Custom Car Grills Mesh

I finished the grill mod using Custom Car Grills mesh and a sheet of ABS plastic. I picked up a new OEM upper cheap off EBay for $40. I gutted the grill with a cutting wheel on a Dremel. The project was a bit time consuming but worth it in the end. A lot of thanks to Nathan for sharing info as it helped with what I did.

where did you get the abs from.

yote41 said:

where did you get the abs from.

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The ABS sheet was from Amazon. 1/16 x 24 x 48. I only used half of it.

Looks great! I can only imagine the amount of time you put into it, but it was obviously well worth the effort!

I received a couple of PM's on this project so I'll try to detail as much of it as possible as that's what is great about this forum. I'd like to thank member Nathan Brummer as I got the idea for this project from his previous grill project. I'll start with the parts list first and where I got them but you may be able to source them elsewhere cheaper.

Grill - FR3Z-8200-BA $42.00. This is the OEM Upper Grill for the 2015-2017 Mustang GT. You can obviously use the grills currently on the car but given the time involved and it was my first time doing this, I decided to get a spare grill. I gutted the grill using a cutting wheel on a Dremel tool. you can visit customcargrills.com and watch the video and follow the same procedure. After the rough cut, you'll need a file and sandpaper to clean it up.

Grill Mesh - Honeycomb Mesh Grill Kit for 2015-2017 Ford Mustang GT $84.99. I bought the mesh kit from customcargrills.com. The mesh kit comes with 6 pieces of preformed mesh that will cover the 6 openings in the grills after you gut them (3 upper, 3 lower). While they are preformed, you'll need to massage them to get the sides flat against your grill for bonding. Take your time and work the metal. I used diagonal cutters to snip some of the corners to get a better fit. Once you're happy with the fit, zip tie the pieces in place and use Amazing Goop Automotive adhesive to bond the mesh to the grill. I went through two and a half tubes to complete the upper and lower grill. The adhesive truly is amazing and takes about 24 hours to cure. The adhesive will settle into the honeycomb so you'll likely make a couple of applications. This adhesive will run if you apply to much to quickly so take your time and you'll have less to clean up. Be careful not to let it run on the face of the grill. Once everything is cured, you can cut the zip ties.

Adhesive - Amazing Goop Automotive Adhesive $6.90 on Amazon. I bought three tubes and used two and a half. Some local hardware stores may have this but it was cheaper and easier to get it from Amazon. customcargrills.com also sells this and you can add it to your cart when you buy the mesh.

ABS Sheet - 1/16" x 24" x 48" (haircell textured) $11.30 on Amazon. I purchased from vendor Sibe Automation. It was very well packed in heavy cardboard and shipped flat. I only used have the sheet but I couldn't find a smaller piece. (if someone is in the Lake Wylie or Charlotte area that wants the remaining half, you can have it). Getting the rough cut on the ABS is a bit tricky as the grill itself is contoured so take your time getting it right. I actually did my measuring and sizing before I glued the mesh on. You need to leave an overhang of ABS material to tie the ABS to the grill. When it got it centered, I left an overhang of a .5" all the way around. I used a small drill bit to create an opening just large enough to slide a zip tie through. Drill your holes side by side to create that opening. Keep in mind where your tangs are on the grill and drill your holes in between the tangs on the ABS. I used 1" cable tie mounting tabs that have self adhesive to anchor the cable ties. Once you have the location for the mounting tabs, use the Amazing Goop adhesive around the outside of the mount to make sure it's not coming off. The large opening in the ABS sheet measured 22" x 3.75". This opening has more material up top than on the bottom. Google pictures of the GT350 grill to give yourself some ideas. On the upper grill, I used 14 cable ties, 5 top, 5 bottom and 2 on each side.

Howler Badge - $43.00 which included the grill mount from MF_Autodesigns. I went with the black and chrome but there are multiple colors to choose from. I got this on Ebay before they became a vendor on this site. I will say this badge is a heavy hunk of metal. As I don't have any chrome on the car, I dulled down the finish but spraying it with clear matte. There are two mounting bolts that go through the base, the mesh and the ABS plastic sheet. I tried to follow the GT350 design but where you place it is up to you. Adding the base mount adds rigidity to the finished grill. The base is smaller than the badge so you will have some ability to get your badge centered up the way you want it. The badge affixes with 3M double sided tape that comes on the back of the badge.

I used the lower grill from the car as it's $80 new. Not sure why Ford has it priced almost double what the upper is. I think that about covers it but happy to answer any questions. I know Nathan used a different style mesh as did Labradog but this gives you an idea. Pulling the bumper and removing the grills is another story in itself but there are plenty of youtube videos online available to walk you through that process. Happy modding!

Here's the rough cut of the ABS sheet and also the lower grill completed

bjstang said:

^^^^^ Great job Bruce, looks nice.

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Thanks Bill, I've been following your journal, mods and scenic journeys. Good stuff!

mumbles said:

Looks great! I can only imagine the amount of time you put into it, but it was obviously well worth the effort!

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Thanks Eric, I'm happy with the outcome. Wished I had done my springs at the same time I had the car on jacks and the wheels off.

and while drinking PBR. that's a real man right there.:cheers:

cdq85 said:

and while drinking PBR. that's a real man right there.:cheers:

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Lol, I think there were a few PBR's.

Boston23 said:

Here's the rough cut of the ABS sheet and also the lower grill completed

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Fantastic job! I cheated on mine and purchased the pre-made replacement grills from CCG. but can really appreciate your effort. Very happy with my CCG grill. Am curious on why you added the ABS plate? Were you trying to match the stock grill which has the similar areas covered?

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looks amazing [MENTION=16577]Boston23[/MENTION]

MustangGuy said:

Fantastic job! I cheated on mine and purchased the pre-made replacement grills from CCG. but can really appreciate your effort. Very happy with my CCG grill. Am curious on why you added the ABS plate? Were you trying to match the stock grill which has the similar areas covered?

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Funnily enough, I thought about getting complete CCG replacement when I was ordering my mesh but I already had the spare grill. As for the ABS sheet, I wanted to hide the two support rods behind the grill that were visible on a complete delete. I suspect Ford engineers reduced the airflow on the GT350's for technical reasons but not sure. CCG does a great job with those complete grills. Your car looks great.

This will be my next mod. Just trying to decide between your mesh or the swat mesh right now... What made you pick this one over the swat mesh?