darksom1

Well, because of the paint process, they said tonight some time.

Sorry I didn't see this earlier, but I was monitoring the shooting scenario at the VA Tech campus right now!! WTF????? It's on CNN now! My gf's daughter goes there, but luckily she came home for the weekend! Dayuuummm!! A kid caught video on his cell phone of the second shooting!! (well, police response to it anyway)

Didn't mean to hijack my own thread, but damn, this is fucked up!!

darksom1

I'm outta here gone to work!

Catch me this evening!

UPDATE: The guy just called and said he will have it ready tomorrow because of the paint and needing to wait on it to dry before epoxying the cup and emblem on it. He wanted to be sure. I guess you can't rush perfection.

sandiegodrive

I'm sure it'll be worth the wait

rockyfeller

iTrader: (6)

I hate to say it but always expect a delay when it comes to these things...We all hope to see the finished product soon....Maybe if the shop is close by you could snap a few teaser pics of the work in progress??

PPLAPW

^I second you...

sandiegodrive

^I third

darksom1

Hmm...sounds like a plan...I mean, 36 miles is close by right?...pause...NOT!

PPLAPW

......... I'll be checking in tomorrow...

sandiegodrive

As will I

rockyfeller

iTrader: (6)

me2, me3, me4......sorry I think I'm buzzed.

Midnight_TL

dang, can't wait to see pics bro.

Sorry to hijack your thread, but I had a question maybe you guys could help me out with...I have been contemplating about my grill. Here's what I think...I would like any feedback!

Get my hood piece and lower grill pieces to match the gray color of the A spec kit and then paint the middle crossbar black to match the car (without blue sparkles). What do you guys think? Also, for anybody who has taken their car to a professional body shop to get their grill painted, has their been any chipping? Thanks guys and thanks darksom1 for letting me pop a question in!

darksom1

Actually, as I told Buda, it's not hijacking the thread. The thread is about grills, everyone who wants to post one. Nobody has, except for some photochops, and now we are waiting for the guy to finish my baby so I can I guess be the first! Unless brettallica posted his in here somewhere. SO POST YOURS WHEN YOU GET IT DONE!

As for your question, basically, it will be like PPLAPW's grill, but with the bar. IMO, that won't look right. I mean, I understand what the effect should be (same look without cutting the bar), but that just would not look right. I am not a fan of having that bar in there at all, so I am certainly biased, as will be everyone else here. But just the look of it, the whole two-tone thing, I just think you will wish you hadn't. Did you? LOL!

Besides, I thought you were going to cut the bar out like I did? You got nervous huh? Come back to the dark side man! LOL! You can always just buy another bumper if you don't like it...then again, it ain't for everyone...

darksom1

I will probably be back on here about 9 EST or after with pics!

I have to pick up my car after work, go drop off the car I was using and then get with imageshack or photobucket for hosting and posting! Which one do you guys think is better?

I will be starting a thread called: "Finally: La Grille est Fantastique". I will post pics and link it to this one!

So stay tuned!

brettallica

I can't wait to see this. Talk about buildup...you better bring the heat!

PPLAPW

If you need help posting pics email me some!....

rockyfeller

iTrader: (6)

Yeah this grille thing is going to take me some time now. I am SOOOOOOOO Depressed!!! I was drunk last night over this. I did probably one of the stupidist things I have ever done in my life....

I lost ALL my tools!! ALL of them!! I am SOOO pissed. There was a double rolling toolbox with about $400 worth of tools and I left them in a parking lot by accident after unloading my trunk. I am so DUMB I remembered only 1hr. later and of course someone took off with them. I had so many new tools I was acquiring over the last 2 yrs for various projects and now it turns out I NEVER got to use them! They was so much that was brand spanking new!! Dremel, cordless screwdriver, $100 multimeter, torque wrench, locking pliers, etc. etc. I lost at least 100 things in there!

I needed that dremel (never used, saving it specifically for this project!!) to do this whole grille thing. I feel like someone cut off my arms! I was so madd at myself!! So I am trying to figure out how to get these tools back before I can get back on track with my mods. I wish you guys better luck than me!!!

brettallica

Dude. Wow. I'm crying for you, that's how badly that sucks.

PPLAPW

<------------------------- Patiently waiting......

darksom1

It's here!!!!!!!!!!!! Dirty, bodyshop dirty...but here!!! ANd it looks, well, see for yourself as soon as I post these pics!

brettallica

Buda

iTrader: (1)

come on, I can't stay up for ever. I got to get to work early and then catch a plane back to MN tomorrow. I can't believe the weather in DC has been worse than MN!!!!

I need pics!

s0leheir

Hurry so I can go get the same mod done by the guy! lol

sandiegodrive

Darksom1, HURRY UP!!!!!!!!!!

You teasing us!!!

darksom1

Well, I am putting together a thread just for my ride...but here's a little something, something for my crew...








The back is totally blacked out except for the "A", so I look real good when I back that thang up...



Coming atcha...hey Brett, look at how bright my amber bulb is in "park"!





Make sure yo ass stays tuned! Damn, it's about time huh fellas! I love it! They hooked me up just like I wanted!!! Now I gotta wash it, but they said wait a week for waxing...I just know it will look even better cleaned! Thanks for hanging in there with me guys, I will try to get some daytime shots up tomorrow (damn, I mean today - LOL), but for now, I gotta cop some zzzzzzz's!! LOL! Later!

- Ray

Midnight_TL

omg ray....go into writing trilogies...what a cliffhanger!!!!!

darksom1

LOL, nah, it ain't like that at all...I just got the ride back late, and I had to drop off the gf, go to that parking lot where some light was and snap some pics! Then I had to find a site to post them with, cuz if you been following, you know I didn't know how to do that. So, I knew headz were waiting, so I put together something on the humble...hey, it's late, what do you expect? LOL! I definitely will be washing it tomorrow morning and trying to post better pics.

What do you think of those? Hmm...I got one with a flash that looks ok, but lens was kinda dirty or that's just the car being dusty and dirty - check it out:



A little more "flash" and detailed! I did upper and lower grills!

I can't do better than that pic without some sunlight, and some zzzz's...lol

sandiegodrive

You need to take some tomorrow in the daytime with sunlight and pics str8 from the front of the car.

darksom1

Yeah, I am, like that photochop pic. I did totally black, no gray, and even my a-spec lower part is black now! I love it! I wanted the black-out look with that chrome "A" to set it off!

Tomorrow's forecast is more clouds than sun, 56 High over here in MD - but that's cool. I am washing and taking pics anyway! So they will proly be up about 11AM!

rockyfeller

iTrader: (6)

YOW! Looks like a class A job. The "cup" idea seems to have been the answer. Some more details would be nice, like how they bolted/glued the cup on etc. Can't wait to see the "official" pics.

PPLAPW

omg........... its a clone....

Looks awesome man, I'm glad you were able to pull this off....

darksom1

Thanks fellas! Especially PPLAPW for the inspiration! Plus the rest of ya'll that kept giving me ideas on how to tweak what PP did! I gotta find out if it's ok for me to wash the car now (after the painting). How long should you wait? Do I have to wait? I asked the guy last night but I think he was telling me about waxing takes time after painting because you are applying pressure. But just for a wash mit (lightly by hand) and some Meguiar's car soap, should that be a problem? Anybody know?
As for some questions, as to how it was done, this is the closest I can get to a DIY or whatever because I didn't do the work remember so some of the things you might want to know I still have to ask him as it was late when I picked the car up:

Top grill -
Mesh and inner piece - Basically, for all intents and purposes, this was done the same way that PPLAPW did it. I asked him how he attached the aluminum mesh and he said by folding it over. I said did you get that from PP's write-up (I pointed him to it in an email) and he said no, he was creative enough to figure it out. I didn't think it would be a problem for him because he has worked on a lot of cars with mesh before. I had it painted black and clear coated. The inner piece that is right in front of the mesh, is something he made and attached to the bumper. He didn't go with the bondo fill process because he said it could crack later and that would be a major problem! I think it's some form of hard plastic like the original piece that he formed, sanded and then painted the same as the body color. From what I saw last night, the paint matched up nicely on all parts. I thought it looked factory-like. Though, he did smudge a corner of the body-colored painted hood piece (left) and he is going to redo that when I take it back to him, as well as clean up some compound that we saw in the cracks (around trim) as we were looking at it when he gave it back to me. As you will see in the daylight pics coming up shortly that all parts up front are body-colored to give that factory look and that BLACKED-OUT look! N-B-P rules!!!!

Cup/Emblem "A" - I wanted this to be the only contrasting piece up front. I left it chrome. The cup was trimmed around the edges. All of the extra stuff from Buda's pics around the sides (this thread, post #156) was trimmed off, cup was then sanded, painted and then clear coated. The emblem was attached using two screws thru the backside of the cup, as you see the holes in the pics by Buda I just referenced. The reason I have to take the car back to the guy is because he ordered me a new emblem to replace the one he put on because when he attached it to the cup, he screwed it in too tight and there are two tiny dents on the front of the emblem that you wouldnt've seen if I hadn't said it, because my happy to see my car ass didn't! LOL! (but you know I would have today after my feet came back down to earth!) The cup was attached to the mesh using epoxy and two wing nuts.

Lower grills-
The lower grills were done the same way PPLAPW did his. I really liked that look so I told him to do mine like that. He basically cleared out the grill inserts and left the middle bar. I debated about that at first, then thought it looked best that way. I will have to ask him how he attached the mesh there. Everything was sanded down and painted and clear coated there as well. Looks pretty clean. It was nice work.

Extra stuff -I had some extra stuff done while he was doing the grill:
Front:
A-spec - I had that lower part of the lip painted black like the rest of it. Never really cared for the two-toned look. I like it better this way.
Rear:
A-spec lower part was painted black here as well.
Strip above the license plate is painted black.

So, there you have it! All in all I am very pleased with the result! He practically made it look stock! Hell, I would've bought it! Took a minute to get it back, but I am happy! I will post pics this morning after I take them!

darksom1

Just called the guy and he said that he used Dupont paint, so I will be ok with the sheep mitt to wash and roll!

Buda

iTrader: (1)

Nice info on the process. Now we want to see the day pics!!!

brettallica

Dude, that came out so well!!! Congratulations, man!

Crappy thing about living on the West Coast is my day starts a little later than yours, so anyone else in your territory gets to see your pics and post comments on them before I do. Boo!

But anyway, that looks smokin'. I bet you've got a pretty unique ride that turns a lot of heads in your area.

PPLAPW

Nice write up, can't waait to see pictures!

darksom1

Here are some pics in the daytime after washing! I have to go to work so I can't post anymore until I get back, but I have many! Hope these help to see it better, but it looks hella good to me! Be home about 7pm EST.









^I had to include a pic of my Skunk2!! See you guys later!!

PPLAPW

Wow..... I'm so painting my grill now....... this looks sooooo good.

brettallica

Holy. Shit.

Wow.

That is one MEAN NBP!

rockyfeller

iTrader: (6)

WOW OK I knew this would look good! I know someone is going to say/think it looks like a generic 90s Accord or TSX but the hell with that! This mod is not for everyone. It really transforms the front end and with the cleared headlights, meshed lower grilles and A-Spec, it defintely sets it apart from a garden variety TL.

The plain mesh goes much better with the car. That horizontal bar which has always been an eyesore to me is GONE! The emblem came out much better than I thought it would. I think it makes it look less plain. Totally looks like that upgraded stock look I was talking about instead of crude DIY 'chopped in your garage' look

This is really making me decide in favor of gettting that A-spec bodykit I was contemplating, I don't think it would look right without it. I'm going to do lower fog-lights too to really set it off the front end. Now I really feel like running out and buying some tools!! Urgh!

brettallica

Go get those tools, tool! jk

I can see what you mean about how someone might not like this mod, for that reason that you pointed out. I seem to be on your side, though, in that it sets it apart from the garden variety TL...in a good way for sure. This is a GREAT look for NBP; I don't care what anyone says. (and I'm sure darksom1 doesn't either).