After no success with the aftermarket grills in Thailand, Im looking at doing it myself. Done it before on the Forester but that was relatively easy, the back being flat and all.
Here's my plan for the DIY:
* Remove grill, use Dremel to cut out the black diamondy inner piece.
* Sand cut areas back
* Use something to fill dip in bottom - fibreglass, bog, sand...whatever is needed to smooth it off.
* Mask off & spray outer edge silver again, the inner edge black.
* Drink beer.
* Cut & place black mesh, see below re: curvature.
* Secure mesh to grill.
* Re-install grill.
* Drink beer.
I need a few small tips..
1) Im going to get rid of the little dip in the bottom of the grill (sportivo model)...i need something to fill it in. Using lots of layers of body filler wouldnt work, AFAIK a big blob of filler might be prone to crack over time. Or would I be better to cut something plastic up to fill the majority then just put filler on top to smooth it off?
2) For those who've looked, the plastic mesh attached to the grill is curved...anyone know how I can get the mesh Im going to put on to curve like that? I was thinking find something with a similar curve & bend the mesh over that...then install & secure so it keeps the bend, but it might be a little hard to find something with a similar curvature. Another idea is to lay it on the back of the grill flat then put heavy things on top so it bends to match the curve of the grill. Anyone got another idea?
Im hoping in the end it goes from this.........
To this.........