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Modifying the Standard mk1 Front Grill

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  • Modifying the Standard mk1 Front Grill

    Right, I've been looking at a new front grill for the daily bus, but at the moment fund's won't allow for a VX grill or one of the ebay specials. So I decided to try and do a bit of work to my existing grill to see what sort of results I can get.

    First job remove the three torx screws from both wheel arches, then all off the torx screws from the top of the bumper then loosen off the two bolts on the bottom mounting brackets (I think they were E12?). Now with a slight bit of persuasion the bumper can be pulled out of the side mounts and the entire thing will drop forwards.

    Now it was time to remove the chrome trims from the grill, it takes a bit of patience and a small screw driver will help to pop the tabs down, but you need to be careful not to snap any of them off.

    When I had the trims I wanted off it was time to pop the bumper back into place then bolt it all back up.



    Now into the garage and time to break out the 800 wet and dry and give all of the trims a quick scuff, then panel wipe them all down and then they get treated to a few coats of grey primer and left to dry over night.



    So last night has now turned into today and the primer has fully set, so back out to the garage with the 800 wet and dry to flat off the primer a quick visit from the panel wipe. So now we get to introduce the trims to the Sapphire Black and the result is below.



    Now I know you can't see the now black trims too well on the now black work bench but I'll admit that on on of the coats I made a rookie error and got a small run on one of them.

    Now thanks to some egging in from my work mates through WhatsApp I headed out to the garage armed with the missus hair drier and the determination of a man with a plan and spent the next 20 mins getting arm ache wafting the hair drier over my work bench. I then gently took the 800 wet and dry to the run annnnnddd.......


    What occurred next can only be described as several minutes of industrial grade swearing. It turns out that the 20mins of arm ache wasn't enough to harden the paint enough to attempt to flatten it out tonight.

    However my halfrauds touch up pen came to the rescue and it managed to fill the void left from where the run pulled off and a fourth coat has smoothed it over a bit. Now all this is locked in my garage for the night and will get flattened off tomorrow before the lacquer goes on.

  • #2
    Excellent write up

    I've always thought about doing this but keep changing my mind on whether I prefer the chrome or not thead

    Comment


    • #3
      I like the chrome but I think losing the three chrome bars gives the front end a bit more of a sporty look rather than the executive look the chrome gives so it depends on what look your're after.
      2017 Vauxhall Insignia Grand Sport Sri Nav 1.5 (165ps) Turbo petrol in Lava Red - Keyless entry and start - 18” five spoke alloy wheels - Front fog lights - Tinted rear windows - Aluminium sports pedals - Ambient interior led lighting - Front and rear parking assist - Active emergency braking - Forward collision assist - Front pedestrian alert - Traffic sign recognition - Lane keep assist - Cruise control - Speed warning and limiter - Voice recognition - Bluetooth - Duel zone climate control - Front and rear electric windows - High beam assist - Auto lights - Auto wipers - Wifi hotspot - 8” colour touchscreen Navi 900 with Android Auto, Apple Car Play and DAB

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      • #4
        So headed back to the garage tonight and broke out the wet and dry to flat last nights paint down. While I have managed to smooth most of the run out there are a few places that have broke through to the chrome.





        So no lacquer tonight folks, just another coat that's now on and drying then probably another two and another then I'll see how it all looks tomorrow.

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        • #5
          It'll be worth it in the end,,will look good
          ​2015 Sri vx line nav BiTurbo . Sri heated leather.5500k AFL . Vx line 20s,8inch LCD dash .FLEXride.Reverse cam.Irmscher grill.235hp and 480 torqs.30mm lowering springs.20mm H&R spacers all round. Mtec drilled discs on rear,VXR 355mm drilled on front,with Brembo 4 pot calipers. Auto wipers .VX puddle lights.Carbon effect black roof wrap.Irmscher roof spoiler.Irmscher side skirts.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by exclusiv. View Post
            It'll be worth it in the end,,will look good
            Well I hope it will, I'm fighting the temptation to put another coat on tonight and try to lacquer them. But I don't think I've got the drying time needed

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            • #7
              Best off taking your time mate,,you can't rush the drying process,another day won't hurt
              ​2015 Sri vx line nav BiTurbo . Sri heated leather.5500k AFL . Vx line 20s,8inch LCD dash .FLEXride.Reverse cam.Irmscher grill.235hp and 480 torqs.30mm lowering springs.20mm H&R spacers all round. Mtec drilled discs on rear,VXR 355mm drilled on front,with Brembo 4 pot calipers. Auto wipers .VX puddle lights.Carbon effect black roof wrap.Irmscher roof spoiler.Irmscher side skirts.

              Comment


              • #8
                I know, I just really wanna get them on the car! But if I try to rush them it'll be longer before they're on.

                Ah well time to sort the kitchen with project binky on then!

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                • #9
                  Right got home and back in the garage, flatted the trims down the 2000 wet and dry this time cleaned them up and now they've had two coats of clear lacquer and are sat drying on the work bench.

                  Now this is the first time I've painted anything properly, so after the lacquers dried over night do I need to do any other work to the trims or should be ready to go straight back on the car?

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    excellent write up Dakelly, pictures say so much more than words..

                    when the lacquer has dried they should be good enough to go straight back on,

                    if you really wanted to you could give the top coat of the lacquer a light rub over with higher grade wet and dry, say 3500 grit and another coat of lacquer, but to be honest the finish you'll end up with will only be slightly 'shinier' than you'll have with just the two coats....

                    (forgive me, i build 'scale models' in my spare time so i'm always 'arsing' around with the lacquer coats i use to seal the paintwork in.. )
                    Chris

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                    • #11
                      Ah OK, well like I said it's the first time for me trying out painting stuff properly so far I'm happy with results. I've got tomorrow off work so I'll get the trims back on early doors and post a few pics so you guys can see if this week's buggering about has made much of a difference.

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                      • #12
                        Don't be impatient...We don't want to see fingerprints in the lacquer!
                        2017 Vauxhall Insignia Grand Sport Sri Nav 1.5 (165ps) Turbo petrol in Lava Red - Keyless entry and start - 18” five spoke alloy wheels - Front fog lights - Tinted rear windows - Aluminium sports pedals - Ambient interior led lighting - Front and rear parking assist - Active emergency braking - Forward collision assist - Front pedestrian alert - Traffic sign recognition - Lane keep assist - Cruise control - Speed warning and limiter - Voice recognition - Bluetooth - Duel zone climate control - Front and rear electric windows - High beam assist - Auto lights - Auto wipers - Wifi hotspot - 8” colour touchscreen Navi 900 with Android Auto, Apple Car Play and DAB

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Well the trims are now on the car but a couple of tabs on the lowest trim aren't engaging so I need to pull the bumper and have a look at them. When that's sorted I'll get some pics up

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                          • #14
                            Right then, so I've had the bumper off again and re adjusted the bottom trim and the result is below.



                            Personally I like the look but I did make a small mistake putting the top two trims on this morning. Turns out that the lacquer wasn't completely dry when I fitted them this morning and the lacquer has rippled where I've tried to push it in, but over all I'm still happy with the result.



                            Let me know what you guys think.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Yeah looks good!
                              2017 Vauxhall Insignia Grand Sport Sri Nav 1.5 (165ps) Turbo petrol in Lava Red - Keyless entry and start - 18” five spoke alloy wheels - Front fog lights - Tinted rear windows - Aluminium sports pedals - Ambient interior led lighting - Front and rear parking assist - Active emergency braking - Forward collision assist - Front pedestrian alert - Traffic sign recognition - Lane keep assist - Cruise control - Speed warning and limiter - Voice recognition - Bluetooth - Duel zone climate control - Front and rear electric windows - High beam assist - Auto lights - Auto wipers - Wifi hotspot - 8” colour touchscreen Navi 900 with Android Auto, Apple Car Play and DAB

                              Comment

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