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Hacking and JB welding: The journey to a brickless front grill

11K views 49 replies 15 participants last post by  VeeTee 
#1 ·
Well as most of the people here, I hate the brick in the front grill on the VT, even more so since NM does not require front license plates.

I had an idea of how to get where I wanted, but I figured that the costs would be prohibitive, but after reading around and seeing that the new grill from Hyundai is less than 100$ I figured I would give it a go.

This really started off by accident.

I was just going to change the oil in the VT, but while waiting for the oil to drain, I started looking under the front end to see how easy it would be to take off the grill, and before I knew it, the grill was off.

Just a note for those who want to do this, it looks like its way easier to take off the whole front bumper, I stupidly didnt look at any manuals and thought there was only 4 screws holding the grill in place, when in fact there are many more in the center bar area of the grill, which I broke off.
 
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#2 ·
So I was finally able to get the grill out without taking the front bumper off (BIG MISTAKE!)

I should have taken a before picture, but anyways, behind the brick is a plastic brick on the bumper itself which has the impact foam behind it.

I grabbed my trusty Dremel Sawmax and hacked away till the brick and foam were gone from behind the brick on the grill, I then shaped it so it matched the contours of the bumpers bar





 
#3 · (Edited)
My game plan is:
1) to purchase another grill from Hyundai,
2)cut out the center bar out that is next to the brick,



3)and then on my current grill cut out the brick


4) paste in the brickless center bar portion from the new grill and JB weld some metal bracing which will allow me to screw in the new section to the grill.

5) I will JB weld the same metal bracing to the former brick so that if I ever need to put the brick back on the car I can
 
#5 ·
Ooooh, this could be good.
 
#7 ·
I havent measured, but I think the area to the left of the brick is just long enough to cover the whole left from cutting out the brick. I will also check to see if the bars in the grill are level and if the curvature across the grill is the same.

Still I am looking forward to this.

Next step is just ordering the new grill

By the way, its part number 86561-2v510
GRILLE - FRONT BUMPER. 2012 Hyundai VELOSTER # 865612V510

 
#9 ·
#11 ·
there are quite a few different sites, that one is the cheapest by like 2 bucks, so its not drastic.

however the local hyundai dealer wants around 90 plus tax...
 
#13 ·
yea I'm thinking about making a grill so i'm looking to source the cheapest one lol
lol well there you go, that conicelli place is in Pennsylvania so Im sure they shipping to NY would be cheaper than all the way out here to NM
 
#15 ·
odd

its www dot conicellihyundaiparts dot com /oem-Hyundai-parts.html

their phone number is 800-892-8994 or 610-832-7911
 
#17 ·
I would strongly advise against JB weld. Its great for temporary fixes, but has never held up well for me over time. A product I have used for fiberglass and ABS body work is called Carbofill and it has worked amazing for those materials. Not sure what the material you want to mend together is, but if its steel spend a few bucks and get it welded, even if its by an amateur at a high school.
 
#19 ·
the bumper and the grill are both plastic, so no way to weld the metal bracket Im planning on fabbing.

the jb weld was more of a joke than anything, I will probably use an epoxy

But I have used JB weld on cracked cylinder heads and it has help up great. In fact my Jeep 4.0 has 290K + miles on the odometer and the JBweld on the head is still there, still doing its job.
 
#20 ·
If the parts are ABS or whatever plastic, you can get ABS adhesive at Lowes and other plastic adhesives also.

Just look in the plumbing section.

I'm sure this would be a better solution than epoxy or JB-weld which has a difficult time adhering to plastic.

***
 
#21 ·
good idea.

I had been thinking of drilling little pockets in the sections to allow the epoxy to go in the voids and hold better, but that might be a better idea.

I have used "plastic weld" in the past, but that stuff is pretty hard to work with, and it heats up like crazy, I had it melt a piece of polystyrene once
 
#23 ·
not yet, havent had a chance, the work and house repairs have kept me busy
 
#29 ·
the OEM one is pretty light, I would bet it would be in the 20$ range
 
#34 ·
Havent really messed with the car, I've been way too busy at work and trying to catch up on my house projects
 
#36 ·
#40 ·
man I was hoping this was gonna be a complete writeup... oh well its a good start. anyone who is still watching this here is what you need to permanently weld the brickless part in there 50 Piece Plastic Welding Rods they are plastic welding rods the grille is polypropylene so use the green ones.
 
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#42 ·
Ill be working on one of these soon. I have all the stuff just have to get working on the project.
 
#47 ·
I just don't know how to do plastic welding. Sounds crazy to me. I also don't have a plastic welder ��
I looked at getting a plastic welder.......let's just say, they weren't cheap. I didn't want to get one that was less pricey and get a garbage product. I usually just use the spade tip on a soldering iron and it heats up plastic quite nicely. I am sure it isn't the right way to plastic weld, but it worked at the time on my mini bikes.....lol
 
#49 ·
I use a regular soldering gun (stick version) and PP welding rods you can get from harbour freight or online at ebay. easily available just make sure its for polypropolyne (spelling?)
 
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