Just finished fixing up my Liberty's grille after wanting to put mesh on it for a month or two now.
If anyone's looked for a mesh grille on MY02 Liberty's, they'll know how hard they are to find, especially if you want a badge on them and want to be safe with fitting.
All up it took me about 3-4 hours to complete, so it was alright, plus there're heaps of variations for the project.
Step 1: Setup [approx. 40 mins]
TOOLS
- Soldering Iron [flat faced] (Optional, makes the job 10x easier)
- Hacksaw
- Sandpaper
- Screwdriver Set
- Ratchet Set
- Belt/Power Sander (Optional, will make life alot easier)
- Tin-snips
- SAAS Universal Mesh [$15-30]
- Carbon Fibre Vinyl (Optional, heatproof paint can also be used) [$7 for Vinyl, ~$20 for Paint]
- White-out or marker)
Step 2: Removing Existing Honeycomb Grille [approx. 45 mins]
This stuff smells terrible, and is pretty toxic as it is a polymer, so try not inhale the smoke if you're melting. Same goes for the particles you saw off.
The way I removed the honeycomb grille was by melting it off with a soldering iron (it didn't harm the soldering iron at all), purely because a hacksaw was too big to fit between slats.
Melting each connection the exterior to snap it out took approx. 15 mins (in halves; 30-45 mins overall)...
NOTE: If you want to put a badge on at the end, Try not to damage the grey badge housing in the centre, or remove it prior to cutting/melting by unscrewing the back.
Initially I was going to keep the solid centre module, but decided against it as it would look rather odd. This was a little bit harder to melt away as it is bigger and solid.
I melted away sections from both front, then back to meet in the middle to prevent damage to other areas.
Step 3: Sanding and Fine Tuning [approx. 60 mins]
I ended up spending about 30 mins - an hour fine tuning with a saw and hacksaw to try and remove the teeth left behind (ended up breaking a saw too)...
From here I sanded it down to almost level with the existing frame with regular sandpaper... if you have a power sander, you could just grind down the teeth with that, rather than sawing the remaining parts. The sanding took about 10 mins after the trimming.
Step 4: Carbon Fibre Wrapping/Spray Painting [approx. 15 mins]
After completing step 3, hose down and dry off the grille to remove all left over dust.
From here you can apply vinyl to the grille's interior frame to cover the damage done by the sandpaper, you won't really need to heat it... I didn't, as you can just overlap the vinyl and be unnoticeable unless you knew where the joins were (even then it's hard to spot).
Step 4: Apply Mesh [approx. 30 mins]
Applying the mesh is probably the easiest part of this whole process... mark out the size you want (make it to the edge of the WHOLE frame, not just the opening), you can do this either with white-out or some form of while marker/pencil.
Cut with tin-snips where needs to be, then place cut-out at the back of the grille, placing the screws between pieces of mesh so it's lodged in place (cut connections where required to fit existing screws through).
Screw the nuts down (not 100% tightly, about 60-80%) to secure the mesh. Bend the mesh around the opening at the back as much as possible.
I didn't secure the bottom with and adhesive or screw, so you can do what you will if you really want to secure it, but it's not really too important.
Step 5: Apply Badge (Optional) [approx. 5-10 mins]
If you are applying the liberty badge in the housing you removed previously, you will need to remove 2 clips on both sides around the back, at the top so it can be attached via existing screws.
Find centre of the grille (top and bottom). I counted the amount of diamonds for top and bottom, and ruled to find the centre lengthways.
Once you have placed it in the centre, screw in the two small screws already there (in the back of the grey housing, used to remove it from the original grille).
Tighten screws as much as possible to ensure it doesn't fall off... You may need to adjust the tightening to get it to sit level.
Now Reinstall and enjoy!
Was a pretty good DIY job, most extensive one I've had to do thus far, but really enjoyed it and wasn't too hard either.
Peace.
