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Custom making a grill

Discussion in '1st Gen. Tacomas (1995-2004)' started by glamis3000, Feb 17, 2011.

  1. Feb 17, 2011 at 12:49 AM
    #1
    glamis3000

    glamis3000 [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Brant
    Cottage Grove OR
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    '96 toyota tacoma 240k miles
    3in lift, 31x10.5x15 toyo mt, tinted windows,
    so i have been searching over this forum for about a month now and have found some very usefully tips and ideas.. the first is to custom make my own grill..

    I decided to de-chrome my grill, and for starters would shy away from doing it the way i did and sat down for countless hours using a razor blade and slowly peeling back and ripping off the chrome to reveal the plastic..

    as for the center insert i wanted something no one else really has, i couldn't find many grill insert for sale, so satoshi grill was the common way i saw on this forum for a DIY mod.. i did some research and looked into perforated steel.

    Went to my local steel company (Coyote Steel Co) and got a sheet cut down to size the dimensions were 9x28, 16 gauge, 1/4 inch holes. i was searching for something a little lighter to bend in my garage on my own but they didnt have anything in stock. so i picked this piece up for 24 dollars and started on my search for a custom fabricator to bend this around the inside of the grill the way i wanted...

    so far this is where i am at...
    i still have to have the insert powder coated gloss black and finish with the de-chroming of the grill and do a little bondo and sanding to it before the paint process will begin. so here are a few pics to start.. and this is my first post so hope its not to bad.. enjoy!

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  2. Feb 17, 2011 at 4:12 AM
    #2
    Fati Tacoma

    Fati Tacoma Well-Known Member

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    Cool grill you got goin on there man. That looks like the same stuff I used on my motorcycle. Put it in the gaps in the fairings about 3 years ago. It's held up VERY nice, thought you'd like to know.
     
  3. Feb 17, 2011 at 9:46 AM
    #3
    glamis3000

    glamis3000 [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Brant
    Cottage Grove OR
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    '96 toyota tacoma 240k miles
    3in lift, 31x10.5x15 toyo mt, tinted windows,
    thanks i thought it would hold up in the long run. just taking my time so it look nice in the end. and its snowing again so my time is limited but ill update with pics when i work on it some more..
     
  4. Feb 17, 2011 at 1:29 PM
    #4
    tacomaforlife

    tacomaforlife Well-Known Member

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    Its a Toyota what more is there to say.....
    TRD S/C 3" sky jacker suspension lift,33" kumho road venture mt kl71's 16" 320c pacer wheels,billet grill,EBC slotted and dimpled rotors,super 44 muffler with gutted cat,smoked l.e.d. tail lights, deck plate mod with K&N filter,fog/blinker mod,cobra cb with 4' firestick antenna/100W PA,clear corners with l.e.d bulbs,55w back up lights,urd O2 sim., blue l.e.d bulbs behind gauge cluster.
  5. Feb 17, 2011 at 1:32 PM
    #5
    chaz834

    chaz834 Tacoma 4 Life.

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  6. Feb 17, 2011 at 1:34 PM
    #6
    rab89

    rab89 Well-Known Member

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  7. Feb 17, 2011 at 9:06 PM
    #7
    geoff06

    geoff06 261k and counting

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    3" lift, Bilstein 5100/OME coilovers, rear AAL, Swiss camper shell, Rough Country 9000 rear shocks, 265/75/16 AT's on stock steel rims painted black, All-Pro 1.5"F/1.25"R wheel spacers, airbox elbow mod, Flowmaster Super 44, Davico post-cat, I took off my DIY angle iron bed/light bar!, bed wheel well shovel-mount, blacked out grill emblem, Poineer DEH-P3900 head unit, Alpine Type R front component speakers, Pioneer Coaxial rears, Dynamat in door panels, scratchbuilt aluminum holders for my ipod nano and phone, and for some reason, I painted the headlight fillers black...
    :popcorn:
    ooh! this gonna be good. looking fwd to seeing the finished product!
     
  8. Mar 4, 2011 at 11:49 PM
    #8
    glamis3000

    glamis3000 [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Brant
    Cottage Grove OR
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    '96 toyota tacoma 240k miles
    3in lift, 31x10.5x15 toyo mt, tinted windows,
    i finally got my insert powder coated by a good friend of our family for 10 dollars and it looks sweet so far.. ive already sanded down most of the big areas but still have some fine tuning and a few more times before i start to primer.. hope everyone enjoys..

    im really excited to finish this up and get it back on the truck.. tired of my truck looking dorky with out a grill and surrounding on it.. lol

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  9. Apr 8, 2011 at 4:37 PM
    #9
    glamis3000

    glamis3000 [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Cottage Grove OR
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    '96 toyota tacoma 240k miles
    3in lift, 31x10.5x15 toyo mt, tinted windows,
    so i finally got my grill finished.. I painted the surrounding and gave it some good coats with black and clear afterward. I used a gloss black trim around the lip to cover the cuts i made to remove the center.. I then drilled 6 holes for my rivets: 2 top, 2 bottom, and 1 on either side of the grill. and it was then ready to be mounted and finished. so after I got it on I noticed that you could see the cross member behind the grill and the radiator and lines behind, so I cleaned them up and got a fresh coat of gloss on them all.

    next my powder coater i used said that toyota does an amazing job chroming and that his sand blasting work alone wouldn't remove the chrome. So i spent a good 12 hours grinding the chrome off the front bumper and fixed my dent from hitting another car. I picked up my bumper yesterday from him still warm from the bake room, and rushed home to install my freshly blacked out bumper.

    This afternoon I ordered clear corner lights and also clear turn signals. I will get the corners and paint the surrounding trim black to match.

    So my final question to everyone is should I paint the bottom plastic piece gloss black to match everything or leave it how it is??

    and what does you all think about it? I myself am very pleased with the outcome..

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  10. Apr 8, 2011 at 4:45 PM
    #10
    MapleMoose

    MapleMoose Drunk Canadian

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    That looks good! i have the same truck and was thinking of doing that too. I might just plasti dip the chrome and paint the grill blacker. Did you just paint over the chrome grill and bumper?
     
  11. Apr 8, 2011 at 4:56 PM
    #11
    glamis3000

    glamis3000 [OP] Well-Known Member

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    no i pealed the chrome off of the grill and then primed it and used black and clear over that. i didn't plasti-dip it either, i used napa plastic paint for the grill. and the bumper and insert i had powder coated.. powder coating lasts forever and doesnt rust..
     
  12. Apr 8, 2011 at 5:30 PM
    #12
    Blackdawg

    Blackdawg Dr. Frankenstein

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    wow that turned out great!

    i am jealous!

    I hope you used high temp paint tho on the radiator...

    and i think the lower bumper looks fine the way it is really. its gonna look great when you finish the lights and trim tho
     
  13. Apr 8, 2011 at 5:31 PM
    #13
    glamis3000

    glamis3000 [OP] Well-Known Member

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    3in lift, 31x10.5x15 toyo mt, tinted windows,
    thank you!!
     
  14. Apr 8, 2011 at 5:49 PM
    #14
    glamis3000

    glamis3000 [OP] Well-Known Member

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    I did not use high temp paint on the radiator.. just used regular spray paint. lol
    what will happen??
     
  15. Apr 8, 2011 at 6:30 PM
    #15
    MapleMoose

    MapleMoose Drunk Canadian

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    It will probly melt or chip away eventually...
     
  16. Apr 8, 2011 at 9:39 PM
    #16
    Blackdawg

    Blackdawg Dr. Frankenstein

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    ya the high temp from the radiator will make the paint peel eventually..
     

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