I have an FXT Limited and the grille isn't my favorite part. That said, I am thinking of going with the STi grille. But I wanted to see if any of you have done anything custom to yours to make it look a bit more pleasing that may be another alternative.
Throw up those pics of your front grille and lets get a comparison going.
(P.S. If anyone is selling their STi grille, PM me :icon_wink: )
As far as your front lights in the second link, besides the eyelid, did you separate the light housing and paint the inside black?
Also I can't tell, but in the thread about you tinting your rear lights and putting on the eyelids, is your front grille painted black (or did that happen after you did the tinting)?
Anyways, I have the stock forester sport grill and one of these days I will put my FSTi grill on that is waiting patiently for me w/ all my other mods.:icon_wink:
I went the easy (re:cheap) rout on my '06. I masked and spray painted black the chrome areas and then clear coated the grille. One roll of painter's tape - $4, Two cans of paint - $7, Self-Satisfaction - Priceless :icon_biggrin:
Sorry folks, I meant to include this photo as well. The clear coat causes reflections so I'm not sure this angle/lighting does it justice though. As you can tell it is a balmy day today here in Wisconsin .....currently -4 F with lots of snow!!
As for plastidip durablility, years ago I cut the fenders on a Jeep and did a 1/2" border around the wheelwells with plastidip and it held up for years.
I just went on their website and it looks like their paints are a rubber coating? Is that the same for the one that you bought?
I will probably put several coats of base down and then finish it up with two very light clear coats.
The grille just has the plastic tabs at the top and then white clips below, right? Do you know if the silver bars in the 2006-2008 can be removed like the 04/05 can?
These look great. I am so over the idea of buying a Sports or STi grille. I think next weekend I will spend one day sanding and putting on multiple coats of flat black (with two coats of clear).
Just an FYI...if you add clearcoat, the flat black might become shinier than you intended. I didn't use any clearcoat. I have a few rock chips in mine, so I'll probably spray it a few more times when the weather warms up.
I just painted my chrome ring today too, since I had the grill off.
I had to fabricate some brackets for the Hella horns. They had to go on the same side b/c there wasn't room for them on the drivers side due to the Tranny cooler.
I only used a couple of light coats of clear.....you can see the results on Toddlamps ride! It's not glossy at all, it's really flat, PLUS it'll hold up for a long time!
when I was painting my grille I had to get some stuff from the store and drove without the grille. I think it looked pretty good. just needs a little more support. Kinda looks like the corizon:icon_question: grille
I am always thinking of a way to cut it up and attach black mesh .
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