Mesh grille upgrade fitting S Type 2002-3

[Paul Mason]

Hi, thought I would share this with you, I did put it in the new members area but here I suppose is more appropriate.

I have the grill with the growler with no medallion background 2003 face lift model, some might be put off fitting this great upgrade by the plastic clasps as opposed to screws but below I have given a good breakdown to success

It took about 2 hours, a jig saw, a little tin of blackboard paint and a lot of waiting for epoxy to dry, Araldite Rapid for plastics, sets in about 10 mins and solid in about two hours. I have the model that has the little clasps that break or at least split into two when you try and divide the two pieces. When you come to put it back together, a couple of points...

You will find that you simply cant pull the little staple shaped clasps out that hold the back and front of the grill together, put a little screwdriver under them and they snap in the middle, fold them back left and right and tease the two halves of the grill apart. Cut out old fins with jig saw and then finish preparing the opening with a half round file and paint the fresh cuts, which are grey. No need to lash it on as it will soon weather up (wait for paint to dry unless you want black fingers!).

Next I laid the mesh on and pulled it left and right a little, 5mm is all you will get but it concertinas a bit so it sits over the opening with a little overlap all round, its not a lot guys but its enough. What I did here was mix a bit of epoxy and spot glue three places around the grill put a weight on it and left this for half an hour, it just helps I think when you come to put the two pieces together.

What i did then was twist off one half of the little broken staples and squared up the other half, now slip over the front grill cover, line up the broken halves of the clasps and push them through the holes they came out of. I used parcel tape then from front to back clasping it all together at various points around the grill, but watch you don't cover over the staple area. Now fold in the half that you have left in place so it goes back to its original position.

Make sure you have sandwiched together nice and tight both back and front pieces with the tape or clamps if you have them, and then knock up a load of epoxy and tease it into all of the clasp holes covering the clasp and around the side of it. Leave to dry for two hours then screw / bolt it back into place and Bobs you uncle stand back and admire.

Finished job pic.....

[Mr D]

Hi Shaun,

The finished job looks stunning, good job mate.

It would have been nice to see a before, during and obviously you've done the after phot, perhaps next time - good work.

Best regards,

Dave