A toothless grille, and de-grunged headlights.

Kinja'd!!! "Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer" (dash-doorhandle-and-bondo)
05/02/2020 at 11:42 • Filed to: None

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I pulled the grille and headlights because the lights were beyond polishing, so i sanded off the old checked clear, (400 dry, 600,800 1200, 1500, and two coats of five star clear. The grille was missing some teeth from a wild prairie chicken I hit on the highway. pulling the grille, I found the missing teeth hiding in there, but the teeth between the teeth were gone so I took som e sidecutters and de grilled the grille (rock auto in my future). but for now this looks better.


DISCUSSION (13)


Kinja'd!!! Captain of the Enterprise > Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer
05/02/2020 at 11:55

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Nice, I need to do my headlights, they are getting pretty hazy but I’m trying to decide if I get new headlights for like $280 or do the work and hope they last.


Kinja'd!!! boredalways > Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer
05/02/2020 at 11:56

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Clean enough that you could eat off them! But please get a replacement grill soon before other random creatures decide to test out your radiator.


Kinja'd!!! Nom De Plume > Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer
05/02/2020 at 11:58

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I think instead of a buying a new grille.  You should fill in the empty slots with two sizes of wire mesh in contrasting patterns.  Not necessarily chicken wire, but similar.


Kinja'd!!! Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Captain of the Enterprise
05/02/2020 at 12:11

Kinja'd!!!1

Depending on the year the headlights were made, toothpaste and a stiff brush can work wonders. If it has a sort of rubberised coating on it , I would try to tackle them yourself with sandpaper . Saves some money and is usually reasonably rewarding work.


Kinja'd!!! sony1492 > Captain of the Enterprise
05/02/2020 at 12:18

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Its cheaper in the short term to do it yourself, also not particularly difficult though tedious 


Kinja'd!!! VincentMalamute-Kim > Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer
05/02/2020 at 12:47

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I zip tied metal rain gutter mesh over my intercooler intake.

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Kinja'd!!! Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer > sony1492
05/02/2020 at 14:12

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took about an hour, plus a year to have the motivation to remove them. 


Kinja'd!!! Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
05/02/2020 at 14:29

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Also a trick I’ve seen work is DEET.  Deep woods off, the strong stuff in the blue can, spray some on a paper towel and wipe some of the yellow oxidation off the lenses.  I don’t know how it works, but it offers a slight improvement. BE CAREFUL! bug spray will melt the finish off of interior plastics, and probably damage paint,  but I’ve seen it work.  No substitute for actually fixing but helps a bit with no effort.  


Kinja'd!!! Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer > Nom De Plume
05/02/2020 at 14:32

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I did that on my old CRV, cut out the teeth, put in the mesh, and used a wheel centre as a grille emblem. This grille is cracked in a couple places, and doesn’t really come apart (factory “melted” together).  It’ll get a custom attempt once the new one is in place. 


Kinja'd!!! Nom De Plume > Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer
05/02/2020 at 16:22

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Fair enough, I just wanted to hear your thoughts about using chicken wire to prevent chicken related damage.


Kinja'd!!! Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer > Nom De Plume
05/02/2020 at 17:53

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went right over my head. I’m getting seriously deficient with the cleverness.  7 weeks of doing not much seems to be making me dumb. 


Kinja'd!!! Captain of the Enterprise > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
05/02/2020 at 19:06

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I’ve done it before but it went back after a year, the second time I used clear coat after sanding and polishing but then the car got totaled. I’m debating if I want to do it again on this car. 


Kinja'd!!! Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Captain of the Enterprise
05/02/2020 at 19:31

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Go for it. It will improve the look of the car and those small projects are usually immensely satisfying.