Satoshi Grill Mod (How-to, Tips, & Pic's!)

WOW! Finally done with this monster of a project! Just want to start out by saying that, I had ZERO experience with the Bondo, Resin, and fiberglass... To anybody attempting this project with little to no experience, BE WARNED! It will take a week or so, depending how good you are and how much time you have... What I did, so I wouldn't be driving around for a week without a grill, Is order a paint to match replacement grill online. Got it for around $50.00 on ebay... Which was much lighter than the truck...

Parts List:

Bondo
Fiberglass Repair Kit
Dremel
220 Grit Sandpaper
600 Grit Sandpaper
Plasti-Dip Spray (2x Cans of Black)
Dupi-Color Magnetic Grey (3x Cans)
Dupi-Color Adhesive Promoter (1x Can)
Dupi-Color Clear Gloss Coat (1x Can)
Putty Knife
2 Tub-aware Containers (For Bondo and Resin)
Replacement Grill
Chrome Billet Grill for 1999 Tacoma (Fits the 2005-2011 if you trim it)
3" Long Bolts (4x Bolts)
Nuts (4x nuts lol)
Washer (1x Washer)


Got the Replacement Grill in the mail... Broken of course...



About an hour of dremeling



Dremel got a bit hot...



Cleaned it up with sand paper and dremel



Next, I used the fiberglass repair kit to fill in the gaps left by the old grill





Next, I applyed the bondo in the areas that needed it... I applyed it very Generously. Here is a tip: Don't go over board with the bondo right away. Be patient and use several layers... The smoother it is before you sand, the less you have to sand...





Sand... Bondo... Sand... Bondo... OVER AND OVER AGAIN!!!



There we go! Silky smooth!



Damn Dog...



But he is a helper...



Also, This is how I attached my screws. I held them on using the resin and fiberglass repair mesh. It could probably be cleaner, but I dont really care since nobody will be able to see it.





Plasti Dip the inside to clean up the rough spots, and uneven areas.



Sanded and ready to paint match





I added one LIGHT layer of clear coat. First time, it turned white and I had to start over.



My workspace



Finished after two weeks of stress and paint







If you have any questions please post them below. I'll answer asap! Total cost? Roughly around $400.00, which is $200.00 more than what I should have spent.

But I had several setbacks and had to start over a few times. Difficuly level 7 out of 10. But for those who have more experience, and more room, and a power sander... It probably wont be as hard.

Here is a video in full detail! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2UQ19D9bfc&feature=youtu.be

 

Nice write-up!

 

Done about 30 of them ,,,GOOD JOB MAN...

 

Getting ready to start mine this weekend. This will help! Thanks for the write up. I am going to be doing the mesh instead of the billet style but it looks good. I am also going to have a shop do my color match but that is just because I am not that good with painting but yours turned out looking great.

 

I really could have used your help then! Haha. I can't believe that you've done 30 of them! Hell, I'm good after mine... There isn't allot that could make me do that again... Other than a large sum of cash! Hahaha

 

good job looks good i'm in the process of doing mine now

 

Nice, I saw this little project a year back and was pumped, So I did it in a LONG weekend a couple weeks ago, turned out not to shabby. I used this ABS mesh I found of ebay that is not to crazy looks like a stock mesh kinda.

 

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How did you mount the grill to the frame? looks great man. I will probably be doing this once i have time...so...maybe never but...lol

and yes, i resurrected an old post

 

All good brother! I just used the factory mounts. Everything popped into place just like it should. If I remember correctly, there are 4 mounts all together. Two on top and two on bottom of the grill. They're just little plastic Snap In's

 

niceeeee

 

Sweet, glad this post was resurrected! I've been tossing back and forth the idea of one...just gotta get over the nerves of tearin' up my grille I'm going to order a color-matched grille, so maybe I'll experiment with the existing chrome one. If that goes well, do the same on the color-matched!