Chrome Grill Info
Discussion
Kevin Secker was asking about how I did my chrome grill, so here it is.
There are at least two possible ways of doing this.
Method 1.
Create cardboard templates the same size as the external face of the grill. Create MDF templates from cardboard templates. When calculating the size of mesh needed, allow about 2 or 3 cm overlap all round.
I got the mesh from:
James Gilbert & Son
129, The Vale
London
W3 7RQ
The pitch is about 1cm. I can’t remember the exact gauge that I bought but I’m pretty sure it’s the same as used on the XJS conversion. James Gilbert & Son can supply samples for you to try anyway. Remember to ask them to cut it on the diagonal unless of course you want to stick with the standard TVR chicken wire fence effect.
Cutting the mesh is hard work even with heavy duty tin snips so it might make sense to get them to cut the two pieces to the sizes you want rather than getting one big piece and doing it your self.
IMPORTANT. Solder the intersections of the mesh on the outer corners before you start shaping it.
Tack the mesh to the MDF and bend / hammer the mesh around the template.
Remove bonnet.
You need to start by removing the air intake mountings. These are laminated to the bonnet and are difficult to get a hack saw to, so subtle use of a sharp chisel and a large hammer is called for. Either that or one of those Dremmel cutting wheels might do the job.
You need to remove the existing chicken wire if you are going to use my original method. I started by whacking the front of the grill with a piece of wood to loosen one of the corners of the mesh.
After removing the bonnet you can pull off the rest of the old mesh from the inside by using a pair of pliers.
Place new grill in place and trim to fit. Try and get as good a fit as possible. It’s difficult to laminate the grill to the body work if the overlap is too big, too small or not flat (ish) against the body work. If you don’t get it right and you try and stretch the grill to fit you will just end up with distortion.
Before you get it chromed make sure that the corner pieces are still soldered in place.
The guy in James Gilbert recommended I use
Isleworth Polishing & Plating Ltd
273, High St
Brentford Middlesex
TW8 0JL
Tel: 020 8560 7440
I used glassfibre paste to laminate the grill to the body work and glassmat to fix the air intakes back on.
Method 2.
With hindsight instead of removing the old grill, it might be possible to cut out the centre of the old grill, peel back the edges 180 degrees to create a lip around the opening and you could then use this as a base to laminate a new flat piece of mesh to. In this way you wouldn’t need to worry about bending and shaping the mesh over the opening. I haven’t looked at this so I’m not sure if it would work.
Total cost of mesh plus chrome plating and polishing was about £120.
Good luck.
There are at least two possible ways of doing this.
Method 1.
Create cardboard templates the same size as the external face of the grill. Create MDF templates from cardboard templates. When calculating the size of mesh needed, allow about 2 or 3 cm overlap all round.
I got the mesh from:
James Gilbert & Son
129, The Vale
London
W3 7RQ
The pitch is about 1cm. I can’t remember the exact gauge that I bought but I’m pretty sure it’s the same as used on the XJS conversion. James Gilbert & Son can supply samples for you to try anyway. Remember to ask them to cut it on the diagonal unless of course you want to stick with the standard TVR chicken wire fence effect.
Cutting the mesh is hard work even with heavy duty tin snips so it might make sense to get them to cut the two pieces to the sizes you want rather than getting one big piece and doing it your self.
IMPORTANT. Solder the intersections of the mesh on the outer corners before you start shaping it.
Tack the mesh to the MDF and bend / hammer the mesh around the template.
Remove bonnet.
You need to start by removing the air intake mountings. These are laminated to the bonnet and are difficult to get a hack saw to, so subtle use of a sharp chisel and a large hammer is called for. Either that or one of those Dremmel cutting wheels might do the job.
You need to remove the existing chicken wire if you are going to use my original method. I started by whacking the front of the grill with a piece of wood to loosen one of the corners of the mesh.
After removing the bonnet you can pull off the rest of the old mesh from the inside by using a pair of pliers.
Place new grill in place and trim to fit. Try and get as good a fit as possible. It’s difficult to laminate the grill to the body work if the overlap is too big, too small or not flat (ish) against the body work. If you don’t get it right and you try and stretch the grill to fit you will just end up with distortion.
Before you get it chromed make sure that the corner pieces are still soldered in place.
The guy in James Gilbert recommended I use
Isleworth Polishing & Plating Ltd
273, High St
Brentford Middlesex
TW8 0JL
Tel: 020 8560 7440
I used glassfibre paste to laminate the grill to the body work and glassmat to fix the air intakes back on.
Method 2.
With hindsight instead of removing the old grill, it might be possible to cut out the centre of the old grill, peel back the edges 180 degrees to create a lip around the opening and you could then use this as a base to laminate a new flat piece of mesh to. In this way you wouldn’t need to worry about bending and shaping the mesh over the opening. I haven’t looked at this so I’m not sure if it would work.
Total cost of mesh plus chrome plating and polishing was about £120.
Good luck.
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