Thinking I was tired of the ugly grille on my 1997 f150 and I love the RBP look but I would never pay what they want, not even a quarter of the price so I figured I'd make something similar, it cant be that hard to make. This is a prototype grille and I will not be using it as I didnt completlely like the turn out but the next one, which I've already started will be similar but made out of steel and not aluminum. I want a heavier mesh for the grille so I'm still looking. This did not cost me a penny as I used all material from my work and I had an extra can of bedliner hanging around. Shoot me some comments on how I can improve this little project. Mainly looking for an alternative for the studs but I'm not looking to buy those "percy" studs. Keeping a low cost is what I'm looking for. Sorry I have not put it on my truck yet as we just got about 2 feet of snow so It will have to wait. Stainless M6 allen bolts and was going to bolt it over the stock grille but cut out the middle slats. Like I said, this is a rough idea and will only improve and the steel one will be powder coated. Thinking about making a stencil and airbrushing a cool logo in red on the mesh.

Even post up pictures of your custom grilles and maybe I will change direction. Seems like theres nothing out there that looks to sweet. Not into those billet grilles, half the trucks on the road up here have them.

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I painted the honeycomb to match the body. Hardly any snow in Windsor. Cheap mods? Port the TB. Gasket match heads and intake manifold. Replace the front cats with mandrel bent 2½ inch pipe all the way to the manifold. Run synthetic oils. It starts to get expensive after that.


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Wasn't really asking about performance mods but thanks for the input. I'm actually pulling the 2wd off the road this spring so I will be pulling the motor. I have to do more research BUT I'm looking into turning that motor into a carby motor for my 97.

 

Although not my style, great job. I've been wanting to make one for mine but something that sits inside the grille shell and not flush with the surface. If I don't ever end up swapping to the 99+ front I might fab something up.

 

Yeah buxton, that was my initial thought to make the grille fit inside so I went ahead and made one but did a 1 1/4 border. It looked too small, kind of out of place to me though. Thought about swapping to the newer front ends too as my 2wd is a 2000 and I'm pulling it off the road this spring.

 

You must have read my mind, this is the exact look for a grill i wanted to make for my truck. I here ya on the RBP pricing. I could only find ones for the 04 and up f-150s but they were like $800, so i stoped looking.

what did you use to cut out the aluminum? Looks realy good

 

Looks real good, RBP probably make a 700% profit on whatever they make. Can't wait to see it on the truck.

 

Thanks for the compliments guys! I took the outer dimension measurments and firgured the size of the solid border (2") so that gave me the inner dimensions which I had the automated punch at work do for me then I took it to the metal shear and cut the O.D. I am a welder and work in a metal shop so I have the luxury of many machines except of course something like a cnc plasma or routering table but you can easily cut it with a plasma cutter or even a jigsaw if you have a very steady hand and sander or de-burring tool to clean it up. Took me less than an hour to make. I will be making a better looking grill. Same idea but I am going with a satin coat steel (14g) and overlap mesh(maybe 16g). BRP definatley makes a huge profit but one big expense is those "percy" studs. They are almost $3 a piece. The'yre grilles are also made of stainless I believe. Soon time Ill have it on the truck. By no means is my truck a show truck, more of a farm truck lol but you'll get the idea.

 

Well, I did a quick install just so I could get an idea and honestly I dont like the fitment haha. Really hard to make that grille go with the contour of the grille surround. I'll step it up for the next one. (the 5/16 hex screws are not staying, simply just there to give the appearance of it being fully studded). Going to put 6" fogs behind the grille.

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looks cool

 

It came out great, but like I said man something inset would flow more with the body lines up front.

 

Sweet. I definatly like it but agree with Buxton, it should sit in a little like the factory one, mabey with a slightly narrower border.

 

Here's my custom lower to match the upper FX2 grille i have on my 05.



The 05 trucks basically had nothing down there from the factory.

 

Nice! The front of your truck looks awesome.

 

I do agree with you about how it would flow nicer if I made it recessed a bit and thats why the very first one I made, I did it that way. Our grilles are too small to do it that way if you ask me. I did the original with a 1.375" border and it wasnt for me. It didnt give off the bold look I wanted. Everyone has different likes right and I like the big dirty grilles you see on the newer ones so I made mine bigger.

Ill make another one in the next couple weeks and I will be doing it a little different.

heres a 99+ grille from rbp and I think it looks ridiculously small so imagine that same grille but with an even shorter height for our 97-98
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