Fixed my cracked grille surround

I fell victim to the dreaded cracked grille surround due to the combo of cold Temps and the BAMF grille.

I looked at the cost of a new surround and thought I would try to fix this one before shelling out hundreds of bucks. So, I took off the surround and removed the BAMF grille.

I was thinking that since the crack was such a clean break that I might be able to epoxy it together again. I looked around for some plastic epoxy and settled on this:

Because it said it could bind all plastics and I wasn't sure what kind of plastic the grille surround was. I cleaned all surfaces with acetone and proceeded to apply the activator and glue.
After holding them together for 45 seconds this is what I had:

I thought "not bad, will look ok after I clean it up." But, I wanted it to have more strength so I decided to reinforce it with the fiberglass kit BAMF suggested on its website:

Once again I cleaned everything with acetone. I then cut up some fiberglass strips and mixed the resin together. I applied the 4 strips and resin and let it sit overnight.

The next morning I cleaned it up and put it back together. I think it looks pretty good. Unless it is in the right light, and you know what to look for, most people wouldn't even see it.



I bought a Pro grille to replace the BAMF because I am not sure the repair would stand up to the BAMF.

ETA: don't mind all the dog hair from my pug. I did this in my basement workout room and hadn't swept it in a while. I vacuumed it all up after since I had fiberglass fibers everywhere.

 

Very nice work !

 

Looks great! I was wondering what all the fuss was about since most people had such a clean fracture that making it look almost like new shouldn't be that hard and this proves it.

Better alternative to buying a whole new piece. Although this fix could mean that if you keep the grill, next winter it would hopd up or the crack would move on to the next stress point(opposite side or somewhere else)

 

Wow, that looks good!

 

Very decent repair job. What about prophylactically reinforcing the opposite side now? Some owners have had the fracture on the passenger side, others driver's side. Just curious if now your passenger side could crack.

(looks like 3 of us were all posting simultaneously)

Edit--Okay, so 4 then.....I do see now that OP has installed a different grill than the BAMF; prophylactic reinforcement of the opposite corner is moot, however, others with the BAMF grill could consider pulling off their shroud and doing your fiberglass reinforcement mod if they live in cold climates. Interestingly, I have not seen any of these BAMF grills out here in HI

 

Wonder if it would be wise just to lay some resin in the other side to help prevent a crack?

 

Was hoping you'd come up with a way to fix it and keep the BAMF, but I know that's a lot to hope for.

 

Nice work! I just noticed you even had the eco grill. I thought it was just the recessed one that was causing the problems.

 

Good job! Nobody will ever notice that.

 

I thought about reinforcing the other side but decided not to since I am not putting the BAMF back on. I went ahead and bought a Pro grille from Amazon for $150. I figure with the flexibility of the plastic of the Pro grille I should be safe without reinforcing the other side.

I am going to be selling the BAMF grille to recover the costs of this repair.

 

You could always try this and reinforce the whole grille surround to put the BAMF back in. The fiberglass kit was only $27 on Amazon and there is plenty of it to do the whole grille. I just didn't do it because I knew I was replacing the BAMF.

 

sorry to see the crack. on ours I never really cranked down on the screws and it survived 2 brutal -20F winters up here without cracking.

 

Wouldn’t the dealer cover that if you are still under factory warranty?

 

I love the BAMF grills but I was unaware that they eventually crack the surround?? Has this been the case with many others?

 

Has anyone tried to trim the metal grill all the way around and then re-installing it??? Or at least in the areas where the surrounds are cracking?? Grinder/cutoff wheel etc.

Or is that impossible to fitment tolerances??

 

Uh, no not when you put an aftermarket grille in.

 

I don't think they would, I didn't even try, I am sure they would say it was due to excessive pressure from the BAMF grille (which is a very tight fit) and not because the surround was defective.

 

I thought that might have been what I did but when I took it apart the bolts weren't very tight at all. It didn't crack until we got to - 18 or so. I know the exact day it happened because I checked it every morning in my garage because I was worried it would happen. It was fine last winter but it didn't get that cold then.

 

SC, you're probably fine. Mine broke when it was -8 and had been -13 or so the day before.

 

I never thought of that. I bet it would work because I think the tight tolerances were the main cause.