mesh grill material and mounting? [Merged 2-7]

[roadrunner2176]

I re-did the grill on my eclipse recently amidst other work. I found expanded aluminum mesh at Home Depot in large sheets, maybe 4ft. x 8ft. They weren't stored very well and while somewhat stiff still easily bendable and the storage somewhat warped the sheets. I had to find select spots in the mesh that were relatively "lined up" to cut my portions from. I then spray painted them with multiple coats using black gloss spray paint and installed on my car.

I don't have pictures yet as i just did this and the car is elsewhere getting some intercooler damage welded up. I found my solution to be ok but not ideal. Here's why:

1) mesh really isn't that stiff. Anyone pushing on it in the wrong way or perhaps a nice rock could bend it up and I really wouldn't be able to restore it to its original shape, meaning I'd have to cut a new replacement. I'd consider the mesh on my EVO the proper stiffness but I have never found comparable mesh.

2) Spray paint alone just doesn't cut it. It chips off pretty easily and I can tell already that I'll be touching it up a lot. Have to find some other way to coat it so the paint adheres and holds even with small impacts from bugs/rocks/etc. I thought about plasti-dip but I didn't have a quick solution to how the hell I'd dip the grills in it and then a way to dry it

I do however like the general look I got with this mesh. I previously had used a plastic mesh I found in Home Depot's home and garden section used for fencing off trees and stuff. I just turned it at an angle and cut the rectangles I needed out, then made a metal frame out of stereo back strapping for keeping it taut. Over time however it loosened up and looked flimsy. Also the plastic faded slightly over time.

The only alternative to what I've done that I considered was some mesh I'd seen for sale from a vendor on ebay. I unfortunately don't recall the seller's name or any keywords as I forgot the option when I decided to try the Home Depot aluminum mesh.

The mesh you used is for tile. It's supposed to be rough to accept the thinset.

Try looking for some expanded aluminum or sheet metal. You can get pieces in almost any length and gauge. It's stronger and cheaper than mesh, and takes paint very well.

 

[bmoha2]

that really looks good!

 

[Joeyxx07]

ok thanks guys, my talon is red, do you think i should keep it the metal color, or paint it black or red or something?

 

[ed1380]

I got an eclipse and don't want to make it look sloppy and overdone.

i was thinking of using black or chrome/silver mesh on the center and outer spaces. liquid nails to hold it down

what should I do to the gray inserts?

 

[quick93gsx]

at first i bought an actual piece of mesh from autozone made for making custom grills for 40 bucks! got home and it was too short

so then i got to thinking and remembered seeing some material at the local ace hardware went down there found the gutter stuff in like a 30-40 foot roll x 6 inches, 2- 5 foot metal rods and a pack of small zip ties. cut it all to size and it looks like i bought it from some big company. while i was down there i picked up a piece of heating duct and traced my old rotted emblem on to it and made myself a matching emblem. all of this was under 10 bucks


before:

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i cut out the center blue piece and the 2 black smaller pieces above so it looks even better. it took a VERY long time to get the 2 smaller pieces the way i wanted them

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[TAndrus]

I fit some of the stuff into my bumper today. I haven't actually zip tied it or liquid nailed it yet though.

What are your thoughts? I dunno if that's how it's supposed to look..

PS- Click the picture to see it better. The resizing for the forums makes the grill look funny.

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