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You guys think it would look clean if I plasti dip the grille black? Lower and top portion including the chrome. Ps. Car has black bonnet stripes now, this is before installation.
Back in the days when I had a gen 1, I used a black JCW grill surround that requires trimming of the bumper fascia ( not as hard or scary as it sounds) for the lower piece. Creates a 50's "frenched" look. I then painted the grill slats satin black and mounted a SUPERCHARGED emblem from a Ford F150 HD edition in the center of the slats. This really looked GREAT on the PW MINI.
Back in the days when I had a gen 1, I used a black JCW grill surround that requires trimming of the bumper fascia ( not as hard or scary as it sounds) for the lower piece. Creates a 50's "frenched" look. I then painted the grill slats satin black and mounted a SUPERCHARGED emblem from a Ford F150 HD edition in the center of the slats. This really looked GREAT on the PW MINI. ISAMIN
A black grille on pepper white would look great. Alternatives are a factory JCW grille as stated above, but this requires minor modifications to get the bumper portion to sit flush on a non-aero bumper. There's also an aftermarket JCW style grille that fits the standard bumper, but the grille/mesh pattern is like the 2nd generation, not the 1st, if that matters to you.
Another option is to just black out the slats and leave your chrome surround. This is how I did mine. If you don't like the contour detail on the early grilles, you can also get the surround from an '05 and later grille which are smooth.
A black grille on pepper white would look great. Alternatives are a factory JCW grille as stated above, but this requires minor modifications to get the bumper portion to sit flush on a non-aero bumper. There's also an aftermarket JCW style grille that fits the standard bumper, but the grille/mesh pattern is like the 2nd generation, not the 1st, if that matters to you. Another option is to just black out the slats and leave your chrome surround. This is how I did mine. If you don't like the contour detail on the early grilles, you can also get the surround from an '05 and later grille which are smooth.
How hard is the mod? I found the grille for $80. But gets me wondering if my car is a JCW then why didn't it come with that JCW grill already? And do you have pics of your blacked out slats/chrome surround?
And I'm not really sure what you mean on the difference from the 04 to 05/06 grills?
The JCW grille is for the factory aero kit, often called the JCW body kit by mistake. There are threads on the details, but you have to dremel the bumper and/or the back of the lower grille to make it sit flush. The mounting tabs and possibly the thickness of the grille is the problem. The correct aftermarket grille (I think from outmotoring.com) gives you a "JCW" look on the standard bumper without the trimming.
If you look at your chrome surround, it has a decorative design in it. The facelift surrounds are completely smooth like your headlight rings. Here's a pic with the smooth surround and blacked out slats. Unfortunately, it's not pepper white so you'll have to use your imagination.
The JCW grille is for the factory aero kit, often called the JCW body kit by mistake. There are threads on the details, but you have to dremel the bumper and/or the back of the lower grille to make it sit flush. The mounting tabs and possibly the thickness of the grille is the problem. The correct aftermarket grille (I think from outmotoring.com) gives you a "JCW" look on the standard bumper without the trimming. If you look at your chrome surround, it has a decorative design in it. The facelift surrounds are completely smooth like your headlight rings. Here's a pic with the smooth surround slats blacked out. Unfortunately, it's not pepper white so you'll have to use your imagination.
That's the one I saw for $80 from outmotoring.com - but that blacked out slats photo looks clean af. I may have to do that to save the money.
I just used vinyl, but a lot of people use plasti dip or trim paint. On pepper white, make sure you black out the pepper white supports/framing behind the grille or it'll stick out from whatever black grille you end up going with.
I just used vinyl, but a lot of people use plasti dip or trim paint. On pepper white, make sure you black out the pepper white supports/framing behind the grille or it'll stick out from whatever black grille you end up going with.
Can you tell me which grille would be the JCW one? Because I don't want to purchase the one that looks like the 2nd gen Minis. I'm having a hard time figuring out the differences from google pics.
Both of these pics are from outmotoring. The first is the factory 1st gen JCW grille. Look at the shape of the mesh. They tell you about the modification needed to fit the standard bumper in the description. This is a good pic which shows what you see if you leave a light body color behind the black grille.
Here's the aftermarket grille. The mesh is like the R56 grille. A minor nit picky difference, but a detail that might bother some nonetheless. But if you want a JCW style grille, it's either go with this grille, or spend more $$$ and trim your standard bumper and lower grille to fit.
I've had both of those grilles at one point, I now have the aero and it's worth the modification. It's not hard with a dremel and patience. The aero looks a lot better imo and the actual quality is much better. Plasti dipping or painting your own black will look nice too though. Could always plasti dip yours and see how you like it before painting or deciding you want a replacement grille.
I've got the DIY instructions for the AERO grill install as a pdf. I've installed several for folks over the years. If you have a Dremel it is pretty straight forward - just take your time. Cut a little, test fit, cut a little more ..... easy to remove more when needed ... harder to put back! (Dremel #194, or 561 or similar cutting bit is useful as are cutting disks)
if you want the pdf, pm me an e-mail and I'll send as an attachment
