My ugly grille block
 

I spent the evening blocking my non-functional fog grilles (and a small amount of the functional grille). It sucks and I'm probably going to tear it off in the morning before I drive to work.

I cut Coroplast to shape and then curved straight pieces of coroplast wire frames to make it match the curve of the front end.
https://lh6.ggpht.com/ronanian/SJES73...8/IMG_1568.JPG
https://lh5.ggpht.com/ronanian/SJETBk...8/IMG_1570.JPG

Here's what the car looks like without them:
https://lh6.ggpht.com/ronanian/SJETLa...6/IMG_1572.JPG

Here's the filler that goes between the grille and the coroplast to make it nearly flush:
https://lh4.ggpht.com/ronanian/SJETG0...6/IMG_1571.JPG

Here's one installed after I had attempted to match the car's blue. It looks pretty decent in this pic but it really doesn't look as good IRL.
https://lh6.ggpht.com/ronanian/SJETQI...6/IMG_1576.JPG

Here's them both installed after painting them black and clearcoating them. I overdid the clearcoat, so the black, which was pretty decent, got really blotchy. Also, I didn't get them flush like I wanted.
https://lh3.ggpht.com/ronanian/SJETTh...6/IMG_1579.JPG

How can the clearcoat mess up the underlayer?!
If it turned white, maybe it's humidity or something.

Of all people here, I thought you would've sealed
the top intakes first for aero...

Consider polycarbonate. Available at Home Depot. Tougher than plexiglas. Avoids having to match colors. Thin polycarbonate (or plexiglas if that's what you've got) should be able to make that bend without heating. Protect the edges with clear plastic strips to keep from marring the finish underneath. For the vast general public, that tends not to be very observant, it will look unmodified. Plastic lens will eventually degrade with scratches and whatnot, but that should age with the car.

I would not close lower openings before closing upper openings. Fairing in the upper openings allows the air to slide over the hood smoothly. Leaving the lower openings open gives air that hits the lower bumper a place to go besides under the car. (It may still go under the car, but it will have done something useful along the way) But fairing in the upper openings is harder to make look good.

The clearcoat didn't mess up the underlayer. I put it on too thick and it was no longer clear in those spots. I suppose humidity could be part of it too...it was rather humid.

My upper grille is stealth-blocked; the blocking is invisible, behind the grille. It doesn't help airflow as much as if I did it out front, but it does not allow air to flow into the engine bay there and blocks the factory cool air intake, forcing it to get warm air from behind the radiator.

I can't block in front of that grille because I'm incapable of coming up with any result that won't attract attention. I think I can do these fog grille blocks without making it stand out too much, but it's going to take more effort.

I was thinking of taking these steps:
- Remove one layer of styrofoam backing so everything sinks in.
- Add layers of coroplast (thinner than the styrofoam) to make it come up flush. I could laminate them with glue and/or wire them together.
- Top layer either gets flat black paint, flat black Plasti-Dip spray, or I could laminate on some EPDM rubber roofing.

More on the upper openings: I could conceivably fill the slats with flat black styrofoam gap-filler made for filling gaps around house doors and windows. I'll have to look into that some more.

Also, I have a nice piece of polycarbonate, it's even tinted...but I want to save it for my truck, it's exactly the right size to do my truck's whole grille, and I think it would be less noticable there. I'll have to consider it some more for this car.

Ok, here's what it looks like in the daylight. The white blotches are thick clearcoat on top of otherwise decent black. The lines are where the metal wires are, which looks terrible in daylight...definitely going to need to laminate another layer on there.

https://lh6.ggpht.com/ronanian/SJG2gy...6/IMG_1582.jpg

what you might do is try to find some clear plastic packing material, doesn't have to be very thick, just something that will keep it's shape when backed

after you cut it to shape spray in the desired color ON THE BACK... when the paints dry, depending on its darknes overcoat it with black or white, in this case i'd say black, to keep it from shining trough, although that might not be needed as there's not light comming from behind.

instant deep gloss finish, the paint itself is protected from the elements, and even when it's scratched the paint itself won't be damaged.

you could clearcoat it fron the front for more gloss, but, well perhaps better not ;)

than again, i'm sure when you get the paint right on these blocks they'll look really nice!

You just put the clear coat on way to heavy. You want thin coats of paint. Lightly sand with some 220 grit sandpaper. Give about 3 light coats of black then 2 or 3 light coats of clear.

Say your painting something white and making it black. You don't want to cover the white in 1 pass. You want to put thin coats on to cover the white.
I would say re-paint it and it would look pretty nice.

:thumbup: That's exactly it. I was hurried and not interested in trying very hard, it was late and hot and humid and I just wanted to be done. I hope to have time and supplies this weekend to do it right. Maybe I'll try to get the supplies sooner and work on it a little tonight too, but not try to finish tonight.

I'm not sanding, though. If that's involved then it's gone too far. :D

why clear coat at all? isn't your lower bumper (very lower) and your grill a flat grey kind of dull tone?

I would just paint it black and forget about it.

The black paint I had was gloss black and the clear coat I had was matte, so I hoped it would help lose some of the gloss.

The lower grille is textured matte black, and the plastic bit that hangs lower than the painted surfaces is textured matte grey.

you know paint is only $5 a can or so. you could always pick some up. you could also use that coating dip stuff you talked about on another thread. got it a home depot or lowes maybe? I think you said it had a texture and was thick so as to not chip when rocks hit it.

If you have a plastic store around (need to look for it), then get a couple of small pieces of black ABS plastic, and heat bend it. No need to paint, might look more stock than what you did.

For the top grill, if you want to mold something, have you considered the following? Wrap plastics with saran wrap. spray expanding foam like "right stuff". When dry, sand it down flush. Carefully pull all parts out and remove saran wrap leftovers, cover new part & finish (pastic dip, fiberglass or plain duct tape), then re-insert finished product.


For clear coat, you need to do a "wet coat", thick enough to look wet, but no more, because then it starts dripping. And yeah, no humidity, and do the spray in the shade and not with excessive heat.

Yeah, I already decided earlier today that I'd stop and get some paint on the way home. I really should always have some flat black at my house, and Plasti-Dip spray is just too cool not to have around. I know I've got a can of clear Plasti-Dip spray somewhere but I can't find it. :(

sonyhome, that's a good idea about the upper grille. It comes off the car with a few screws and clips, very easy, so I can take it off, wrap it up, and fill the spaces with nearly anything I want. I know for a fact that expanding foam won't hold up; my dad used it to build out the missing pieces of housing on a broken van mirror once. I don't think even a thick coat of Plasti-Dip will protect it, it's just not structurally sound enough.

Maybe I could use the pre-fab foam space filler I was talking about and fill the remaining gap with silicone or hot-melt glue. I can't find it on Home Depot's site, but imagine a garden hose made of closed-cell styrofoam, available in various diameters.

There are foamproducts that are pretty solid out there.
I've seen them at the Tap Plastics store. You could also go into arts stores and get the plastic clay people use to make shapes or other similar products.

If you epoxy& fiberglass, you won't care how flimsy the foam is, BTW, but that'll be too much work and too professional. You could even carbon-fiber coat it for that ricey look. ;)

Okay, so that stuff I couldn't name is called "Caulk Saver":
https://images.orgill.com/200x200/6289227.jpg

It's not made thick enough for my upper grille.

I did stop and buy flat black spraypaint and flat black Plasti-Dip spray. :D

Stupid question, but why not just cut a piece of black corrugated plastic and fit it behind the upper grille? Or does the car's design not lend itself to such a solution?

Indeed, the car's design won't cooperate. Take a look:
https://lh5.ggpht.com/ronanian/SF1pWk...6/IMG_1314.JPG
https://lh4.ggpht.com/ronanian/SJI-sV...6/IMG_1293.JPG
https://lh6.ggpht.com/ronanian/SJI-wq...6/IMG_1294.JPG
https://lh4.ggpht.com/ronanian/SJI-0p...6/IMG_1295.JPG

I'm just not confident that I could do it in an inconspicuous way.

Edit: Additionally, the last gap is between the grille and the hood and there's probably nothing I can do about that one.

I see the dilemma now... fabricate something to block it off, not be too conspicuous, and have it be reversible with no damage for when you turn it in at the end of the lease... you sure have your work cut out for you.

-Jay

you could also do what I used to test the CRV:

Foam packing padding, cut with an exacto knife. Then you can duct tape over the front or just dip it in your rubber stuff...
Make it easy first to se if it matters to be flush or not.

Good idea. I have some moderately stiff foam packing that might do the job, or I could use a discarded couch cushion.

I got some time to work on it today. I cut another layer of Coroplast and tried to laminate it with hot melt glue. I used spring clamps to hold it to the curved piece until the glue hardens but it failed a few minutes after I removed the clamps.

So, I made some hairpin-like bends out of the wire frame material and stuck them in the ends to hold the two pieces together. Works great, and a couple hammer taps set them deep so they don't stick out of the edge.

At this point, I'd like to take a moment to go off on a tangent rant. Lots of people hate cheap tools as found at discount stores, Harbor Freight, Cummins Tool, etc...but I really got this done a whole lot easier and faster for having lots of cheap specialty tools instead of just having an expensive set of common tools. Heavy duty multi-purpose fence pliers are great for this, and having a couple sizes of bolt cutters is nice because I've got just the right size to do this efficiently. I could have struggled with Snap-On vise grips and electricians pliers but this was a much faster and more pleasant job.

Ok, I digress. I got the second layer laminated on, and the third layer (which I expect to be the visible layer) patterned much more neatly than the previous layers -- I even sacrificed a piece of material just for making the pattern. I made a whole extra set of "hairpins" for attaching them, too.

It's getting less ugly. We have a nice 60 degree November day (I love that global warming!) and I took the day off because I had a rare chance to (usually I just can't even though I've got loads of vacation time built up).

Test-fitting what I think are the final cuts:

https://lh3.ggpht.com/_oNsRR_T1Qx0/SR...0/IMG_1986.JPG

https://lh3.ggpht.com/_oNsRR_T1Qx0/SR...0/IMG_1988.JPG

I'm now putting coats of Plasti-Dip spray on them and then maybe tomorrow or this weekend I'll be able to mount them. They fit pretty tight, so I've decided that I'll pad any empty space with styrofoam (as I thought before) and then just face-screw them into the grille. That ought to be good enough if I place my screws neatly.

I could also wrap the edges with some trim, such as door edge protectors, but I think it will be acceptable without doing that.

I also entirely removed the grille assembly from the truck and now I'll be able to work on that indoors when it's cold and dark out.