Ok guys, I have begun my 3 bar grille mod. The grill I got was the satin finish, which unfortunately has a coat of paint over the chrome, but I'll deal with it.

Here it is masked off (blue painter's tape) after I did the rough cuts:



I'm so glad I bought the angle attachment for my Dremel to do this.

Others have filled their notches with fiberglass, I'm going a slightly different route:



One can will stay liquid, the second I'll let air out to thicken a bit. This stuff is impossible to get where I am... I had to have a Lowe's store in another state ship it to me direct.

The cement will have more uses than just filling the gaps and fixing oopsies from the cutting. I'm going to use it to sculpt top/bottom edges for the bowtie from the center bits of the removed bars. There's another reason for using the cement that I want to keep as a surprise. When I'm done, I hope to have a monolithic piece of ABS plastic.

Right now, I'm running dechroming experiments on some small sections of the removed bars. Bleach first, then oven cleaner, and if those don't work, I'll go for the reverse electroplating. I spent over an hour peeling/shaving the chrome from parts of the removed bars before I cut them out, just to get a feel for it... forget that noise.

 

Looks like you got an interesting project on the go. Keep us posted on the progress - with lots of pictures. Looking forward to the final outcome. :)

 

Now I've got the top/bottom edges of the bowtie ground down, and partly one of the top bar gaps. Had to stop because the Dremel got too hold to hold.

After the grinding, I've got 60 and 320 grit foam sanding blocks ready to smooth it out.

I'll post another pic after the grinding is done and I pull the tape off, hopefully tomorrow.

 

If the grille is ABS also you can shred up some of the plastic and mix it into the cement. It will dissolve the plastic and make the thicker glue you want. You will be able to adjust the thickness by the amount of to plastic ratio.

 

The grille is ABS, that's the genius of it. I got the idea from a page describing how to repair ABS fairings on street bikes.

I have read that I could thicken it by adding ABS shavings, but I figure if I stir the thickened can often while I air it out I should be able to maintain an even consistency.

 

Sounds like a good plan, I'm curious to see how it all works out with that cement. Especially the air thickening plan...lol, I think I would go with dissolving the bits of plastic, so eager to see how that works out for ya. Good luck!

 

I filled that notched area where the bars were cut out with "Epoxy Putty". Got a 2oz tube at Home Depot in the same area you find the pvc and abs cement. Cost less than 3 bucks and hardens in about 20 min. No mess and easy to work with.

 

These 2 4oz cans were $12 shipped ($4 each if any store in my area carried it). Since it is ABS when it dries, I should have zero issues with thermal expansion/contraction, separation, or paint adhesion.

Maybe a silly question at this stage, but does anyone know how the bolts come out of the grille? Just looking at them, I haven't worked that out yet.

 

Have you tried DOT 3 brake fluid to take the chrome off? I know it removes paint from my center dash part on THE HEEP...

I would test it first on some scrap!

 

Dracos,

I was able to used a set of vice grips to screw mine out. Just be careful as the plastic
will crack if stressed to much. Good luck with the grill and keep us posted.