E30 Mesh Grill

[DIY]

This was a "while waiting for parts project" it was quick and I did it in a few hours (not including paint drying)

stuff needed:

E30 headlight cover L+R and kydney grill
Dremel
Bondo
400 grit sandpaper
gutter/eavestrough covers (got mine from lowes for 15$ tonnes left over)
Metal Shears
epoxy
primer
paint



Step 1: Re-construction

chisel out all the fins, bondo the holes, and sand smooth




Step 2: moulding the mesh

bend gutter cover straight (its curved when you buy it, previous pic bottom right). Make a quick template with some paper and cut and bend the mesh to match.. It should almost hold itself into the little triangular holes

1 piece is 6in wide so it just fits the E30 front end but if you really want to make it wider for other openings, DONT WELD IT! I tried to take my tig welder to it and it vapourized, so I soldered it and using a torch and soldering paste it turned out pretty good (but was a pain in the ass and in the end was useless because the stuff was wide enough anyway)


Step 3: Painting

scuff the plastic with the sandpaper, clean the mesh parts, prime and paint I made the mesh flat black while the grills gloss




Step 4: Fitment

To make sure that the mesh doesnt stick too far out the back or into the headlights


Step 5: Clean

Clean any paint from areas you will be bonding to, and scuff the plastic

Step 6: epoxy em into place

I used c clamps for the big section, the others just held themselves into place

As you can see, my car before I bought it was painted at MACCO and they did a shitty job taping the front and ended up painting the fan shoroud, also the mounts for the grill stick out, being white... so a little more painting of the stuff behind and it will look better

I also added some pinstripe for a bit more retro look but to each their own


One day I'll paint that bumper


and if you think its too ricer well....

[zig553]

That looks pretty good I think, it would probably give a lot more air to a CAI than the stock grills do.

[everlast]

Damn, that actually looks really good. I was expecting a lot less.. well done!!

[bmwm5lover]

You executed it quite well.
Having said that, Euro grills are what you need.

[everlast]

I have euro's but couldn't bring myself to cut them up like that lol.

[BMe30]

Nice!

You may have just started a new e30 trend!

[TSI]

Think I'll try it with a spare set of kidneys in silver...great idea!

[DIY]

thanks guys, I got the idea watching DTM racing... I thought 1 car had it.. upon further investigation it didnt.. but the idea was in my head lol

I didnt really do this for better airflow... yah it might help the intake, but it will hinder the cooling a bit.. not that e30's have a problem with it (when all the parts are working) lol

Kudos must goto richie for supplying me with a spare set of grills should I have messed up

[Bullet Ride]

That's a 10ft pin stripe haha

The mesh looks good though, it'd look sweet if you could see a massive intercooler behind it

[E30M42cab]

Finish blacking out the grill, and it actually doesn't look half bad. Hope she's not running too cold now with all that air flowing freely.

That being said, how about a e30 winter kidney set?