic so that there would be some surface area to glue to






Getting ready to clamp


Glued and clamped


Now unfortunately I became very rushed to get it finished after this part and forgot to take pictures. But once the clamps came off there was still a bit of work to be done. I started with 80 grit sandpaper and a random orbit sander to remove the excess epoxy and anything else left behind. I then applied the first coat of Bondo to the plastic fillers and any other areas where there where imperfections. Once dry i then used 100 grit to sand down that coat of bondo to once again make it smooth to the hand.
Then came the next coat of bondo to any imperfections left behind. After waiting for the Bondo to dry I then used 120 grit sandpaper to make smooth the touch.
Once you can close your eyes and run your hands around the pieces without feeling where the bodywork is done you know that you are good to go. So at this point I couldnt feel anything so i finished sanding the piece with 220 and then 320.
I figured since this was going to be in the front of my truck and would be hit with bugs and whatever else I wanted to get a professional paint job. So I took the whole grille assembly down to my local body shop and had him paint match it to my truck. (Magnetic Grey)

Once I had it back in my shop looking all nice and painted it was time to apply the grille. I ordered my grille from customcargrills.com (http://www.customcargrills.com/proddetail.asp?prod=0510%5FToyota%5FTacoma)

It came already precut to size and powdercoated black. I will be adding pictures of this very soon. To attach it I went with the ziptie method. So i drilled a few holes in the tabs on the rear of the grille and ziptied the mesh tight all the way around.
Then I used the same epoxy and glued the two grille pieces together. To do this I made sure all the tabs in the back where in their proper location and then using zipties as clamps, clamped the two pieces together. Once everything was in place i dabbed all the tabs with some epoxy and allowed it to set up.

Then the only thing left to do is take out the existing grille and replacing it with the new one.

Still to Come:
Paint Radiator black, Move Horns, Install Hella 500 Black Magics

 

Thanks for the website link. I just ordered one today to get the back side of it and work on it then install to my truck. pics look great by the way. can't wait to see more of it.

 

does the OEM grille come apart like that? If so, I'm going to kick my own ass...I just spent $70 trying to repaint my red satoshi grille to white...if I knew I could just swap the painted portion!!

 

Nice write up so far. Is that the $32 grille you ordered? I was thinking about trying one of those myself.

 

Enjoyed the write up! Any pics of the finished product unmounted & mounted?

 

yes, but there are plastic tabs that are melted so it cant come off, heat them up or break them off and it can come off.

 

thank you for the link; I just ordered myself a grill.... nice job on the write up cant wait to see completed pics.

 

Like Carson said the tabs are melted to the front piece. I have it mounted am going to have to take it off this weekend to mount the hella 500 black magics that i just got today and to paint the radiator. I will make sure to take many pics this weekend and post them

 

Is this really a paint matched grill for 33$?!

That seems unreasonably cheap...What's the catch?

 

No its a black grille no paint, I had it painted at my local body shop

 

Nice write up, i got same grill from same place last 2 weeks ago, I just got lazy these days, maybe Im starting when i see yours finished and installed. so hope u finish it soon

 

Thanks, I have been slackin on taking these pictures. The truck is at the dealer for the 15k service thought I would have it back today but they found a leak on one of the seals so wont have it back till thursday. But I will get some for you very soon!

 

Sorry it has taken so long to get these pictures up, I have been nonstop for the past couple months and I finally this weekend got some time to myself. So here is the final product of my satoshi grille.

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^^ Back of finished grille



^^Zipties attaching the powdercoated mesh to the grille, I drilled holes in the plastic to put the zip ties through

[IMG][IMG]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4113/5068707137_156731e895_b.jpg

^^ Had to epoxy the 2 pieces together that make up the grille

[IMG][IMG]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4146/5069316280_f33e78362d_b.jpg[/IMG]

^^Another attachment point that was drilled out for a ziptie

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^^ Finished Product

After installing the grille I thought it looked a bit naked so I installed Hella Black Magic behind the grille. They totally change the look of the truck. I also used the High Temp. black spray paint and painted the radiator to make everything blend together.

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^^ Lights mounted without the grille on it

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^^ Everything put together also have the Lamin-x yellow covers on the fogs

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subbed great info and link!!

 

x2 Great Job!

 

Very Nice !!!

 

Is that the "Small Diamond Grill Mesh" from Customcargrill? I'm starting to shop for mesh and wanting to picture different patterns.

 

sub'd

 

For future reference, at the top of every thread there's a "Thread Tools" drop down menu and one of the options is "Subscribe to this thread".

 

Pictures are gone =0

Any chance to get these back up? specifically the zip tie process?