[MikeC909]

This “How-To” is going to show you the basic idea on how to make your own Deep Dish Grille. I’m sure there are many ways to come about this project, but I’m just sharing how I made my own grille. As for the tools and supplies I used, I would easily say there are better quality materials that you may substitute in place of what I’ve used. I basically used up resources and supplies that were easily attainable, as I approached this project as if I had nothing better to do on my free time =D. I believe the better quality material you’d use, and the time you invest will result in a beautiful grille that money can’t buy. Has to do with the whole “I did it myself“ kind of pride we all have.

I originally mentioned that it only cost me less than $30 to make and do. But I actually didn’t include the cost of materials I had laying around and the potential cost of having it profesionally painted. That and the 2 air tools that I used which I’m sure some of you might not have access to. You still can do this without air tools, but it’ll just take a little more time and more sweat. The two air tools I used was a small disc cutter and a air-powered sander.

The main goal is just to have the “Frame” of the old stock grille. When you get this, you literally can add whatever mesh etc to the back of it for that “deep dish” look.The idea of it all is really simple. That’s why the steps and directions might seem a little general and not so detailed. Because it’s kinda like putting together a bike for your kid, you don’t read the directions to the specific, you just eye it all and just DO IT.

Level of Difficulty: 5/10. The only thing I can think of that some people may find difficult would be cutting out the center, and either finding a body/paint shop to finish things up or try to paint it themselves. In my case I just had a auto body shop finish it with the bondo and paint.

Time it will take: Expect 4days+. Reason being is to allow the JB Weld to dry overnight. Doesn’t take it that long to dry, but I stayed on the safe side. Than a few more days on body and paint.

So here’s the material and supplies you’ll need on hand. Many in which you might find laying around the house.

+Sand paper (need a medium grade around 120 and a fine grade around 1000+) -Should be cheap. In my case I had some laying around.

+JB Weld - Just a pack, cost about $5. Could find this at any hardware or automotive store.

+Paper clips - These shouldn’t affect your wallet or purse cost wise….(If your gonna use paper clips, look for something real thin, yet durable. You DON'T want something that will easily snap after a few bending and flexing.)

+Masking tape - I suggest anything 1inch thick or thicker. Should cost less than $10.

+A Razor blade

+Your choice of mesh or material you want to put behind the frame for your grille! - Just make sure it's easily trimmable and fairly flat.

*What I did leave out was the two air tools I used.
First, the aired disc cutter. I used this to cut out the whole center of the grille. Leaving just the frame. If you got access to this, then it should be pretty easy to cut out. Otherwise you gotta figure out a way to cut it out. If you got like some super heavy duty scissors than go for it.
Second, the air powered sander. I gotta admit, this I’m sure saved me A LOT of time from hand sanding. Sanding that probably would have taken me an hour or more to do only took me less than 15minutes. So if you’re on a budget and ain’t got access to a power sander, than you gotta put in extra time and sweat to sand that bad boy.

So lets just get started on this project:

Step 1: Get the frame of the stock grille by itself. Cut it out however you can. In my case I used a disc cutter. The closer you can cut near the frame without damaging it, the less sanding you gotta do.



Step 2: Sand, sand, sand it down. You’d probably want to start off with the medium sand paper to sand down the uneven surface left from cutting the inside crate out. You want to sand the frame till it’s fully even and flushed all the way around. Then go over it with the fine sand paper. If you really wanna put in the time, sand as much of the chrome off as well. This accordingly to the body shop I talked to, will help keep the bondo stick to it better. In my case I didn't attempt to sand much chrome off.


Step 3: Use the masking tape to tape the inside of the frame all the way around. Covering the empty slots left from cutting the inside out. This is so that when you later apply the JB Weld from the “outside” it won’t bleed or run to the “inside”.


(Tape it all the way around. Don't leave bubbles)

Step 4: Mix up the JB Weld. This is what I used to fill in the empty gaps left from cutting the inside out. I suggest squirting out small amount because you’re not gonna use it all at once. Just enough to fill up one side of the grille.


Since it takes awhile for the JB weld to dry, I HIGHLY suggest you work on each side at a time. When I say “side” that meaning the frame of the grille having 4 Sides. Top, bottom, left, and right.

Reason why this is so important is because you don’t want a side of the frame sitting vertical when you just applied the JB Weld because it’s still gooey and it will run/bleed off . This would be very bad and messy. You want the side of the frame where you just applied the JB Weld to sit on the TOP position, so that way it won’t run off or bleed nowhere. So in my case I spent a day per side to allow plenty of time to dry before I moved on to another side. So this took me 4 days alone.

Fill each gap with JB Weld and evenly spreading it as thick as the frame itself. At the same time insert approx. 2" long cutted paper clips into the Weld. These paper clips was what I used to hold the mesh in the final step. You also might want to give the very end of the clip that your putting into the JB Weld a 90degree bend, that way it won’t be able to pull out when the JB Weld dries up.

(Also you might want to tear a little piece of masking take to hold the paper clips in place, like shown in the picture above.)



Step 5: After spending a lot of time applying the JB Weld, adding paper clips to each gap, and waiting for the whole thing to try, you can remove all of the masking tape. You should have at least letted the last side you JB Welded up a day or night to fully dry before peeling off the tape. Then with a razor blade you should go over the frame and cut and trim any excess JB Weld that probably still ran off a bit to keep the frame of the grille smooth and flush.





Step 6: The frame should now have no gaps, and is smooth and flush. This is where I had a local Auto Body and Paint shop to do the bondo and paint. The bondo is used of course to hide all the dirty work such as the sanding and JB Weld spots etc. Make sure you tell the shop to keep it smooth, even, and flush! Another option instead of painting the frame to match your car is to maybe have it re-chromed. This might add a different look as well. But I’m not sure of the process involved in this etc. Just a suggestion.



Step 7: Adding your choice of mesh/grille/billet or whatever you want back there! As long as it’s fairly flat, otherwise it’ll push against the foam reinforcement behind the bumper cover. In my 1st time case, I used a wire mesh I just grabbed at a HomeDepot. Was like a 3’X10’ sheet or something like that.


This is where it took me about 3 hours to cut and trim the mesh perfectly to the back of the frame. Whatever you use to place behind the frame, it has to be near perfectly cut to the shape of the back of the frame. Otherwise It won’t properly fit back into the bumper cover.

Also you might want to use needle nose pliers to carefully bend the paper clips into place when installing the mesh. Because if you flex the clip too much, it'll also flex the JB Weld which can crack the paint.




And there you have it. How I went about on making my own "Homemade deep dish grille". In all it's a simple concept. Easily you can take this idea and improve it to make a even nicer custom grille!

When doing this, just take your time and use some common sense. The only time I felt like something was wrong and got a little frustrated was the whole trimming the mesh perfectly so that it would fit back into the bumper. When you get to this, make sure you give yourself plenty of time and "daylight" to be able to go back and forth to test fit.