Reputable seller/site for quality black grill assembly?

I repainted my flares too but I used this after prepping by scuffing it with a scotchbrite pad.

$22 SEM 39103 Black Original Flexible Bumper Coater Aerosol - 12 oz.

https://www.amazon.com/SEM-39103-Or...4098&s=gateway&sprefix=sem+bum,aps,193&sr=8-1

 

Alright, spent some time after work last night and got it all sorted. Here are the pics and notes.

I wiped the new grill down with the

$7 Dupli-Color PW100 Prep Grease and Wax Remover Prep Wipe

Duplicolor Prep Wipe, then wiped it dry with a clean, lint-free cloth. Then I let it air dry for 5 minutes while I shook the sh*t out of the

$16 Dupli-Color ETB101000 Trim and Bumper Spray Paint - Black -11 oz. Aerosol Can

Duplicolor Black Trim and Bumper Paint spray can. I then applied three thin coats, letting each coat dry for 10 mins per the instructions on the can. It took some finesse, but mostly it sprayed on fairly even and smooth. I chose that paint because it says it's a flexible finish with excellent adhesion, and it has UV protection.

Those are little water droplets in the first pic. I cleaned my headlights and hosed them off. I tried to hand dry everything but it looks like I missed some. The finish is actually really nice and smooth with no noticeable errors



It'll look even better tonight after I pick up the Trail Gear front bumper from the powder coater and slap that on there instead of this stock plasti-chrome nightmare.

As far as the fit of the grill and corner lights I bought from Amazon (now that we've covered the painting), it was about what I expected from a $60 grill and some $13 corner lights. The grill fit fairly well, but the passenger end over by the headlight/corner light was not seating as well as the driver side. Either the mold was a bit off at the factory, or I don't have something pushed/clipped in all the way, but I triple checked all my clips and everything is in and seated. It doesn't matter that much because once the corner light is installed and that top screw is in, it holds everything in place, but the grill wants to pop outward/forward a bit. Also the grill fillers took some doing to reinstall. They just didn't want to snap into place. All that is to say I feel I got my money's worth on the grill, but if you want showroom quality you'd better look into OEM or something cuz this sure ain't it.

The corner lights were pretty great though. The only thing they needed was the blinker relocation mod (drill hole, Goop socket on, let it dry).

Oh and the Toyota logo came off nice and easy from the stock grill. It didn't snap on to the new grill though due to one of the holes being too small. I got the Dremel out and carefully opened up the hole little by little until I got a snug fit, but even then it also took a few dabs of Goop to seal the deal, or else it would've come off fairly easily.

 

Looks great!

I suppose once you get the new bumper on I'm going to have to make up my mind if I really want to swap out my grille for the blacked out one. hahaha

 

I reckon it’s decision time there, partner

 

decisions...

did you mod turn signals to the side markers yet?

 

Sure did. LED bulbs and flasher relay too.