98-00 Satoshi Mod Lots of Pics

There isn't a whole lot of write ups on the satoshi mod for the 99-00 model tacomas so I thought I would make one for anyone interested, I am kinda a noob an this stuff and didn't have a clue what I was doing most of the time due to lack of experience but It took me a whole day and a half to do this. On to the write up...

Tools needed:
-Paint
-Primer
-Bondo
-Metal mesh
-Sawzall or jigsaw
-Fiberglass (if you want to go that route to patch the holes)
-Sandpaper
-Dremel or Grinder
-Cardboard
-Screws and Screw driver
-Zip Ties

First you are going to have to take off your grill by removing it from the clamps that look like this



Next you are going to have to use your sawzall/jigsaw to cut the guts of the grill out and start sanding all of the left over plastic smooth



Once you have the guts out an easy way to get the form of the grill for your mesh is to use some cardboard to trace it and use it as a stencil also in this picture you can see where I sanded down the leftover plastic I was talking about



Make sure when you cut your mesh to make some tabs that you can screw into the grill for extra durability



Back to the grill you are going to have to use some bondo to fill in the giant holes left in the grill



You are going to have to put something on the inside to help brace the bondo so you can plastic weld a piece of plastic on the back and that works perfect, I lost my plastic weld and my shop is a little ways for a store where I could just go pick some up so I used duct tape



Allow the bondo 20-30 minutes to dry and start sanding it smooth like so



This is optional but in the mean time I taped off my truck and painted the radiator black, you have to use high temp paint or the paint will just burn up and fall off, no sanding or primer, just clean it and spray it on



sorry about the cap I was expecting it to be a little more black and compared it to the cap



The next step is to prime and paint I taped it of so I could have two colors





After you are done painting and its dry attach the mesh by screwing it into the tabs



I also drilled wholes in the tabs along with the screws to put zip ties in for extra durability

Attach your desired emblem and put your grill back on here are a few pics with different emblems so you can get an idea for your grille

No Emblem-



Emblem from grill guts I cut out-



FJ Emblem-



Installed



Will post more pics of my truck later on, if you have any questions I will do my best to help out...

Thanks for looking and good luck!

 

hey bud 98 is the same as 99 and 00 just so you know

 

Dang I thought I put 98-99 in the title

 

98-00

 

Dammit I need to go to bed lol

 

yeah you do...lol

 

Looks like crap.








nice write up man.. On the to-do list
+1
Edit: oh and I like how you put the part about added durability. That's a good thing, especially for people who might be worried about maybe a bird coming out of nowhere and hitting their grille and messing their brand new satoshi up. But I mean what are the odds of something like that happening?

 

Idk probably one in a MILLION

 

Looks good... FJ emblem perfect for your truck. Nice job.

 

Nice job!

 

Turned out great man , beat me to the write up the white surround with the fj emblem looks nice! Changes the front end completely

 

Thanks guys! Is it homer taco approved? i will get some better pics when i get back from the lake

 

Nice work man!

I didn't wanna go through all that work and also needed more free space behind my grille so I went with the Grillcraft.

 

You putting lights behind it i assume?

 

yea that's the only reason I went that route. I like satoshi because of the different mesh patterns and such. I just didn't have the tools or time.

 

Ya I've had all my supplies for it forabout a month and just barely got time to do it, so are you doing an led bar or some round hid's?

 

It got hit by a bird?

 

I've got a BAMF light bar with some blitzpro light bars that have just been sitting for waaaay too long lol. Hoping to get em in before I head out to the west coast. Or maybe I'll meet up with some members out there and they can help me

 

If i woulda known they were just sitting i would have bought them off you haha,i like the satoshi better but i could deal with the grillcraft if i had some lights for it

 

Yup drove 2 miles after finishing it and hit a Bird it bent up the chrome that i painted white and broke some bondo and ruined the paint FML

Go to my pics and check it out, my phone is not letting me copy and paste