My Grille Project

[mattpanton]

Over the last week or so I've been busy making myself a custom grille for my A4, here are a few pics of the project as it went on....

Started off with an OEM grille, £20 from Ebay, bargin!

FIrst job was to carefully remove the chrome parts...

After about 2 hours in a sandblaster (chrome plating is tough old stuff!) it looked like this...

Next job was to rub down and primer them...

And then paint in satin black...

Then it was time to rebuild it...

And fit it...

I'm pretty happy with the results considering i'm a total novice at spraying! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Only problem I can think of is stone chips will show up rather badly!

What you guys think?

 

[PaulJC84]

I like.

I think i am going to do the surround but leave the rings.

Cheers.

 

[joost]

Nicely done, but I would have left the rings chrome like Soupie says.

Good finish though...

 

[mattpanton]

Thanks for the comments, I did wonder about leaving the rings, I can always take the ones off the original grille and try it, there easy enough to remove. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[easytease]

very nice and stealthy /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[necroeire]

Looks great, you should try it with the rings, imo it will look better. If not then you can always go back to black. You know what they say don't you, once you go black you never go back......

 

[PaulJC84]

Yeah could you bung the silver rings on please and take a pic?

As i think the rings will look better and will fit in with the light coloured lights.

I think i will do my surround anthracite when i get my wheels done.

I am just deciding whether to get the mirrors done of not.

 

[mattpanton]

Yeah will try the chrome rings tomorrow and get some pics up then /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[PaulJC84]

Thanks mate!!

 

[mattpanton]

Didn't get a chance to try the swap tonight, will sort it tomorrow hopefully /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Lowride]

Fair play for going to such effort. I tried something similar on mine after seeing an all black grille on an RS6. After a day or two I swapped back to the chrome surround and badge because I just like the fact that its an Audi and I want it to stand out and be seen

 

[mattpanton]

Here's a few pics of black rings vs. chrome rings...

Black (current setup)

Black surround, Chrome rings

Sorry the pics are a bit rough, not much light out there at the moment!

Hope that helps /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[PaulJC84]

I dunno now!!

I quite like it with the black rings in that pic.

Could you post details on how to remove the rings and surround please.

 

[mattpanton]

Yeah no probs, I'll bring the old one in from the garage and take some close up pics in a bit

 

[jcb]

black and black looks better IMO

 

[mattpanton]

Yeah, having seen both ways now, I think that black/black looks better as with the chrome rings it looks almost standard still, which wasn't really the look I was after.

Right then, chrome removal...

Please note that this is based on a 2000 facelift car, I'm not sure if it's the same on a pre-facelift.

The rings are pretty easy really, can be done with the grille still in the car.
Looking at the back of the grille, there are 10 catches from the rings holding them to the grille...

Close up of clip...

These catches are pretty easy to release, I did mine by hand, pushing them slightly and easing the rings away from the grille, once there is sufficient gap between the rings and grille(looking at front of grille), use a small screwdriver to carefully pry the rings away, and they will come off.

The surround is much the same (it's held on with very similar clips to the rings) but I found it easier to remove with the grille out of the car, which is a little bit tricky, the grille is held in with 8 clips, 6 along the top and 1 at each end (the base is held in by a 'U' shape form sat over the lip of the bonnet). the 10 clips are quite hard to release, it's made easier by having someone else there to push the grill away from the car to stop the clips clipping back in! Once the clips are released, carfully pull the top of the grille towards you (be aware of the bonnet release handle at this point) and lifting it up and out of the car. Then you can get at the surround easily to remove it.

I hope this makes sense, if not just ask and I'll try and make it clearer,

Hope this is of use /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[S3Steve]

Black and black definately looks better imho.