Liftback Sport Mesh Grille Question

[skeck]

I recently purchased and installed the Liftback Sport Mesh Grille from MicroImage and redid the mesh part with some Gutter Guard for $3.75 for a 12 foot roll from Lowes. So now the mesh is black vinyl that will not turn silver over time like the stock grille mesh that comes with the grille. On a side not I also redid the mesh in the bottom grille utilizing the stock piece and modifying it with the same Gutter Guard material. My question is have any of you not painted the outer grille part and left it as is? If so, how has it held up? I am contemplating leaving it as is versus uninstalling everything to paint it matte black.

[Klink10]

Having not done the mod the answer is no. Pics??? Hard to offer opinion without them in relation to the third part if that is what you are looking for. If not, post up pics anyway ....just cause I want to see. Thanks

[ilikerice]

+1.. pictures are required in a thread when introducing new projects.. REQUIRED!

I actually removed my lower bumper grill. squirrel decided to jump thru it while I was driving and broke it. Looks good without too, but if another squirrel decided to try it again, he will probably destroy my condensor.... I need to hurry up and get a turbo so that intercooler will fill in the gap nicely

[CrankyOldMan]

I think it's just a primer coat, and not really intended to hold up long-term. Either that or it's just plastic, in which case it may fade or grey over time. /shrug

[skeck]

Okay, so I will paint this weekend then and post photos of my new Gutter Guard Grille Mods tonight after I complete the install of the lower one. I think it looks great with both upper and lower matching and getting rid of that terrible looking stock grille on the bottom. I left the stock painted slots in the bumper, not wanting to try my hand at slicing those off and touching up the bumper body. All in all very pleased with the MOD especially for $3.75 from Lowes and the cost of come small black wire ties. It is a nice sturdy vinyl material that will stay black no matter how much wear. I will make sure I post pics to show how to modify the bottom grille utilizing the exisiting trim on the stock grille as well, as I was very pleased with how it came out. Tonight is the actual install and installing my Highway Blaster Blazer Hi Tone horn upgrade as well, which also means a 15 amp fuse for the fusebox which I think i have lying around from when I disabled my ABS. I might get frisky tonight if time allows and clean, sand, prime and paint the upper grille as well. Looks like my Friday night is booked up now.

[cali yaris]

Interested to see this!

[skeck]

Okay so after trying to reuse the original trim from the bottom grille to create a new grille found that with the zip ties required to attach the new grille to the trim it was not possible to resecure it the way it attached before. So I ended up just attaching the gutter guard to the tabs that were used to mount the stock grille and use some small black wire ties around the mesh and the vertical painted slots on the bumper, to ensure that it stays in place over time. So the only mods here are that I switched out the grille mesh that came with the new liftback sport mesh grille and the mesh in the bottom grille with gutter guard so that they matched one another. I am placed with the overall look though. Temps were low here last night so I did not paint the upper grille yet, will be doing that tonight. I did get the new horn installed but due to the size I had to mount it in a different location then the original. In the pictures below we have...

1. Modified lower grille
2. Modified lower grille close up (you can barely see the black wire ties, might vary based on color of your vehicle)
3. Modified upper grille
4. Modified stock lower grille (originally was going to use this, but liked look better without it, all I did was exacto away the stock mesh & replaced with Gutter Guard)
5. Duplicolor Adhesive Promoter and Krylon Satin Black paint for plastic (what I am using to paint upper grille today when temps go above 50 degrees)
6. Complete look of both grilles installed with Gutter Guard from Lowes

[Klink10]

Now that I see it....looks pretty good to me. I was reading last night how you were gonna do this last night and thought about how cold it was going to be. Hope you worked inside. Is that plastic mesh by the way? Okay re-read and found it's a plastic mesh from Lowes. Where in Lowes was it?

[skeck]

Yes it was damn cold last night, I wore pajama pants under my jeans, a wife beater, a t-shirt, a long sleeve shirt, and a hoodie (lined with fleece) as well as earmuffs and I still froze my ass off. At least today I am going to be able to work in 50 degree weather. Have to take bumper off (yet again...seems like everything requires taking your bumper off) and then take the top grille off to sand, prep, prime and paint and will let it dry overnight. Which means reattaching my bumper yet again tonight and taking it off again tomorrow to reattach the new grille. Then I should be done for the winter. Switching back to my factory steel wheels today, not to happy about that, freaking Winter....argh!

Anyways to answer your question....at my Lowes it was all the way in the last aisle to the right where the contractors enter, in building materials area. It is in a roll. It is surprisingly sturdy vinyl that is supposed to hold up through all weather conditions. You can still cut it easily though with a good pair of scissors.

[catliektheif]

it looks awesome!

[skeck]

Here are the final pics after painting and installing.

[cali yaris]

that looks beautiful. I like the Netz emblem too.

Can I use those pics to demonstrated the product installed?

[skeck]

Thanks man, Most certainly! Important to note that to get the final I did the following...

1. Sanded the outer grille
2. Cleaned with rubbing alcohol
3. Primed with Adhesive Promoter (2 light coats)
4. Painted with Krylon Satin Black for Plastic (3 coats)
5. Painted one last layer within 2 hours of last Krylon coat with Rustoleum High Perfomance Wheel Matte Black (for plastic and metal)

This gave it a beatiful matte finish in the end that has held up all day in the rain today, since I let it cure for about 10 hours before install this morning.

Allso the fit is a bit tricky what i did was attach all of the wire ties very loosely until I got it positioned just right and then i tightened while holding it in place, I found that by tightening the bottom section first (after a couple tries) it worked best to position the top exactly in place where I wanted it.