sshole Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 When I first saw listings for this grille, I wanted one, but all of the listings said "you will need to modify things to make this grille fit." Some of the listings had users posting things like "you'll need to cut this, that, and the other and trim the vertical tabs." Nobody ever really posted pictures of the modifications they made. Here are my pictures of installing the JDM honeycomb grille onto my 2008 Spec B USDM front bumper. The various cuts I made to my front bumper cover. I think to get the grille to sit more flush with the bumper cover, you'll need to remove essentially all of the material where the red cuts were made*.Blue - cut this to make room for the center support on the grilleOrange - cut these to fit the latching arms that protrude from the bottom of the grilleRed - cut the lip off of the bumper cover because it interferes with the grille [*]Here you can see the blue center support and the latching arms I was talking about in picture 1. Slide the grille in so that the arms go in the orange holes. You'll then be able to roughly locate where you will need to drill new holes at the top-sides of the grille. [*]You can see that I've installed the grille clips that go into the radiator support bracket (green). You'll also see that I've drilled out new holes so that I can install the grille with some pop rivets (red). [*]Grille is in. [*]The gap along the bottom of the grille is quite large. [*]Closer look at that gap. Something that I didn't highlight in the pictures is that I did cut a bit of the vertical portions of the tabs (the area where I drilled new holes) so they wouldn't catch on the existing pop rivets that hold the bumper cover to the headlight bracket (you can see these pop rivets in picture 3 forward of the red circled areas. I don't think this is entirely necessary to install the grille the way that I have. *It seems like others have cut a significant portion of the bumper cover to get the grille to sit flush with the bumper (essentially the entire structure behind the grille). You can see what someone else has cut in picture 7. I don't think I'll be doing this much mutilation to my car. Overall, I like the look of this grille even with the gap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
08SpecB_DE Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 Grill looks amazing but glad I didn't buy one recently. The gap is too much for my liking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustCallMeNick Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 Thank you for posting this. I have this grille waiting to go on. I was waiting to decide if I wanted to cut up the car like that. That gap is kind of eye catching though. I think I might have to sit it flush. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasted Potential Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 Reminds me of dating a hot girl w/ a gap in her teeth; my OCD would kill me haha. If there was anyway for a fair price to eliminate the gap (probably have to be bondo and paint....) I'd like it, makes it look '5-10 years younger. Until you look at the side or butt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nevets27 Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 Thanks for the pictures. I was considering that grill also. But yeah that gap how much cutting of the bumper makes this a lot less appealing. I couldn't live with that gap. It also looks like its shifted to one side a bit. Wonder if you could raise the bumper skin a bit. The headlights probably will get in the way though. Sent from my LG-H933 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewLegGT67 Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 I inserted plastic under the bumper skin to eliminate the gap. I bought some cheap flexible mud flaps and cut to fit under the bumper skin under the grill. You need something to withstand the elements. I'm probably the only person that has Wu-Tang Clan and Paul McCartney on their mp3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybaster Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 *It seems like others have cut a significant portion of the bumper cover to get the grille to sit flush with the bumper (essentially the entire structure behind the grille). You can see what someone else has cut in picture 7. I don't think I'll be doing this much mutilation to my car. Overall, I like the look of this grille even with the gap. hey sshole, that someone is me just for completeness here is the gap (or lack there of) after the trim honestly no regrets, and it makes it look awesome in the front (without doing the full JDM conversion) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshole Posted January 25, 2018 Author Share Posted January 25, 2018 Yeah after looking at that angle, I think I may go with the full cut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tocinoman25 Posted January 29, 2018 Share Posted January 29, 2018 Yeah after looking at that angle, I think I may go with the full cut.Cut it up...after you sent me the pm...for advice...i ended up using my dremel and cut away. Looks 10x better. I may add double sided foam tape on the sides to keep her tight Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk Follow me on IG @chefodiycarguy and @chefo.soriano Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tocinoman25 Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 Here is before and after pics. Definitely sits better with slicing up the bumper Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk Follow me on IG @chefodiycarguy and @chefo.soriano Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshole Posted January 31, 2018 Author Share Posted January 31, 2018 Alright so I'm going a little bit at a time to see if I can get the grille to sit more flush without cutting away all of that support plastic. I cut a bit more out of the middle portion and made the holes in the grille's tabs longer so the grille would push away from the rad support at the top, but pull in towards the radiator at the bottom. So, the pictures: Cut more away from the middle portion of that support area in the blue box.Don't make the mistake I made - the new holes that you drill should be further away from the original holes.Grille is now a much better fit. Still not flush like the others (potentially rubbing against the paint on the bumper?), but I think this is a good middle ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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