nospmoht04

Yeah I think you're right. Anything I put there will look added. The JDM grill has the lip since its all molded together, if I added one it'd be sitting on top of the outer lip of the grill. Will have to see how it comes out and can always make changes later if it needs it.

What's up guys, I figured it was time for an update. I'll start by saying the girlfriend brought the hammer down a bit on working on the grill during the little time I've had off but I'm going to have a few full weekends off starting now so that really opens things up finally. This thing is about 90% done and really shouldn't be much longer. All that's left is smoothing out some spots and a bit more primer, then paint. I learned a ton about what and what not to do on the next one and it'll go much smoother. I've got a few ways to have the adhesive go on and harden more clean so I'm not spending so much time filing and sanding it out. You gotta figure you can see all the places it attaches so it needs to look clean all over. I'm also going with no lip. I had a few seals and rubber strips that I tried but I don't think it's worth the gamble hoping it stays adhered to the front of the grill and look good on the edges. It'd ruin the grill if it started to come off. Once I decided to go without it I had to put some more time into cleaning up where the lip would have covered. I'm going to make a few tweaks tonight and then get a final coat of primer on it tomorrow morning. Once that dries I'll get up a couple pics. Need to wait at least 24 hours after priming to start paint and I may add a few coats of clearcoat for protection so it'll be a few days of paint and clear till its done, but it's gettin there. I'd like to give some better news other than reasons why it's not done but I guess it's all part of designing it. I'll be in touch.

Eh oh well, looks like they'll be hand crafted all the way. I'm thinking I'm gonna be pretty decent at making grills after filling these orders.

By the way I did call a tool and die place in NH that makes molds for smaller parts. He said they didn't do parts as large as I was asking about and referred me to another place nearby but did say I was looking at something like $75k+ for a mold that big. Seems pretty outrageous and I'd like to think he's way off but I'll have to check out some other shops.

Hah it does look good. I'm putting a ton of effort into making it happen for ya. All in time!

Thanks bud, it's been fun but a lot of work figuring out how to blend it nice. Once I get the process down and have a routine things will speed up, but until then there's a lot of fine tuning.

You're looking at: Recessed Style Full price: $175 With grill trade-in: $120 S402 Style Full price: $245+$44 for emblem = $289 With grill trade-in: $234 (includes emblem) The S402 style has to include an emblem since the insert I'm using has a mounting spot built in. The emblem is a brand new '08+ oem Subaru emblem. The prices do not include shipping which has been between $10.40 and $12.00 USPS so far. I will update all of this with a bunch of pictures on page 1 of the thread once the S402 style is done which will be by the end of the week.

Sold in 11 minutes. That wasn't so bad.

I'm going to look into a mold next week. Thanks for the idea. I'm interested to see what it'd take to get it done but it's nothing I'll do right off costing that much.

Yeah at this point after seeing what's involved my pricing plan is to go $245 for materials and labor, plus the $44 for the emblem totalling in $289. It'd be $234 if you were sending me a grill in exchange. The way I'd like to do it though is to have one made before I go through with a sale so I can send a finished product and not have to make people wait. My plan for now is to do a good amount by hand and really get it down, we'll see where it leads.

Oh it's unfinished, the whole thing will be painted black when it's done. That's the last step though. The final paint will look like it does in the original recessed grill I made. It'll also have a lip that goes across the bottom and up the sides to match the look of the S402 version a bit more and it also covers the transition of the honeycomb to the grill for a smoother look.

Here are another couple shots on the car. This is without the lip that will be there. It really looks a lot better in person, tough to see a good view by taking a picture but I figured it was better than nothing.

Alright so I had some time to put in on the grill tonight and decided to stay up and get some work done on it. I'm done for the night but I thought it'd be cool to throw up a couple pics. I meant to have this whole thing done sooner and I think it's fair to at least show you what it looks like right now. Keep in mind that rough or mis-shaped looking edges can easily be filled in and sanded out and I'm still figuring out how to cut these exactly right. The orange lip you see is just an extra section I had that I stuck on to show you the size of the lip that'll go there. It'll end up wrapping from about 2/3 the way up on the right side to 2/3 the way up on the left size and mold up into where the grill starts to curl back inward on the outer left and right edges. It's a silicon-rubber seal material that has a flat bottom to it. The other version that I had half built had the honeycomb out too far and really had no clear definition of a lip on the upper part so the hood flowed down and pretty much ran into honeycomb. Even though the look is flush it needs to have that border there. I tore it apart and tweaked some things and it's looking better. I wanted to clear up any mistakes rather than sticking .:Catalyst:. with my subpar experiment. There's still plenty of work left but here's the jist of how everything will look, and how the emblem sizes up to it. If there're any ideas you guys have or if you notice something is off with it, now's the time so feel free to speak your mind. Thanks again all.

Yeah Department of Defense.

I havent had a day off since Easter but been doing as much as I can. I ended up tearing it apart and making some changes and it looks a lot better. I'm also waiting on some different lipping to show at my door which should be in this week. Emblem arrived so that will go on right when it's done. I'm not going to put a deadline on it seeing as I haven't been able to know for sure when it's done but it's certainly in the later stages. I'll try and get pics up soon. Starting next Monday my schedule will be flipped around for 2 weeks and I won't be working till 12pm each day so I'm going to have a lot of time to make these in the mornings. Updates and progress have been slow lately but I have all intentions of making these for you guys. One of the reasons I offered to do this originally was because I was supposed to be getting furloughed and only have a 4 day work week. Instead they have all but gone away and I'm working 7. I'll work around it and my schedule will change eventually. I'll let you know as soon as I get some things done. Thanks for the patience.

Yeah very center from top to bottom. Probably around 7 1/2 inches.

What's the height of the opening from top to bottom of the inside edges?

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures yet. I had it on my car looking at it from different angles before I painted it and noticed a few things that need to be changed. It's just part of the whole deal being a new project, figuring out what works and doesn't work. I want to make sure it's exactly right rather than throwing something out there just to get it done. I'll update soon.

First S402 style grill will be done tomorrow. I just finished everything but the primer, a bit more sanding, and paint. After work tomorrow, where I've been 30 of the last 32 days and counting, I'll get it painted and have pics up not long after. Other than that it'll just be a wait on the emblem that I ordered on Wednesday. I'm honestly surprised at how well it came out all things considered from the very start when I couldn't get a good source for the honeycomb material. The learning curve will start to steady out and I'll get going on more asap. I'll keep you all posted. Thanks.

Should have paint on it by tomorrow and I'll get pics up after it sits for a day.

Yup I got you already, you're ahead of about 15

That sounds good and I can do that no problem, there will be a wait though. There is quite the list going at this point and it's only fair to make them in order. I'll add you and get in contact as soon as possible. Feel free to contact me for an update on when I'll make it to yours.

Subarupartsdepot.com has it for $44.29 so I'll go with that. Catalyst, I'll just pick it up so I can send you the whole thing done and can get some good pictures with it completed.

Alright cool sounds good. Yeah most of the dealers around here have little patience it seems.

Looks like I can get them through a vendor on here for $46.14. You know the part # for the emblem just to be sure? Dealer wont look it up without a VIN number he says.