I was experimenting today to see what it would take to make the stock rear bumper grilles an actual grille, instead of a solid piece of plastic.

I wanted to use the stock ones because they are designed for the rear bumper cover and just snap right in, but I hate having fake/simulated grilles... so after about an hour on the belt sander which included cleaning up/trimming each opening with an x-acto knife, I ended up with this...





...I did remove a lot of plastic and the grille itself turns out being much thinner, but once you snap it into place, it's fine.


The stock solid "grille"...


...this one will meet the belt sander soon, just didn't have time today.

 

So did you just sand down from the backside until there were holes? Then clean it up with an exacto knife?

Looks good

 

That looks good! Nice work that might even cut down on some drag! Maybe make our cars a little faster.

 

OMG! That is a great idea, still OEM fit and functional too.

Now just give them a few coats of clear coat Acrylic and they will look like brand new.....

Nice job.

 

Very cool So... didn't want to buy the M7's ehh.... Looks like you removed the metal from the back also?

Yea, whats the belt sander for?

 

Looks great! I drilled about three holes in each section of mine....

 

Great idea

 

That is sweet, always wondered why they were not like that to begin with.
But never attempted cause I drilled out "blocked holes" on sides of aero grill and cleaned it up with xcto pen and it was TEDIOUS.

 

Thanks guys...I think it came out pretty good, considering I was just experimenting.
I'm not sure the belt sander is the best way to do this, because you also remove some of the tabs in the process, but the grille still snaps in like it should. I think i'll try a hand held grinder on the other one.


Being totally honest...I thought about the M7 ones more than once while I was doing it. But then I said, if it was easy...then everybody would have them.
And yes...the heat shielding was removed when I did the straight exhaust.
The belt sander is what I used to remove the plastic from the back of the grille. I just got it thin enough to where I could pop the plastic out of the hole, then clean it up with the x-acto.

Like howsoonisnow said...it is very tedious.

 

Looks cool, Partsman! You're the bomb--what the kids aren't keeping you busy enough, you have to sit there countin' all the little holes in the rear grilles.
Of course, with a straight exhaust and no heat shield, I am just gonna have to do this too!!

Sweet,

 

That looks awesome. Wonder how long it would take to do with a dremmel? Do they snap off from the outside, just felt the back of mine and it seems like theres alot in the way of getting to them from the inside...

 

No, you get at them from the backside--hence the comment about the heat shield. If that has been removed (usually due to the battery relocate/straight exhaust mod) then you have easy access to these panels.

 

Thats whatI gathered, figured I'd ask. All of these "easy" mods turn out not being so easy afterall. Is the heat shield mechanically necessary? Will things melt if I take it off and leave it off?

 

Mmm...depends on what cans you are running. If you are running twin cans that go around the battery box, opening up the grilles might not look so good as all you'll see are the mufflers. Just admit it, you want to do the battery relocate mod, don't you?!!

 

Thanks Phil...oh, the boys keep me busy alright, but I also need to have some "mod time" to get stuff done. I don't know how I got on this exterior mod train...I should be working on my intercooler.

As I stated above...i'm not sure the belt sander is the best way to do this. It definitely works, but is a harsh way to treat plastic.
I just talked to my friend at Nutmeg Tool, and we are thinking of trying to mill the other one on the Bridgeport. That should be a lot easier and cleaner.


cLuTcH...DrPhil's right, they have to come out from inside the bumper.
You could possibly trim the heat shielding expose the grilles, then do the mod.
EDIT: I tried a Dremel on one a long time ago, it doesn't work very well.

 

That's friggin awesome Joaquin. Not too bad for just an hour. They should come like that from the factory.

 

...and the straight exhaust!!!

I'll have a look-see under there when I get home and see whats what.

 

Thanks man...it was a long hour ...and you're right, they should have come stock like that.

 

You can just remove the portion of the heat shield that covers these grills. What i did was remove the grill and used a serrated steak knife following the outline of the opening.

 

Cool, great idea.

 

Hey Partsman, Would it be possible to take another pic? One that show the hole in the bumber without the black grille in place. I mean...only if you can do it without removing the bumper. Thanks.

 

I have a couple from when I put the R56 MCS exhaust on my car...





...I was actually driving around like that for a while, before I put the grilles in.

Is there something in particular you want to see?

 

So Parstman, where do I ship my grills to?

 

Let me see if milling it on a Bridgeport(as opposed to the belt sander) works first...then i'll let you now.

 

I wasn't looking for anything in particular. Just wanted to see what would, or might be seen. I'm working on a cosmetic mod (adding the GP bumber inserts), and was wondering if putting holes in my bumper would be worthwhile. Thanks for the additional pics.