Satoshi GrillCraft *How To* w/ pics

I got mine completed this weekend. I love the way this mod makes the taco look.

 

Someone explain to me why GC sells a $2 piece of mesh steel for $200?
I would love a satoshi but at what price? Tjeesh.

 

At a minimum it saves you some time cutting and sizing the mesh, which you would have to buy yourself for at least $20-$30 anyways (if you know where you can actually buy an individual sheet for $2, let everyone know). Im not exactly sure how the GC fits, but if you dont necessarily have to perform the satoshi mod, that sounds like a simple bolt on that the average lazy person might use instead of spending the weekend to do the necessary body work and do it right. Remember, some people have more money than brains and good taste.

 

I got my mesh from customcargrilles.com for about $50 shipped. They have a lot of different patters and types of mesh available.

 

i bought my mesh from Ebay.
Here is a listing for $25 total including shipping.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/UNIV...Accessories&hash=item27b411b836#ht_2479wt_821
But if you are checking this later and the auction expired, they are constantly putting up new auctions for this mesh. Search for UNIVERSAL BLACK ALUMINUM CUSTOM MESH GRILL 12" x 48"
and this is the guys Ebay page: http://motors.shop.ebay.com/hidxenonworld/m.html?_trksid=p4340.l2562
I really like the quality of the mesh I got and had no problems cutting it with tin snips for my Satoshi. Tin snips were about $8 from Lowes.

 

excellent DIY Klipp! +1 rep. After reading 16 pages, I'm in. It's now on my "to do" list.

 

thanks! let me know if you have any ?'s

 

gonna attempt this next month after i move and have some room to do it

 

started mine today

 

I want to say GRACIAS .. i did my following this steps.

 

looks great!

 

Finished the grille w/ big help from this post Klipp. Cape codder and Ty (1BlkT) offer lots of advice too for anyone looking. By the way, although nothing is all that difficult, there are a lot of things about this mod that are a pain in the ass: all the trips to pick up supplies, the sanding, taping and painting, EPOXY. Pretty tight seeing it on the truck after a car wash though.

 

Quick question. Can't I just take the same piece of plastic that was cut from the center of the cross member and instead of cutting it out to the correct shape, just epoxy the whole piece "behind" the gap? Then fill it with putty/bondo? Then sand and paint?

 

i also had a quick question, i started mine today and got the center part cut out and sanded everything down pretty nice and smooth, i picked up the bondo container from home depot like most satoshi how to threads said to do, but if i understand this method correctly, i just cut out a piece to fill in the holes and use epoxy instead? on the whole thing as i would with the bondo? cuz i followed another thread and he used super glue to glue the pieces in place and then bondo on top and sand and then paint, this seems alot easier if its just fitting the pieces and then only epoxy and sanding, someone please let me know if this makes sense haha thanks guys!

 

Yes you can for sure....especially if your cut doesnt match up exactly and have to fill in the gaps like I did. it also makes it stronger to have a 'backing' piece.
that would be easier....

 

oook

 

Okay. Here's what I meant. I apologize for the crappy cell phone pics.

I initially tried to cut out the "puzzle" piece like the OP but I couldn't get it to fit and hold correctly. So I decided to use Loctite Plastic Epoxy to bond the plastic strip behind it instead of cutting the perfect shape to fit the gap.

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After the epoxy cured, I just applied some bondo over the top, allowed it to harden, then sanded it down evenly with 80 grit. I didn't get to finish it yet but everything appears to be holding on nicely. I still have some more sanding to do. I'll probably finish the project this weekend.

I've never used bondo before so does anyone know if this is a good way of doing the satoshi? Will the bondo fall off? LOL.

 

does the bondo stick well over time like that? if its used to fill that gap will it ever crack and expose the little part that isnt filled in perfectly?( referring to that pic^^ )

 

Not sure since this is my first experience with bondo. Maybe someone else can chime in.

 

I've never worked with bondo myself, but I hear it's prone to cracking and falling apart if it's too thick. I couldn't tell you what would be considered too thick though. I think it's only supposed to be used to smooth out imperfections when removing dents, or something like that.

I used a putty epoxy instead of bondo. It's been 9 months in New England weather and so far it seem to be perfectly fine.

This is the stuff I used:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_191857-133-...oxy&pl=1&currentURL=/pl__0__s?Ntt=putty+epoxy