Just finished making my custom grille - I was tired of the chrome. The final finish was a bedliner material followed by a few clear coats. Really came out nice and VERY tough. The inserts I cut out of perforated aluminum sheet, scuffed with a DA sander, and then clearcoated. The pictures really don't do justice to the inserts.

I think the key was good prep. Adhesion promoter, prime and sand, prime and sand, primer sealer...THEN the color.

Do you guys like??

 

I like it! How much it run ya for the materials?

 

About $30 for a sheet of 1/16" thick aluminum (which is heavier than it sounds), about $25 in primer, clearcoat, and bedliner, $5 in stainless steel hardware. I also had to spend $80 for a new grille from Certifit.com due to a bad crack in the old chrome one from a rock. The dealer wanted $320. A flat black one from Certifit was $80. Brand new, with the stock inserts, too! (BTW, I have 2 complete sets of stock inserts if anyone needs some).

You probably wouldn't have to spend the $80 for the grille unless yours is damaged.

Fun, quick project, excellent result, I think.

 

looks good. are you planning on having the arb front covered in line-x too?

brett

 

where did you get the grill inserts?

 

I give it an 8 in the looks department and the cost gets a 10. You can't beat 60 bucks for what you did there. Nice work

 

Rusty - no, probably leave the bumper powerdercoated. The semi-gloss powdercoat actually matches the amount of gloss on the grill pretty well. The pics don't show it perfectly.

Texan - I made the inserts myself from scratch. It was a raw aluminum sheet - I figured out the pattern, cut it, sanded it with a DA for a nice brushed finish, and then clearcoated it.

Sandaholic - Thanks, man!

 

I'm fabbing a plate steel skid plate at present. Nearly done with that...
Pics soon. If it comes out as easy as it's been so far, I'll post a template that anyone can use to have one cut at their local machine shop in about 30 mins.

 

Looks Awesome!

 

that looks awesome i was thinking about doing that to my chrome grill

 

Looks great Majikmd. What did you have to give for the ARB

 

Thanks! Glad you guys like.

Monkey - I got the ARB for right at 1400 delivered, and got them to throw in a nice tow strap. The best part was the warranty. For $100 I got a FREE LIFETIME replacement warranty. If the bumper EVER is dinged, bent, damaged, etc, they send me a new one free. AND, I can renew the warranty for $100 for each new bumper they ever send me. So, I can basically taco this one (which I don't think is possible) and keep getting a new one for $100. Can't beat that!

 

That came out real nice! Well done.

 

that looks great. Good job!

 

Good work. Looks nice...and most importantly, different than everyone else's.