First of all, this forum has been a big help to me since I bought my xB earlier this year. I've searched the old posts for months and have found a lot of answers without asking, but I'm hoping to get a little more specific advice.

I've wanted to replace the front grill's on my '06 BSP since day one. I saw the DIY on stripping the front badge and Bondo-ing over it, but as much as I like that look, I'd like a matching look for the two lower grills, which isn't possible with that approach. I've not found a lot of replacement grills on the 'net, and most that I have found are the aluminum finish billet grills, which I wasn't a fan of at first but the look is slowly growing on me.

Is there a good source for different grill options? I'm looking for more of a clean black finish. Has anyone powercoated/painted the billet grills to match? I don't know how that would work, logistically, but thought I'd throw it out there. The best I've found the 3 pc. set of billet grills for is aroun $130 shipped. Does that sound about right? I'm assuming installation of these only requires a couple new holes drilled through the bottom of the bumper.

My second long lingering project has been underbody lighting. Now, I'm not looking to rice the thing out or get pulled over everytime I run to the store, but I have been very keen on the idea of a white underbody kit that will trigger when I use my keyless entry remote. That is, I pop the clicker and both the dome and underbody lights come on.

My problem here is I haven't been able to determine what the best way to go is as far as lights. LED strips sound best to me, but they're a tad pricy, especially considering this project is a novelty. Cathodes are working great inside my box, but I'm hesistant to strap them underneath. What does everyone else use? Also, as far as wiring goes, I'm somewhere between noob and competent. Where exactly would you want to tap in for those lights to power on with the dome light, and if I wanted to be able to turn the lights on independent of the dome light, so I could turn them on and leave them on, like at a show environment, how would I need to wire that up.

I know people on here are somewhat confrontation when you don't do your proper research before you post a question, but I'm hoping this is not too intrusive and someone would be willing to give me a little advice, via post or PM.

Thanks in advance.

 

Check out this thread in the Sponsored Sales section..

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=174984

It's for puddle lights, and I personally think they look a lot better than neon under the body.

As for the grill, I haven't seen many options, besides getting a whole new front bumper.. I'd like to match the lower 2 grills with a match of the upper grill..

 

This is someone on this forum but I forget who. It appears they got billet grills for the lower grill slots and painted them black and I think it looks really good. I would imagine it would look just as good in the top spot.
http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/4840/7751td0.jpg

 

Grilles: The best most durable way to black out billet grilles is powdercoating. Mounting of most grille is straight forward and generally requires no drilling. Price may determine quality as far as fit. Remember these things are curved some in both directions so fitment of a badly formed piece can be....well....BAD. I spent significant $$ on some grilles made by T-Rex and the fit was mediocre. Trenz grilles seem to fit well but are somewhat pricy and I am not fond of the solid verticle bar look I have seen in these grilles. The good thing about most all billet grilles is that with some careful bending (and sometimes some mounting modification) fitment can be improved to be pretty nice. Cheaper grilles often are not well polished....but if you are going to paint or powder coat this fact is irrelevant.

Undercars: Leds are very nice. DO NOT use cathodes unless they are specifically designed for undercar use. I tried regular cathodes (some vendor remaining nameless here says they can be used undercar if sealed well) under the car and even with as much sealing as I think is humanly possible, I had trashed wet non functioning cathodes after the first wet drive. Neon undercar kits also are excellent. Be sure to check local regulations as in many places it is illegal to operate accessory vehicle lighting while in operation on the road. These regualtions vary from place to place and often disallow the use of colors other than those you would espect (red and blue). Some regulations even preclude the use of such lights on private property Here in Georgia they do not specifically mention white lights but disallow most colors in operation on public streets. (Glad I didn't get pulled over while driving through N Georgia and into SC and NC on a trip recently when we mistakenly flipped the switch and left them on for a few 100 miles. The ticket for these can be very harsh, up to and including $1000's in fines and charges of impersonating a police officer....Mine were running on Orange at this time so I doubt they would have slammed with the later). Good luck. If you install them operate them with due caution to avoid wallet drain, and to avoid meeting unsavory types you really do not want to meet in the local lockup.