relatively eye pleasing grill block
 

I have been on this site for a month or two and have noticed that a lot of people use duct tape and cardboard along with other materials to use for their mods. I have been very particular about the appearance of my vehicle. I want it to look semi-stock at least.

I started with using plastic sheeting for my lower grill and couldn't figure out how to block the upper grill and make it look clean or at least relatively clean. I wanted to still be able to open my hood without having to redo stuff. a friend recomended weather stripping. off to autozone I went. they had a little bit of a selection so I went with the $7.99 10ft roll. I had to use 4 strips to get the thickness that I needed but I think it looks pretty good. here are some pics that are a little hard to see but the best I have right now.


https://www.gassavers.org/garage_imag...ssz5bcpnjo.jpg
https://www.gassavers.org/garage_imag...4mbo0yzmjp.jpg

I also added it around my headlights to create a better seal of the hood.

That looks decent. :)

On my Regal and my Ram 1500,I blocked them from behind.I don't know if it's any more or less efficient that way,but like you I wanted to keep it invisible.I removed the grille,cut a piece of scrap sheetmetal to fit around all of the mounting points,drilled some holes, and stuck it in. I positioned the mounting screws to go through the grille,then through the block off ,then into the original holes . It kind of makes a grille-sheetmetal-hood sandwich. I might also note that I painted both sides with flat black paint to hide it and to prevent rust.The one I made for the 2004 Ram was made from plexiglass instead.I painted both sides on it too and it is equally invisible.

so your plexi-glass accepted paint?

did you have to scuff the surface before you painted it?
any issues with paint chipping?

I have a friend that wants to do something like that and that is why I was wondering.

I am one that applauds people that will sacrifice looks for FE. I on the other hand want my cake and eat it too.

Krylon has a line of paints called "Fusion" that are made for plastic surfaces. And I've also had good luck w/ regular Krylon, after scuff sanding the plexiglass so the paint would stick better.

so if you get the better stuff, you don't have to scuff the surface.

I will pass this on. thanks

Nah!,I just used the cheap wal-mart stuff. I think the key is to paint both sides. The paint on the back will give it color and won't be chipped/washed off by weathering. The paint on the front is just to take the shine off of the smooth surface. I used a much lighter coat on the front side.