Yep, you read it right. $3 grill

I have spent a small fortune putting this car back in order in the last two months. 2500 for the car, 350 for a headliner kit, ungodly amount for a new holley carb, dist, plugs wires, all fluids, new dash, crazy az hard to find trim parts that are 30 here, 50 there, a hundred here, new gauge cluster, new Grant steering wheel, all new air conditioning components including all new hoses, evaporator, condensor, compressor, orifice and chrome brackets to mount it all up. Not to mention all the rest of the nickel and dime crap along with tools I thought I would never need again like a vacuum gauge and timing light. By all means the car is nearing complete and looking and running fabulous. Till you peek at the front bumper. Dang 7"x4" holes on both sides of the liscense plate revealing the radiatior and trans cooler. I am NOT paying $80 EACH for that little peice of plastic! Seriously, why does everyone charge so much for those, and you can never buy them in pairs. No, they want anywhere from $45 each to 125 each depending on condition.
So I made a set for three bucks .... Posts and pics to follow...

 

Steal wifes plastic cutting board and listen to her scream!
OR go to your nearest dollar store like I did and pick one up for a dollar!

 

Measure, cut, and drill mounting holes. Make sure you mark the back side of your plastic with an arrow up and whether it is the left or right! Otherwise you will be >>>> cos it wont fit!

 

I used a half inch wood bit to drill the holes in mine, and dont worry about making the holes all cemetrical....you wont see them anyways... They are only for air flow, not cosmetic....that part is coming up...

 

Prime and paint them yo!

 

Now, your going to head to your local wally world (Walmart for you Yankees) where you will bust the bank on some $2 plastic canvas mesh...

 

Cut to fit! (If your from the south, use your pocket knife and or teeth) ***disclaimer to follow***

 

Glue it on Homer!

***Notice Im using BLACK silicone adhesive. Use it liberally! and you will need some solvent and some rags to wipe wipe wipe! Then just let it sit over night!

 

***redrill through mounting holes in order to go through the mesh and then mount these $3 bad boys!

 

NOW....am I gonna spend all that money only to crap out on an extra $150 to make the car right? No. But I will use them until my local yard finally gets a car that has them! These work well by the way. Very durable and will last as long as I need them to. I thought I would post this up since it worked well for me. It also gives me some ideas about cutting a strip of this same set up and dropping it in the defrost vent for appearance and also because the defrost vent is a never ending hole that leads to the abyss that has eaten untold cigarette lighters, money, womens lil hair pretties and other unmentionable items! Might work....

 

Came out looking pretty good! I too and running a cheap set of homemade grills. They're cut out from the black plastic grills on discarded furnace filters like these lol

http://www.lowes.com/pd_186503-1361-...furnace+filter

 

Now THATS treating your car right right there.....Filtered air flow!

 

Really guys?

 

Go easy on me, its keeping the debris out until I can find a pair at my local yard...lol

 

 

.....

 

Did you read my post? Its temporary. One comment from California, and the other comment from the OTHER California (Florida)...LOL Why are yall aways so inhospitable to us good ole boys? smh...lol

 

Forget any naysayers, it doesn't look too bad especially for the price. It's not like you did something drastic like make this for an 85+ car where it's extremely visible.

 

Scott, you're right.

The holes could have been done in a way to appease an OCD geometric, symmetrical layout.

And the mesh is far too coarse for the mosquitos in FL, but will probably suffice for TN.

 

It does collect the bugs....but thats better than them collecting in the rad and trans cooler......and they spray off without messing up the paint. I guess the mesh and black silicone protect it pretty good.
Also, the mesh completely hides the holes. Look at the pic....that is a close up shot about 2 feet from the car and down on my knees to see it. It really looks good in person. Doesnt matter though, they will be replaced with the correct grills simply because the rest of the car has so much money and time in it. I thought the idea was good and can be improved upon with little effort. If I were going to do this for a permanent set-up I would use razor sharp fine cuts in the plastic material and sand off the edges for a factory looking smooth fit. I would also do something cooler with the holes....they would be cemetrical, but not only that....drill them smaller and in the shape of a BOW-TIE It is the basic idea that I wanted to give guys that need a temporary set-up. Anyone can see that it can be done better and different. The materials used however will outlast the flimsy factory grill...guaranteed. That plastic is lightweight....but is also a half inch thick and is not going to break or crack. Here is a pic of the car.... it deserves the right grills...and I will get them. I just wont pay 150.00 for them. I will wait till my yard gets them and then restore them.

 

I have one of the original grills, I used to have a set, they're old...brittle...and really expensive to replace. All it would take is the right rock, or heck, even a large enough bug at 70 mph and one can be cracked up or have a chunk knocked out of it (in fact, that's why I only have 1 now).

So, the grills I have look good and not out of place (it's just the black plastic part, not the colored filter fabric) and are really easy to replace

$3 vs $100-150, pretty easy decision for me.

 

Just glad you didn't take the wife's cutting board. Better than being wide open in the interim.

 

I like your thinking! I did something similar, but my budget was way more than yours... I spent a whole $7.20.

Got some black steel mesh from the scrap heap at CustomCarGrills.com. This piece cost $7.20.


Made some cardboard templates for the openings.


Using some scrap sheet steel, I made some tabs to hold it them place.


Epoxied the tabs to the grill.


The finished product. The screw heads have since been painted black.

 

NICE!

 

Mine was, well, free. But the same expanded metal is real cheap at a hardware store.

A few small tabs used to hold it on the grille insert, But since I cut the center out for an intercooler, I'm just using the grille in the opening. The same tabs have zip ties through them mounting it to the intercooler.

If I can dig out an old pic with the other grille I'll throw it up.

 

Okay, so yours definitely look better. I guess the old saying is true....You get what you pay for. Yours cost double!...LOL

 

Hey...wait a minute....is that masking tape holding it on? Your gonna hafta upgrade to duct tape and go all the way around it or your gonna be spending another 7.20 next week...lol

 

Read boy, read! LOL

 

Missed that part! Sorry. Those look fabulous!

 

I like your name sleepsinshed ... You didn't get busted trying to steal your wife's cutting board did you?.... lol

 

I always thought foglights added to the 82-84z's looked good, especially if done to look stock.