PetesTL

OK, it took me almost 3 hours!.......why?

First, here's some pics taken at night when I just finished up:













I also installed some Kaixen 6000K HID's to replace my fogs (which also took up some time)


Now, here some problems Ive encountered:

1. The grill for whatever reason does not fit as precisely as the original stock grill. There are some big gaps especially near the headlights:






The original grill had some weather seals near the headlights but the RJ grill does not, which makes the gap look worse.



2. The RJ emblem does not fit! The logo is too big for the space that its supposed to fit in. (Ron, did you verify this?)




3. Some of the bolt holes on the RJ grill does not line up correctly. I'm not sure if the grill is a little warped but this was a big problem during installation and caused a lot of frustration! There was 1 bolt I just could not get in because the hole did not lineup no matter how hard I tried.



4. The screws that holds the Acura "A" log on the RJ grill is too short! I had to go find some longer screws on my own to get this to work. The ones on the original stock grill won't work on the RJ grill.



5. The paint job is pretty good but there's some overspray present especially near the corners and edges. (Clay bar should help)



So all in all, the RJ grill does look good despite the problems. I hope Ron makes some notes of this and will hopefully correct this. Ron did a tremendous amount of work in a short period of time to get this out to us as quickly as possible. There's definately some bugs to work out but it's worth it as it makes the 4G look much more elegant than before. I'm going to take some better pics tomorrow during daylight.

Haelous

Looking at the pictures of the prototype on Buckvegas' car, it lines up perfectly.

https://acurazine.com/forums/showpos...&postcount=119

Is weatherstripping really all that's missing here?

HDNBenjamin

Please take more pictures tomorrow during sunlight. I think the gap is quite noticeable on the right side. Otherwise, it looks good.

ieh

Although every grille came out from the same mold, but I'm pretty sure some of the grille will have this kind of problem.....I don't really know how to explain probably....you know, the grille came out hot, once cool down, it will shrink....I think this will be one of the problem~

Maybe a replacement?

free598

i thing the Mesh kills the Grill...it needs the OEM Looking Plastic Mesh like Whats on the Original Grill

PetesTL

I kinda wished the middle bar was chrome or chrome-plated instead of painted silver......looks kinda cheap that way and I'm afraid some road debris will chip the paint off.

free598

yea the chrome would look alittle better..it will get chip up

Costco

Have you tried tinkering a little bit with the fitment? I know installing things that just don't seem to fit right are frustrating but sometimes you just have to do it over and see if it fits better.

its very, very close, but not perfect...

KeithL

I must admit I love the way Pete's car turned out, but I much prefer this look better! Either way both are better than the standard grill!

rondog

iTrader: (1)

We are trying to see if it's the actual dimensions of the grille that are causing the gaps or the positioning of the bolt holes. Once we see which one is the culprit, we will have a solution.

PetesTL

Thanks, Ron. I'll send you some pics this afternoon of how the grill looks in daylight.

venom550pm

HEY! we all want to see pics in the day light i still have to wait 5 days for my grill

Baapo

First off, congrat...the grille looks terrific...especially on the black...

This is the approach Acura should have taken from the beginning...

However, there are things which could improve an already terrific product...

1. Chrome plating the center bar...

2. Using a different mesh...the Honda/Acura OEM mesh would be ideal with its cross lattice work...similar to the one of the Accord Coupe...



Either way...car looks great...

free598

MIKEYDRED

Pete I would have stuck with the original grill especially since you had it painted, those gaps are huge and the mod is not worth it IMHO. The HID fogs look great though I would take my bumper off to do that, did you also upgrade the headlights?

rondog

iTrader: (1)

the chrome plated bar finish is going to have a high defect rate, much higher than painted. if anybody wants to, they can have their bar custom chrome plated, but we won't offer it.

And the mesh is from another source, the diamond pattern mesh is not available from anywhere. Besides, the mesh is not the key design element, it's just there to protect the radiator from rocks.

We will be addressing the gaps, this will be taken care of, and if the mod wasn't worth it, then we wouldn't have dealers and individual customers so strong in demanding it from the beginning.

Haelous

I personally don't want anything to do with real chrome. Chrome-look or polished aluminum is a different story entirely and may look excellent, but real chrome plating is a mistake.

The OEM TL grill already has the diamond mesh. If you want to keep that style of mesh, then the best option is to keep and/or paint the OEM grill IMO.

PetesTL

Ok, here's some daylights pics of the grill:














This is where the main problem is: the edges of the grill doesn't line up properly like the stock grill.....esp. near the left headlight.....there's almost a half-inch gap. I beginning to think the whole grill, at least with mine, has come out slightly smaller than the original. I'll going to see what Ron's solution will be.

PetesTL

Well, I'm willing to wait and see what Ron does to correct these mistakes. He says he's working on it and wants eveybody who bought the grills to be completely satisfied. If all else fails, I'll put my stock grill back in.

I only changed the fog lights for now. (Kaixen 6000K)

BLACKURA_NY

iTrader: (6)

^ Similar issues with mine. Me & Rondy will be getting together tomorrow to look at them... nothing major, but slight fitment issues...

(Cj)

Looks pretty good Pete

BEAR-AvHistory

No matter what, it looks way better then the original.

PetesTL

Man, I really hope there's a simple fix. My guess is that we'll probably need replacement grills. I really, really, really don't look forward to taking the bumper out again.....the install killed my back!

BLACKURA_NY

iTrader: (6)

i tell ya one thing though... it looks SOOO awesome on darker colored 4Gs

ggesq

iTrader: (1)

Damn- notwithstanding the fitment issues- it looks good!!

TLin401

I don't know if I like it.

The "A" is too much IMO

Haelous

I really like how it looks with the silver bar, the stock silver headlights, and the SH-AWD silver fog light frames. The OEM grill is not a metallic paint, while the headlights and fog light frames are.

Going by Petes' pictures, I will not be blacking out my headlights or painting the fog light frames.

P.S. I'm jealous of your driveway Pete. I love brick.

You can get it with just the bar with no "A".

docboy

Starting to look good Pete! I'm sure Ron will take of his customers...

I see you already changed your avatar

Great fogs!

ieh

Yup! Agree! That's why I only painted the taillights trim to black and not the headlight, specially black car, this can leave the silver headlight will have more contrast to the car. Others like BLACKURA white TL and BUCKVEGAS grey TL looks good with painted black headlights.

Looks like everyone is getting the "A" bar except me. I'm really out of patient already for next week.

jptl04

iTrader: (1)

a million times better!!!!! wow that grill looks awesome, too bad about the fitment issues, hope they can get resolved.

i have an ok looking 3G, you bastards are gonna make me want 4G

buckvegas

Pete-

looks great, sorry to see the fitment issues some are having. The prototype grill I have from ron didnt have any fitment issues like you guys are seeing. Ron will find a fix, I am sure of that. Also the fogs look great, I need to get a set. I am going to try to get some pics up today, I installed the new A bar yesterday.

KeithL

Pete,

Looks great, take some pics with the light behind you shining on the front end, would love to see it lit by the sun.

rondog

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, don't worry about it, we really rushed it and that might have had something to do with the slightly gapped fitment. But from what I have seen already it looks like an easy fix on the mold and the jig we use to place the holes. Problem is we got to get the TL back in the booth and make the needed adjustments. You will get the replacement grille in a short time.

BLACKURA_NY

iTrader: (6)

i think the grille looks BANANAS on the Black car.... 20x then on my WDP

buckvegas

I cant wait to see the one Venom throws on with the blacked out headlights...

jiggaman

looks pretty damn good, i am wondering how it would look with the bar body color painted as well...

Litt

I agree, it looks good.

rondog

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, with all 7 surfaces meeting together, it's sorta rough to get the fitment exactly on point, and the funny thing is that each car has slightly different fitment, even tho all the grilles are coming out of the same mold. We have a plan for an adjustable hardware system we may utilize, Monday I'll be on this as a priority.

venom550pm

patiently waiting

Olu

PetesTL, I think this definitely looks better then the half painted grille you had before. I don't know if it's because of the way it's painted, but the new grille makes the car look dated; almost like its a 3.5g TL. Personally I like the stock TL grille. I wouldn't mind if the grille was toned down a little, but this grille on a stock TL is too bland (IMO).

I'm going to try and photochop the current grille and the RJ grille together.