Oh no! Broke the grille surround :(

[16Klappe]

Massive fail...

I was trying to remove the grille surround on my girlfriends A3 to repaint it, unfortunately for me it had been Araldite'd on and I snapped it clean in two! Doh'!

I tried to phone up Audi to buy a replacement and they said they don't list that part, but I can buy a whole grille with the strip. I just wondered if anybody else had done this (highly likely!) and wether you just glued it back together or managed to source a new grille surround ? If so was it through Audi and do you have the part number ?

I'll get some before and after photos up in a min', it'll look really good when it goes back together but annoyingly it'll have two splits in it !!!

 

[Westy]

Bad luck matey.

Is there not a part number on the back of the surround somewhere? If audi dont do it I think you'll be better off heading to a scrap yard instead of get bent over for a whole grill

 

[16Klappe]

There isn't a part number on the back of the broken part, annoyingly!

I'm in Plymouth staying with my girlfriend at the moment and I'm basically working on her car to earn my keep, I had a quick google for breakers and scrappies but for the hassle that is removing a grille off an A3 I'd rather pay a bit more and buy it new from Audi (if that makes sense ?) than roll around on the floor of a scrap yard or out on the road taking the old one off.

I've repainted it, and I'm going to clip it back in place. Then I think I'll get some glue between the cracks then mask it up and spray where the glue is to cover it ? I told her what I've done and she did go rather ape ****, but then again I'm fitting new discs, pads and lower arms for her tomorrow so she'll get over it haha!

 

[Westy]

You dont need to remove the whole grill to get the chrome surround of mate it should just unclip as long as someone hasn't araldited the sod on!

You'll probably be ok to clue it and sand down any glue and paint it.

 

[16Klappe]

You dont need to remove the whole grill to get the chrome surround of mate it should just unclip as long as someone hasn't araldited the sod on!

You'll probably be ok to clue it and sand down any glue and paint it.

I'll have to find myself a facelift A3 out and about to borrow it from then haha :icon_thumright:

Normally I'm very picky and a bit of a perfectionist, but I kind of knew how it clipped in so I went out with a very thin knife and worked my way around the surround pushing the clips down and pulling it out. It was working really well and I had the whole thing free, but where the surround goes into the slats it had been glued in right at the top, as soon as I put any pressure on it one side snapped so I knew I couldn't just push it back in and forget about it then!

However, all of the clips are intact and it will push back on flush so it should be ok!

 

[Westy]

You should have kept it quiet from the girlfriend, she'll hold that against you for ever now!

 

[16Klappe]

It'll be alright !

It's on now and looking goooood, just got the cambelt to do then we can get it remapped and put some RS4 reps on it. I'm trying to convince her to buy some matt black lambo reps to complete the theme !

I love the matt black look, she never really liked it at all and when I had my "Ninja-Trolley" 205 GTI she hated it because it looked like a big lump of black with some red stripes. Then I stuffed that and now she wants everything matt black, women eh' ?

Ninja trolley -

Ninja baby -

I am a demon with the rattle can...Haha!

Rear badges this afternoon, then I'm going to try and take the lights apart and paint the back of them too.

 

[Westy]

Spray her wheels black now and see if she notices

 

[16Klappe]

I am so tempted to do that this afternoon, I've got two cans of satin black and a couple of news papers knocking about. It could be done before lunch time !

 

[Prawn]

Looking good mate, you know the headlight removal is a bumper off job don't you? it's not hard, only takes 5 mins, just thought you should know before you try and remove them any other way!

To remove the lenses just heat the lights up gently in the oven, and with the metal tabs removed you should be easily able to prise the glass away from the body. Not a 2 hour job though i wouldn't think so don't start it after lunch

 

[Prawn]

Don't spray the wheels black mate, it'll look stupid. black wheels look smaller generally, and the 16's already look a bit odd with it being so low!

 

[16Klappe]

Cheers Prawny-boy!

I'm a bit limited tools wise, IE I only have kitchen utensils...

Will your pops' be about tomorrow for me to run across the water and quickly do it ? I need to jack it up and have a look at the coilovers on the back, it's rattling around and making quite a noise!

 

[Nilz]

Looking good, bet if you did it without telling her you broke it, she wouldnt have even noticed...lol

 

[16Klappe]

Looking good, bet if you did it without telling her you broke it, she wouldnt have even noticed...lol

Ahhh, she really would have done ! She's rather awesome, and she really loves her car ! If it wasn't for the fact that she's hard at work all day she'd have done all the modifications so far herself ! She just wants a pimp Audi, and I can't argue with that.

A better photo of todays tom-foolery -

 

[Nilz]

LOL...nice one, its always a bonus to have a girl thats in the know

 

[16Klappe]

LOL...nice one, its always a bonus to have a girl thats in the know

Aie' she's a clever cookie ! Which makes a change from the norm'....

 

[Nilz]

Whose Norm??

LOL....happy days mate

 

[Loupigs]

I am the aforementioned female, and trust me, I WOULD have noticed!

 

[Westy]

HAha, brilliant

:sign_welcome:

 

[JD09]

Why did I feel this thread was going in this direction;


http://www.acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=770786