I wasn't sure if CF or CJS or any of the other people who may have been testing prototypes were going to post, but I saw a thread about a week ago asking for an update so I figured I may as well share what I know.

The grilles were wrapped and packed perfectly to prevent scratching or bending during transit. The quality of the grille material is immensely better than the gutter guard I was using previously (which is now up for grabs if anyone local still wants it... Steve?...it's painted black now). For the lower and side grilles, the outside trim is both sturdy and aesthetically pleasing.

The upper grille required some minor trimming in one area, which I documented with pictures and send back to Mr. Chris Driver for an adjustment if necessary. I ended up boring through the center in the 4 required places to put the Acura symbol back on...only because there's no way to really hide the inner chrome trim and acura symbol mounting areas from the outside... and hoping people will focus more on the outside of the grille than trying to look through and see what's behind it. I suppose you could just get rid of that whole grille mount to solve the problem, but I didn't want to get that crazy with things.

The lower grille seemed to be cut fairly well to spec. I was able to mount it using a black zip tie on either side and looping it around the horizontal bar of our existing lower "grille". I loosely attached each side and got just enough slack to peek out from the side of the grille to pull it tight with a needlenose. Then cut off the excess that was showing from the front. I'm still looking for a way to get the bottom corners pushed back a bit so they are flush with the area next to the road lamps.

Below are some pics I took:















Thanks again to Chris Driver at Grille-tech.com for allowing us to test this product and for getting input from the CL-owner community. I knew as soon as I opened the box that I would be buying a set of these.... and if the package price that Smitty quoted earlier holds true, they're definitely worth the money.

 

Damn, they need to do that for the TL too. Should be very similar.... I'd buy an upper grill in a heartbeat.....

 

I want it

 

Best mesh grill i have seen on the CLS.

Nice work!

 

Looks great. When are they available to the public???

And do you know about how much??

 

Nice.... Very Nice....

 

Nice Direlect you told me you were gonna do it and you did ???

good work

 

LOL why the question marks.....?

 

They look exactly the same as the other ones that were for sale. I though they would look different?

 

rondog and i have had those circle cut grilles on our cars for over a year now. We have made them and he has installed silver and black ones on his car. They look just as good as those grilles for like 10 bucs.

 

i want the black one, where do i order

 

Fuzzy -- There's a diamond grille style too... but I didn't have access to one to take pics. I'm not sure if S2000 is still taking grille orders... but this is just another available source for people who want to buy a similar product.

Bigman -- I understand there are cheaper alternatives for a DIY application... and no one is trying to play this product off as something new and exciting that hasn't been done before. Hell prior to this I had used SilverKnight's DIY and $3 gutter guard grille that I thought looked pretty good for the $$/time spent. But I've painted it 4 times already due to rocks and salt. My hope is that this stronger powdercoated grille will hold up a little better... both against dents and paint chipping.

Unfortunately, Chris said he estimates 4-5 weeks before they can go to full scale production. I'm not sure on the cost but Smitty quoted a number a few months ago on all 4 pieces and it was under $100. Like I said... I just wanted to give an update on the information I had. People last week were curious if this product was going to happen... and this was a great step forward.

 

This is news to me.......I guess Chris Driver is trying to surprise me or something...

Smitty

 

What I don't like about the ST2000 grills which is what I have is the metal is think. I had alot of problems getting it to fit with the grill molding. And stripped all the holes the screws went in. I had to buy a new molding & took the grill off. Also still had to trim to get it to fit. Which never really came out right. I'm, using my old gutter guard painted silver grill now. That works alot better cause it's not as thick. Will these Grill-Tech ones be the same way?

 

Nice, good job will!! I would take the upper grill if I didn't use a car bra, and would take a lower grill if I didn't have fogs there.

Do you think the lower grill could be "cut" to accomodate fogs?? Not sure I would want to do that, but an idea...

I might be down for some '03 grills for the covers (where the roadlamps were).

 

Those are nice. If the price is below $100 than it is the way to go.

Update on mine: I removed the upper one for quick bra installation. I have Madza 6 lower grille. So no more mesh grille for me

 

Lower grille for the TL? How much?

 

PLEASE READ ALL THE ABOVE INFORMATION BEFORE POSTING.

The Soopa (Adam) has informed me that the search feature will be up sometime this weekend.... I will get Juniorbean to link/mesh the 2 threads together.....


Be patcient, it is just an UPDATE, the grilles are not FINISHED nor are they ready to ship..... UNTIL Chris figures out what his production costs are, we will not know a price...

 

Grey clean out PM

 

I'd buy a set, looks good

 

I just got an Email from Grill-tech that stated that the grills for the 03' CL-S will not be available for 4-5 months...so much for that idea.

It is hard to believe that they have a grill for a Honda pilot before an Acura CL Type S.

Oh well I guess I will be making my own.

 

will u be able to get them in black or different colors....can't wait for these friggin things to come out. Nice work Smitty and derilict!!!

 

damn 4-5 monts

 

Silver & black.

 

and i had them before that.

 

OK cool...and the only ones that we will have to wait 4-5 months for are the 03 fog light grilles right??Do u have an eta of when the top/bottom combo will be ready in black??

 

???Who knows.

We were still in the development stages(as far as I knew) when Derelict made the thread. I had no clue that these pics would be posted.

I haven't got a chance to install mine yet, but if they match my template, we should be golden.

 

would they consider doing these for the first gen?

 

Maybe...PM Smitty for the guys email.

 

any reason why we have to wait 4-5 months, i want this for the summer

 

I can't see it being that long...

 

Not sure why 4-5 months was quoted to Artwork. Chris Driver said:

"If they fit good than it will be about 4-5 weeks before we can start selling them."

And while the top grille wasn't perfect... I would say they are 95% there. The required trimming was very minor.

 

I am not sure either, but this is the e-mail I got:

Hello Art:

Thank you for your below inquiry and interest in Grille-Tech.

I'm sorry but at this time we do not offer a grille insert for the 03 Acura CL-S; however, we are currently working on desiging it and we hope to have it available in approximately 4 to 5 months.

Please check our website periodically www.grille-tech.com for new items as they are posted.



With kind regards,
Kristina
www.grille-tech.com


If it is 4-5 weeks then I will wait...but if not I am building my own.

 

for under $100 I'm on baord... much better than that ols ST2000 price.

 

I have ST2000's lower grille, just don't have it installed yet. I've got to trim it to fit wtih my front license bracket.

I'd take your other upper grille but my lower grille is the diamond pattern not the race pattern like yours. I'd want the two to match.

 

I like the round pattern better too...

not a big fan of the diamond.

 

I took the bracket off (as you can see). Got pulled over yesterday morning for it. Don't they have anything better to do? He let me go w/o a ticket when I explained I was taking pictures of the front grilles...but recommended I at least keep the plate in the trunk. Not sure that would fly with the next trooper that's looking to make the State some money. Problem is, it just looks so much better without a plate....

Steve my old upper grille (the gutter guard one), is basically diamond style. I'll bring it this sunday if you go... can see if the styles match close enough to use.

 

My problem is the bracket scratched my bumper so I'm stuck with leaving it on.

 

Ya I used polishing compound to take as many of the scratches out as I could... but there's still a few pretty big ones that are permanent. Have to be up close to see them though at least.

 

^-- Kristina is not Chris Driver... she probably got mixed and said 4-5 months instead of 4-5 weeks...

I don't mind you guys showing interest but I must admit, some of you are really going to fuck things up for this group buy....

Just shut the hell up and be patcient.... You will all be notified and you will see the STICKY on the message board when they are ready.....