ok so i had alot of people PMing me with question about the DIY upper grill crap. So instead of answering everyones PMs all the time i just told them id make a DIY. Gonna go over a few thing first.

Materials
1 OEM Upper Grill (05-07 if you want the chrome trim, 08-09 if you done...i used an 08-09)
1 OEM Lower Grill (must be 05-07)
1 Dremel (if you have all the accessories you wont need anything else, if you don't, you'll also need a drill with a smaller sized bit)
4-10 zipties (preferablly the small sized black ones)
Safety Glasses (optional but recommended)

Time
this takes alot of time if you want to do it right, it took me about 5+ hours to finish this

DISCLAIMER: I am not responsible for any injuries, accidents, mishaps, mistakes, etc etc etc... that may happen to you, your car, or your grill while your doing this

WARNING: I highly recommend that you wear some sort of eye protection. The dremel bits break alot and can get really sharp and fly pretty far, also the plastic flies everywhere. Id also recommend wearing gloves and a long sleeve shirt if you have a low pain tolerance. I got burned by hot melted plastic on my hands, arms, and forehead several times.


OK, Now on with what youve been waiting for.

Cut out all of the stock upper grill. I dont have any pics of that...but its pretty self-explanitory

Then take the upper and place it on top of the lower, use tape to roughly outlines the shape you need to cut, i placed the tape a little bit further out to make sure i didnt cut anything to small. MAKE SURE YOU LINE IT UP SO THAT YOU WILL HAVE AT LEAST A FEW FULL HEXAGONS BOTH ON TOP AND BOTTOM TO ATTACH THE ZIP TIES TO LATER. If you fail to do this then the whole thing is pretty much ruined.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b373/redlineracer9086/tC/DSC04638.jpg

Start cutting out along the tape lines.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b373/redlineracer9086/tC/DSC04640.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b373/redlineracer9086/tC/DSC04642.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b373/redlineracer9086/tC/DSC04644.jpg

once all of the major overhang is cut off, use the file accessory on the dremel to file the edges down even closer. This is a very meticulous step. File bits away very slowly and line the grill up every time you do to see where you need to file next.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b373/redlineracer9086/tC/DSC04646.jpg


Once the new upper sit nicely inside the old upper trim. Drill small holes straight down. Put the zip ties through the holes. (make sure you have the bulky part on the top and makes sure the zip tie wraps around back, not the front)

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b373/redlineracer9086/tC/DSC04647.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b373/redlineracer9086/tC/DSC04648.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b373/redlineracer9086/tC/DSC04655.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b373/redlineracer9086/tC/DSC04656.jpg


thats it. not so bad, just painstakingly time consuming.

put the new grill and your done.
unfortunately i ran out of zip ties and still need to do a little bit more tedious filing, lol, but i put it in just because i said id have this up by the end of the weekend for you guys so enjoy.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b373/redlineracer9086/tC/DSC04658.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b373/redlineracer9086/tC/DSC04660.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b373/redlineracer9086/tC/DSC04661.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b373/redlineracer9086/tC/DSC04665.jpg

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTION PLEASE PUT THEM IN THIS THREAD RATHER THEN PMING ME SO THAT EVERYONE CAN LEARN FROM THEM. o yea, and please dont quote the pics...

:P

edit, misunderstanding.

nice DIY

i'd do it but i ordered the vrds

haha....nice diy!!

dakine FTW!

dakine FTW!

lol, like i said, im not trying to steal Dakines spotlight or anything. i was just posting my method cuz id been getting quite a few PM's about it.

:clap:

ooo, my bad bro. lol
ill edit those posts right now.
yea yours def looks cleaner than mine, but then again...youve got way more experience doin it then me.
yea your first DIY was kinda lackin, hope you make a better one for everyone.

man you guys jump on everyone if he gives it a shot?!

wow

:relief:

making badgeless upper grills suck! but hey thanks for making one. at least u attempted so that next time... you can make a true badgeless grill. trial and error sucks but congrats on getting it done.

:bow:

alright, me and Dakine settled it through PM.
so no more drama.
if you like it and its usefull to you...great
if its not...leave your negative comment and move along.

:relief:

making badgeless upper grills suck! but hey thanks for making one. at least u attempted so that next time... you can make a true badgeless grill. trial and error sucks but congrats on getting it done.

:bow:

this is already my second attemp. lol
still way better than the first one, there was line 1/2 inch gap halfway along the bottom cuz i just went nuts with a sawzall without measuring anything. haha

hmmmmm :ponder:

Great DIY! This will help me a lot.

Although, I don't want chrome...but I don't want to have to get an 08-09 upper grill. I took the chrome off of my upper and it doesn't look bad at all.

Also, to reduce the pain of burning yourself you could try cutting and filing at a lower speed. Lower speed will take longer, but not get as hot and thus less burning.

Good job!

yea i used the lower speed sometime, the burns dont bother me, i was just giving everyone else a heads up. lol

^ thats not the worse part... f**king up on customers grill on ideas that you have is a big :no:

haha yea, im def not offering to do anyones. i refuse to take money from anyone if my work is less than top notch quality.

nicely done, where exactly do you drill the holes on the 'housing' piece? im hoping to do this in the next week or so.

thanks. i've also bookmarked daKines as well.

well u find a spot that has a whole hexagon and just drill straight down into it.

very nice how-to man...you rock

bump since ive seen a couple threads asking for this lately.

hey yellowxhoodie, is their a way to cut the stock upper grill without the drimel, bec. i don't have it and i don't feel like spending $60 + on the drimel kit!
thanks

jj

^ dremel gives more precision to the cut. u can go buy a rotary tool for cheap. just gotta look around, like lowes or home depot or a small tools store.

great

if you were to do this with the 06-07 grill..doesnt the lower grill sit behind the chrome piece instead of on top of it like the 08-09s?

im not sure because ive never had a 05-07 grill in my possession to actually see the chrome trim.

well i did mine a similiar way just epoxyed each point...the PITA way :doh: . so dont do it

thank you

Moved to tech!

I've had a lower OEM grill sitting in my closet for a year now...I need to get around to doing this at some point.

lol i had to buy 2 grills to do this because i messed up my first one but well worth it great write up

haha nice diy! keep up the good work.



______________________
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dang thats tight

will be attempting this sometime soon, finally got a spare bottom grill!! Thanks for the write up.

this write up seen a bit hard to do, but i been wanting a badge less grill for a while, im going to give it a try thanks!!

nice mod