Custom-made Sport Grill: S402 Replica Walkthrough ('05-'07 Legacy)

If you are planning on doing some more put me in line for the new version and I'm shipping you my grill !

Took a few pictures, and here they are. It looks better in person as always. Keep in mind this is essentially a rough draft and I haven't sanded anything. Considering black paint will be over all of it, it should end up looking pretty nice. It's tough to take a pic at a good angle but it has a really nice flush look to it and still uses the stock lip. I decided to leave the chrome this time. I've had a grille on my car that I made 3 years ago where I left the chrome and its held up fine. I'm going to wipe it down with alcohol and scuff it up more than I did mine. In the past I used bleach to get rid of the chrome but you end up having to replace the bleach everyday or so and you have to deal with diposing of hazardous waste which isn't really ideal. I've seen it first hand and if prepared right, leaving the chrome shouldn't be a big deal. So I'll paint over the chrome once it's prepared and good to go. That's where this one stands right now. I'll be in touch.

Thanks! Looking good.

I'm jealous that you'll have one of these Dale.

Ordering the emblem today. Sorry I haven't been quicker on this! So much to do and time just cruises by. All I have left is sanding and paint and it's coming out great though.

 

Here's the latest time suck: Getting the runaround from the insurance company, having to move up the food chain on it.

If that pillar is bent then its a total due to safety they can't replace the roof pillar sections.

There's part number for the roof and pillars.

That sucks man. I'm going to be starting this process soon for my Grille, Anyone have recommendations on what vehicle grille I can chop up for the 08-09 front? Does anyone know if I can just purchase a sheet of the honeycomb plastic? not a fan of the metal mesh.

you can purchase honeycomb sheets but you have to buy in high quantity usually.

We'll see, they're gonna pull down the headliner and look at the damage on Tues.

That sucks man. I'm going to be starting this process soon for my Grille, Anyone have recommendations on what vehicle grille I can chop up for the 08-09 front? Does anyone know if I can just purchase a sheet of the honeycomb plastic? not a fan of the metal mesh.

 

I've got a sheet of really nice plastic honeycomb I bought a year or so ago. I got it on eBay for $40. It's really durable and is probably 1/4" thick. I can post a couple pics and dimensions and would sell it to you. It comes black so you wouldn't need to paint it and it'd never chip.

Here's that mesh. With it being an 08/09 grille that you want its a litte bigger; I don't know the dimensions, but it's probably an inch or two taller than 05-07 grilles. Regardless this sheet would cover what you'd need. It's 46-3/4"x11-1/2"x1/4". It's really flexible and durable, this stuff would last forever. I bought it as "modders mesh" on eBay. You could even use leftover pieces for fog light bezels or whatever you want. There'd be quite a bit left over.

 

I'll sell it to ya for what I paid, $40 plus shipping. If not it's cool because I can fit two 05-07 grilles out of it and make some nice grilles, I like this stuff a lot. I just thought I'd offer it to you since you're looking for well, this stuff.

Edited August 8, 2014 by nospmoht04

I worked on the grille for a while tonight, and I'm sittin here adding some more adhesive right now to make it more solid. It's pretty much fine tuning certain spots at this point. Taking my time so it comes out nice and I hope to get it painted by the end of the weekend.

Pretty please can You make one for me

Looks great man and your super good at this

Thanks man, maybe someday I get one done for you, got a lot in the meantime. They're coming out better and faster when I have time to work on them.

Prices seem to be rising on things though. I used to get the crown Vic inserts for $22-24, now all I can find is $30-35. Also the emblem that was $44 shipped was now $56. If anyone knows a cheaper spot for either of those that'd be a big help. Hopefully some cheaper ones show up.

P/N for the emblem?

I'm getting 93013sa032 for a part number from subarupartsdepot.com. I'll have to look harder but everything seems to come out to $55 with shipping from what I saw.

 

I look it up as a 2010 Impreza WRX emblem. It's how I bought it before and it worked out.

$50.00

 

2014 Impreza/Forester emblem.

perhaps this would work for the 08-09 grills

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Grille-Assembly-Grill-Black-shell-dark-gray-insert-Ford-FO1200395-3L5Z8200BA-/350824855996?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Make%3AFord|Model%3ARanger&hash=item51aeca79bc&vxp=mtr

 

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxMjAw/z/AQAAAOSwh6xTu75Z/$_57.JPG

Cool thanks for the info on the emblems. Luckily stevegspear is hooking me up. I'm gonna to buy a couple crown vic inserts, a grille, and an emblem off of him so I'll have enough to make 4 more after this one is done.

 

That would fit an 08/09 I bet. It even has the bowing out look in the close up views, and you can tell by the shadows in that pic. I bet that would look nice making one of those. I almost have to make one of those at some point. It'd make it a bit more pricey at $58 though.

Yeah I had a ranger behind me the other day and I noticed that grill and how it had the natural curved bowing to the front of it as well. I instantly thought (this could work for the 08-09 guys).

Haha that's awesome, nice find.

So here are some crappy cell phone pics, I'll have to get ahold of the little digital camera we have cause these come out awful. They're way too dark.

 

The adhesive on the outer edges looks pretty choppy in the pics but it's just the lighting, everything is pretty smooth at this point and I'm adding a very small amount of bondo to fill in any little pits or lines. Once I prime it, I'll throw on a few coats of primer filler as well and wet sand it with some 400 and 1000 grit. Might be over the top but I have the sandpaper so hey why not. Point is once everything is laid on you won't see many, if any, defects or blemishes.

 

I wanted to show some of the ugly lookin prep work so you can see what I'm doing to try and make paint stick and avoid having it chip as long as possible.

 

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f178/nospmoht04/004-1.jpg

 

Everything you see here is sanded with 180 and 240 grit to knock down the bondo and patch panel adhesive so it's relatively aggressive and will smooth out later. I'll use some 320 before the plastics primer, then like I said the 400+ after the high build primer.

 

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f178/nospmoht04/008.jpg

 

These prep pics are from 2 days ago, so I've done a little more than what's here but I'm almost done and ready for primer now.

 

A few minutes ago I went out and set it in place on my car to get a few pics of it looking installed.

 

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f178/nospmoht04/016-1.jpg

 

It's too bad these are so dark but it's what I've got for now.

 

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f178/nospmoht04/015-1.jpg

 

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f178/nospmoht04/018.jpg

 

 

That's where I'm at right now. I'm digging the look and I'm very happy with how it's coming out right now. I've prepped every surface for a better paint job, and I made it sturdy as hell by adding extra adhesive. I have a friend of mine who's owned a body shop for 30 years who I called yesterday. I'm going to stop by there and have him take a look at it and give me some tips on possibly what else to do to prep it right and how I should pime, high build prime, sand and paint it. Just to make sure I'm not missing anything worth doing. I was also considering using a small amount of non-gloss clear coat to add a little protection from rocks and stuff from damaging it. What's your guys' opinion on that? It'd also protect against fading. Just an idea, I may test it out on some scrap pieces and see how it looks.

Edited August 15, 2014 by nospmoht04