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Expanded Sheet Grille mod

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mod
60K views 117 replies 58 participants last post by  leavercm 
#1 · (Edited)
this is my first build/mod thread so be patient :cool:

I saw a picture of a jeep some time some place and it looked like it had an grille like this (not the overland grille). so i had this crazy idea to make this happen.

Supplies:
Drill with drill bits, something to cut plastic and metal with (wire cutters are perfect), loctite (recommended but optional), 8 carriage bolts (about 2 inches long) with matching standard nuts, a flat head screw driver, and large enough washers to stop the nut from slipping through the expanded sheet.

first i bought 2 "sheets" if you will of expanded sheet metal from Lowes for about $20 per sheet


to be specific

first after buying i decided a black finish will look better and stop it from rusting (yes it rusts). so i found some old all purpose black gloss spray paint, i believe it was rust oleum.


(i partly cut it already, enjoy the feet in pic too :p)

first remove the grille from the jeep by taking out all of those pushpin things and it should just come right off.
now you must take the grille cover (the painted part) off the grille to get to the "inserts". There are several little snap things that hold the cover to the grille, and a flat head screw driver does the best to separate the cover from the grille. I believe there is about 1 per side on the inside of the slots and 4 or 5 on the edges of the grille.
(no pic but easy to figure out if you look at the grille)

after separating the cover from the back you now start cutting (yes cutting) the "inserts" out



(sorry blurry)
and it's not very noticeable if you do or don't cut or sand the little nubs down from the grille so i just cut as much as i could without trying too hard.

after cutting all of the inserts out, now you must align the sheet metal and make measurements to find the right spots to cut. Leave enough room so one hole in the expanded sheet will be in the middle of the pillar (between slots), and i personally cut it so 1 sheet covers 2 slots on the grille. now if your good at math and know that the grille is a 7 slotted grille, then you must know that 2 will never go into 7. so what you do is you cut out 3 sheets that cover 2 slots (2X3=6) and 1 sheet that covers 1 slot (2X3+1=7 YAY :cheers:) make sure to cut it so all the pieces overlap.

now that you have all the expanded sheet cut, you may now start drilling holes in the grille. Using a drill bit that matches your bolts (they don't need to be threaded into the plastic grille) drill one hole while holding the expanded sheet down as a reference for where the sheet should go. After drilling 1 hole, bolt down the expanded sheet using the carriage bolt, washer, and nut so you can then move the expanded sheet accordingly for the next hole. Tighten said bolt enough so that the expanded sheet is flush with the grill, too much will bend it weird and too little wont look good. Repeat for the rest of the grille and you will get something like this. Don't forget to Loctite the bolts down so they don't loosen





(sorry i dont have any pics of the drilling of the holes)

Now that everything is bolted in, it is time to start to put the cover back on. You will notice there are little tabs that will interfere with you expanded sheet, use those wire cutters to cut away the expanded sheet for them to fit through. And snap as much back into place as possible but it doesn't matter much if not all snaps in. once your grille is one piece it is time to put it back on the jeep, just align the holes and put you push pin snap whatever they are called things back into place

and the finished product (with a plastidip finish on the cover for me :cool:)
 
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#2 ·
Looks Good
 
#3 ·
Wait so the painted piece covers the bolt heads? Fricken sweet! I wanted to do this, just didnt want to install it with mounting tabs held on by tape and zipties. Is the middle of each rib the only place you can put bolts? Like is the top and bottom to narrow if you try to put the painted piece on?
 
#4 ·
Yeah it holds strong enough with just te bolts in the center b/c its somewhat thick steel. Plus then its springy so its more likely to last if a bird hits it :2thumbsup:

Just look closely for the tabs ill get a pic up later after college
 
#8 ·
Do paint both sides if the sheet metal (I think R4CHET missed that part) we found we took his grille of last week to Plasti Dip the back was rusted, only surface rust.

For the bolts you'll want 1/4" carriage bolts, we tried 5/16" but the heads are too big to fit under the painted cover. We used a 5/16" drill bit and it was a perfect fit!
 
#9 ·
Do paint both sides if the sheet metal (I think R4CHET missed that part) we found we took his grille of last week to Plasti Dip the back was rusted, only surface rust.

For the bolts you'll want 1/4" carriage bolts, we tried 5/16" but the heads are too big to fit under the painted cover. We used a 5/16" drill bit and it was a perfect fit!
Yeah i couldnt remember the size we bought. U can see the rust when MHR and i took it off to take more pics
 
#10 · (Edited)
You can get similar material for much less. I bought Walmart's disposable BBQ topper for 2 bucks. Comes with 3 sheets of expanded aluminum. 3 sheets did my WJ's grill, but you might want to get 2 packs in case you mess up. You also have to do it in several small sections, but it is cheap and easy. Has been on my Jeep for close to a year now held on only by hot glue. I left it bare and it looks good, but I have been debating painting, just can't decide on a color.
 

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#13 ·
I did this mod today. I tried to be a little different and went with the 3/4" expanded metal instead of the 1/2". I left the grill chrome for now but when I get my hands on some Mopar spray paint I'm gonna color match it. PIcs aren't great since it was getting dark but, here ya go.
 

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#19 ·
I got mine at Home Depot. It was in the hardware section where they have the short pieces of aluminum and steel angle.(I say this cause most HDs seem to be set up the same)

Chris, yours turned out nice. I like the 1/2" too, I just wanted to be a little different.:p
 
#20 ·
1/2 or 3/4 I like em both, what I did notice is that I like the diamond pattern running up/down vs left/right abit better.
 
#27 ·
looks great. i am happy my first build/mod thread worked out so well :cool:
 
#28 ·
How the hell are you guys removing the chrome clad from the plastic grill itself!!!

I am about to break clips, I can see a bunch of them on the middle parts and along the edges.
 
#29 ·
GrilledJeep said:
How the hell are you guys removing the chrome clad from the plastic grill itself!!!

I am about to break clips, I can see a bunch of them on the middle parts and along the edges.
You need to pry them off with a screwdriver. It's a little tough at first but just keep prying.
 
#30 ·
I guess I should add the photo of mine done.

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