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Does look nice, I'm working on something similar for my car but I purchased the C-MOD grill. It just slips over the plastic grill thats in there after you remove the factory mesh and cut-out the bar with the 'A' emblem in it.
As a note real quick with the vinyl over the bondo - as the bondo cures it 'off-gasses' which will cause bubbles to form in your vinyl. Supposed to wait about a week or so for it to finish off-gassing before putting vinyl over a 2K type of epoxy or bondo and test to ensure its done off-gassing with a small piece of vinyl and then wait 24 hours to see if bubbles form.
Love the way this came out with the carbon fiber wrap. I think it still needs the "A" logo in the center to complete the look. Personally, I feel without the logo that the mesh grill DIY looks unfinished. Just my opinion. Either way, nicely done.
I'm curious how long the bondo hair has held up on these, since the bumper is a type of plastic and the bondo hair isn't designed to adhere to it.
I'd expect it to crack right along the lines where the plastic and body filler meet over time, since as its heated they're going to expand and contract at different rates and the body filler isn't going to have a good bond to the plastic.
I'm curious how long the bondo hair has held up on these, since the bumper is a type of plastic and the bondo hair isn't designed to adhere to it.
I'd expect it to crack right along the lines where the plastic and body filler meet over time, since as its heated they're going to expand and contract at different rates and the body filler isn't going to have a good bond to the plastic.
My bumper lasted up to 100,000 miles and two years before I sold the car. All that time, I never had a single issue with the bumper cracking. The new owner also had the bumper on the car for another year till he hit a curb and trashed the entire lower bumper. He put a new OEM one in place of my modded one.
I did the shark mouth mod and it just doesnt look right without the 'A' in there, its too empty. I cant find a grille mesh that I like, I dont want it to look like the bullshit they put in the opening on ricey body kits (no offense to anyone on here), I want it to look factory.
What do you guys think about just mounting the 'A' in the center with a hidden bracket so it looks like its "floating" there? No grille- just the A, with the black plastic mount
I actually chatted with a few people from Youtube that had this mod Pride96 and they all said just a normal body shop could do it. I'm building up the funds after having to replace my front brakes to do it. Stupid brake calipers being all stripped out. Also, if you look at the 13th picture on page 1, (Not counting the balls) you can see he just reused the screws that held the center piece on.
, I know this is about a year old thread but I came across Ed it doing a search for this mod. I absolutely love the way it looks and Op you did an amazing job! Definitely glad you took the vtec back off and the A emblem looks great. Getting bubbles out of a cell phone screen cover is hard I could imagine how hard it is on a bumper. Really great job. Does anybody know the benefits of vinyl wrapping versus plastic dipping just out of curiosity. I haven't done any research yet
After about 2 years of normal wear and tear, the Plasti Dip started chipping a bit. It wasn't that bad, but it only takes one or two solid rock chips to cause chipping/peeling with Plasti Dip in my experience. The same often goes for Plasti Dipping rims. Unfortunately, I noticed that the Plasti Dip did fade over time and the Glossifier "shine" I added had worn off. It's a cheap and easy modification, but I don't see it as being a good permanent solution if you plan to perform a DIY shark mouth grill modification. Paint can be a great alternative, but front ends take such a beating. Most people find that DIY-type paints are also prone to chipping and often have to be redone. Using OEM paint or having a professional paint match it would be a different story, but that's why many have proceeded with using vinyl. It tends to be more forgiving and has proven to hold up better. Using good quality vinyl wraps can last for extended periods of time. Maybe some others can chime in and share how their front ends have held up?
I love the"shark mouth" look, but went a slightly different route. I bought a Shark Mouth grill from EndlessRPM and vinyl wrapped it myself and changed the mesh that sits behind it. Vinyl wrapping isn't easy, especially with the difficult contour of this grill. However, if you take your time, you can obtain great results. My vinyl wrapping job took about 2 hours and I had a few bubbles. It drove me nuts, so before I installed the grill on the bumper, I spent another 2 hours and re-did the job. Here are a few pictures:
It turned out far better than I expected and most people who have seen it in person thought it was actually painted. I'm hoping that the vinly holds up. Here is a rough comparison of the two methods:
10-21-2012, 12:41 AM
I think it still needs the "A" logo in the center to complete the look. Personally, I feel without the logo that the mesh grill DIY looks unfinished. Just my opinion. Either way, nicely done.
