j1mmyr1chter Posted June 26, 2012 Report Share Posted June 26, 2012 I know about the T-Rex mesh, and the Mobsteel mesh, but I wanted something really different. I went with UTV Products Billet upper and lower. I have a problem, I cannot get that dang thing installed! They are trying to be really helpful, so I will not bad mouth the product, but I want to poll to see if anybody else has installed one of these before? It looks awesome, but if I cant get it installed soon, I am gonna have to start asking for a refund. Somebody please tell me you have successfully installed one of these things. :RpS_crying: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crash712us Posted June 26, 2012 Report Share Posted June 26, 2012 Jimmy some photo's of the problem your having will probably help the rest of the forum to better assist you, but to my knowledge nobody on this forum has installed this grill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jojomofo21 Posted June 26, 2012 Report Share Posted June 26, 2012 Can't find the grill online but it seems the ecoboost f-150 guys were having fitment issues with their lower grill. Sorry I couldn't help more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j1mmyr1chter Posted June 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 Jimmy some photo's of the problem your having will probably help the rest of the forum to better assist you' date=' but to my knowledge nobody on this forum has installed this grill.[/quote'] Ok, so the story is, this grille replaces the factory chrome grille up top. I wont even get into how completely crazy it is trying to get the plastic tabs to let go in order to get that factory grille insert out of the front end. Trouble is once you get it out, there's very little left to actually drill and mount this new grille to. Now, lets say I am able to convince myself that the flimsy plastic bumper shroud is going to be strong enough to hold this grille in after I get it bolted in, I still cant figure out how to get the mounting holes in the grille to line up with the very narrow lip of bumper shroud that I have to drill in to. Left side view. See the mounting tabs (there's two on each side, they look like shiny pieces in between the slats of the grille near the edge) Right side: So, if somebody has installed one of these successfully, I would greatly appreciate any advice you might have on getting it installed flush, even, straight, etc.. Here's a mock up shot of how it will look if I can ever get it in there right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpd1151 Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 I believe you may literally be THE 1st one to have installed this grille. I am aware of no others spread over five different Taurus forums communities that have this grille. So in other words, you may be out of luck as far as answers from not only fellow EBOF members, but also other sites..... Now, I found myself in a similar predicament with the lower front chin spoiler piece. The MFG'er who made it, and sold, had NO CLUE WHATSOEVER on how to go about installing it. I fear you may end up having to essentially "wing it" and let the creative mod juices flow and figure it out. If that was me, I personally would've removed the entire front bumper clip in order to make removal of the stock upper grille, and subsequent re-installation of the after market grille that much easier. But hey, that's just me. Now as far as w/e holes not lining up, you may have to re-drill your own holes. I can tell you that after having done the install on my Mobsteel grille(s), it is actually kind of scary how little is holding that entire front end together, including the grille pieces themselves. However, once all buttoned up, all of the nuts and bolts and pop rivets collectively actually provide a pretty rigid, structural piece when combined. You may also have to hit your local hardware store for different fasteners, assuming that is that whoever made this grille for you supplied their own, or at least what they thought would work that is.... It can be quite frustrating being the 1st to do mods, but the rewards are, are that only you will know how to do them from this point forward, and you'll also be in the rare minorty of being able to proudly say that you either have a "one-off" type of mod, or that you're in an elite group of let's say less than 1/2 dozen that has that grille anywhere. Good luck, and maybe take some better pics of what you're looking at as far as holes not aligning, and what kind of room you have to work with so that our members can help you with suggestions, cuz right now, the pics you have posted, still aren't really clear enough in detailing what exactly you're looking at..... Keep us posted :thumb: Mike :wave: Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j1mmyr1chter Posted June 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 Thanks Mike. Actually the entire bumper shroud IS loose, I just have it slid onto the car to maintain its shape so I can figure out alignment of the grille. I actually pretty much followed your write up on the mobsteel install ;-). Yeah, I got frustrated and stopped taking good pics. When I get a chance to hit it again, I will try and get some better shots of my predicament. The guys that make this grille are trying their best to help me out, and promise me they will refund my money entirely if I just cant make it happen. They are fabricating some brackets to see if that helps me align and get it installed. The bothersome thing is that they said they have sold many of these Taurus grilles and haven't gotten any negative feedback on installation?? Now I'm no brain surgeon, but I have been doing this kind of stuff for a long time and can usually figure this type of thing out, but man, I cannot get this to work. I will post up once I tackle it again, just wanted to see if ANYBODY on these forums had tried this one. Thanks for the feedback, and your cars lookin better than ever man. Your hard work and innovations are paying off dude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crash712us Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 I did search last night on the on your grill. It appears it's only sold on eBay. And it give a brief instruction on how its to be mounted bolts for the upper and zip ties for the lower. Now judge from your pics in order to properly drill holes. I would say rest grill on a piece of card board on car to give proper space between it and bumper, next tap areas to be drilled pencil a mark inline with the mounts on grill. Now remove grill measure the width of the lip on bumper divide to find center mark tap and drill. I know it seems like a flimsy set up compared to factory mounts. Washers or even some metal strapping to spread out as a long narrow washer will help to make more ridged. Hope this helps good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crash712us Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 After reviewing this thread, I think I have a better understand of your problem. This would be next to impossible to do off car because bumper is so flimsy. So i would say the bumper needs to be at least partially mount on the car to properly align grill to make your marks on where to drill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuruption Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 I haven't seen the back side of the grille quite yet, but are you 100% sure you're not supposed to use the factory grille surround? There seems to be an awfully large gap there. In any case, let's say you weren't using the surround, here's what I would probably do... 1) Buy strips of aluminum from your local hardware store (like maybe 1/8" - 3/16" thick). Use one strip on each side of the grille, bend to shape to the inside curve of the grille opening. You may need a heatgun to make it more malleable. Buy some black spray paint and paint it block. 2) Obtain some automotive blind nuts from your local hardware store and corresponding screws (actually, I don't remember if they are called blind nuts or something else, but it's the panel "crimping" nut thing that you can see in the first picture you posted just above the grille opening to the top left above and to the right of the headlight). Drill some holes through the tabs and use these blind nuts to attach the aluminum to the side of the opening. This should give you a good base to mount the grille. 3) Attach the grille to the aluminum strips. I'm not 100% sure how it would look, but it should do what you want... it'll add some strength, allow you to line up the mounting holes of the grille better and may not look too bad. But I'm not 100% sure you should be tossing out the surround. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j1mmyr1chter Posted June 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 After reviewing this thread' date=' I think I have a better understand of your problem. This would be next to impossible to do off car because bumper is so flimsy. So i would say the bumper needs to be at least partially mount on the car to properly align grill to make your marks on where to drill.[/quote'] Absolutely correct. I had to place the shroud back onto the car in order for the shape to be right to start eyeballing how the grille will mount. Thanks Crash! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j1mmyr1chter Posted June 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 Very nice, thanks! We are on the same page. I am just struggling with how I am going to get the holes for the grille-to-aluminum-bracket-thingy lined up and marked. Not sure if that makes sense, but if you take a look at where the mounting tabs are in the grille slats, its going to be a real pain to mark the holes to mate up the grille to the aluminum brackets. I haven't seen the back side of the grille quite yet, but are you 100% sure you're not supposed to use the factory grille surround? There seems to be an awfully large gap there. In any case, let's say you weren't using the surround, here's what I would probably do... 1) Buy strips of aluminum from your local hardware store (like maybe 1/8" - 3/16" thick). Use one strip on each side of the grille, bend to shape to the inside curve of the grille opening. You may need a heatgun to make it more malleable. Buy some black spray paint and paint it block. 2) Obtain some automotive blind nuts from your local hardware store and corresponding screws (actually, I don't remember if they are called blind nuts or something else, but it's the panel "crimping" nut thing that you can see in the first picture you posted just above the grille opening to the top left above and to the right of the headlight). Drill some holes through the tabs and use these blind nuts to attach the aluminum to the side of the opening. This should give you a good base to mount the grille. 3) Attach the grille to the aluminum strips. I'm not 100% sure how it would look, but it should do what you want... it'll add some strength, allow you to line up the mounting holes of the grille better and may not look too bad. But I'm not 100% sure you should be tossing out the surround. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j1mmyr1chter Posted June 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 Oh, and you def cannot re-use the factory surround on this thing. It covers completely from left to right and top to bottom the entire grille opening. Surround is far too small to fit this thing into. Also confirmed with mfgr. Thanks. I haven't seen the back side of the grille quite yet, but are you 100% sure you're not supposed to use the factory grille surround? There seems to be an awfully large gap there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EcoBrick Bob Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 I have a Carriage Works billet grille in my Flex. It does not attach to the soft bumper enclosure but to the hard parts of the radiator cowl. Carriage works does not offer a billet grille for the Taurus, probably because of the mounting issues. It sounds like you need to be creative in making more solid mounting brackets that don't use the bumper cover as a main mounting point, (I refer this as "BLACK HOLE TECHNOLOGY"!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpoolinX2 Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 +1 for never seeing this grille before. Looks like if you can get it mounted properly, it'll looks pretty sharp though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EcoBrick Bob Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 I like the fact that it doesn't have a surround, and sort of "floats" inside the opening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j1mmyr1chter Posted July 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2012 Just an update everybody. So I am still waiting on some custom brackets that the guys made for me to try and ease the installation of this thing. I thought it was pretty cool that they were so quick to jump on whatever they could to make it work. Unfortunately, the first set they made apparently got lost in the mail (they sent them in an envelope, regular USPS, so no tracking). They've made me another set and I am hoping to get them today. Will keep you guys posted of any progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j1mmyr1chter Posted July 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2012 Ok, its done. Took me while to get the car cleaned up for some pics. So, I love this grille, but it didn't go in as easily or as cleanly as I had hoped. I am in communication with the vendor to assist with 'R&D' so they can improve on the installation of it. These are good folks and have worked really hard to make me happy. Def worth dealing with, but I would wait till they get a couple of bugs sorted out on the install of this grille ;-). Anyways, just wanted to share some pics, since I haven't found anybody thats done this type of grille yet. Enjoy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve142857 Posted July 27, 2012 Report Share Posted July 27, 2012 I like it very much! I had not seen this thread before, glad I didn't miss it and thanks for posting the pics. I started with plasti dip to see if I liked the black grille with my black SHO. I had seen the Mobsteel of Crash712 (Chris) and loved it. That would be another option to consider. Cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjhpadi Posted July 27, 2012 Report Share Posted July 27, 2012 Very nice, glad you finally got it installed! It also fits very nicely into your black/red theme. I really do think the grill looks sharp on your car! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpoolinX2 Posted July 27, 2012 Report Share Posted July 27, 2012 That looks great! The only thing I would suggest is making taking some black spray paint or plasti dip to that silver fitting behind the grille. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
First-SHO Posted July 27, 2012 Report Share Posted July 27, 2012 Nice job! Did you Plasti-dip the grille? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fueld13 Posted July 27, 2012 Report Share Posted July 27, 2012 Dang, that is BAD-A!!!!! Nice work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j1mmyr1chter Posted July 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2012 Thanks guys. Nope no plasti-dip. You guys are the plast-dip'inist bunch I have ever seen lmao (nothing wrong with it, I just think its funny). No, the company offers the grilles in standard billet, or black powder coat. Its a little bit more to powder coat it, but its worth it since its on the front of the car and will take a beating. The lower pieces are just inserts in our factory grille. They just zip tie in there (three pieces). I also had to get the chrome ring on the lower grille painted black as well to get rid of any remaining chrome (already chipped :mad2:). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j1mmyr1chter Posted July 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2012 Oh an btw, yes I do regret not painting the 'shiny' behind the grille while I had everything apart. It was a moment of laziness that I wish I had avoided. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
First-SHO Posted July 27, 2012 Report Share Posted July 27, 2012 Thanks for the info, and nice job! Is that flat black or gloss black? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.