How difficult is it to punch out the honeycomb holes?

[trojannemo]

Saw this picture in a FB group and I'm thinking I would like to do the same to my car, to open up the grill by opening all the honeycomb holes I can. I can't just swap the grills because of the stupid ACC feature on my car, which most grills don't work with. So I was thinking of doing this - but have never seen instructions on how to do it.

Anyone do it and can give me some pointers? Thanks

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[Nagare]

1) Remove bumper
2) remove grilles
3) dremel each honeycomb out individually
4) sand down
5) reinstall grilles
6) reinstall bumper

All in all, definitely a full day project most likely.

Isn't ACC just in the lower grille?

 

[ArcsandSparks]

Pull the grilles out and sand the honeycomb off from the back, much easier than cutting each honeycomb out individually.

I used a orbital sander and it took 40 minutes, using 80 grit for the bulk of it and then smoothing it out with 200. I imagine any electric sander will get the job done pretty quickly, any plastic remnants can be removed with a razor blade.

 

[ChitownStang]

dremel won't work without taking the whole front end off?

 

[jacknifetoaswan]

dremel won't work without taking the whole front end off?

It could, but it's easier to do from the back. Honestly, taking the bumper off takes 20 minutes and basic hand tools. It's just so much easier to have the space to work, though removing the grills is a bear. I'd recommend just leaving the grilles on the car and putting the whole front bumper up on a table to work.

JR

 

[BurnCycle]

Bumper off... its easier than you think (2 bolts in the fender well are the bitch though)... Then do this...

 

[300mag]

as other said taking bumper off is easy, just pray and be super gentle when pulling the bumper that the tabs don't break where it meets the fender. The clips on these cars are crazy tight.

 

[activeGT]

Why would you do this?

 

[Kinjirra]

If your going to go that far...why not put in a mesh grill to really change the look? Unless you like the stock piece.

 

[Mr. Met]

Saw this picture in a FB group and I'm thinking I would like to do the same to my car, to open up the grill by opening all the honeycomb holes I can. I can't just swap the grills because of the stupid ACC feature on my car, which most grills don't work with. So I was thinking of doing this - but have never seen instructions on how to do it.

Anyone do it and can give me some pointers? Thanks

What does ACC stand for? I took it to mean adaptive cruise control but that wouldn't affect you ability to change the grille.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

What does ACC stand for? I took it to mean adaptive cruise control but that wouldn't affect you ability to change the grille.

No other factory bottom grill works with ACC and I'm not aware of any aftermarket lower grill that doesn't say it will NOT work with ACC or probably will not work. Apparently the radar only works thru a flat fixed thickness material and its calibrated for the exact material and thickness of the factory grill used with ACC.

 

[trojannemo]

Thanks for all the comments guys. For some reason I wasn't getting notifications on this one so I didn't see any of the above until now.

ACC stands for Adaptive Cruise Control. If your car has ACC, your bottom grill is different than everybody else's. As HoosierDaddy mentioned, no aftermarket grill works with ACC, including aftermarket bumpers like the Roush and GT350 replica front fascia. So we're stuck with the OEM bottom grill. Because of that, I hadn't thought of doing just the top as an aftermarket while keeping the bottom stock, although I suppose I could do that.

I was wondering about how easy this might be because if it was "really" easy then I would do it. As it stands, I would need to remove the bumper and cut up the plastic. Knowing how I usually mess up these things, might as well just exchange the upper grill. I'll see what I like of what is on offer. I've removed the bumper a few times across two S550s so I'm comfortable doing it, I just don't like to.

Lastly, as to why I would want to do this - to open up the grill for more air into the engine bay, and also because to me, it looks better.

 

[Mr. Met]

No other factory bottom grill works with ACC and I'm not aware of any aftermarket lower grill that doesn't say it will NOT work with ACC or probably will not work. Apparently the radar only works thru a flat fixed thickness material and its calibrated for the exact material and thickness of the factory grill used with ACC.

I understand that, I have it. My point was the op called ACC stupid so I assumed he wouldn't care about it not working. You can turn it off in the settings. Its attached to the bumper (black box on the right) not the bumper cover, so if that's the case it wouldnt affect your ability to change the bottom grille.

Also, while I agree it looks better with all the holes cut out, it not going to help performance. The engine gets plenty of air and it will only increase drag and lift.

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[Chainsaw]

Cervinis makes 2 lower grilles 1 that works with ACC.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Cervinis makes 2 lower grilles 1 that works with ACC.

I think that's just for 2018-19. The OP has a 2017.

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