Today's paint process so far:

1: Base color coat.



2. Masking to paint the inserts



3. Inserts painted.



I'll let the insert color dry a bit and then I'll remove the tape.

 

Bored!! HA! We appreciate the detail.

 

Masking removed. All it needs now is a few coats of clear, which I'll shoot now. Stay tuned, more pics later this afternoon.

 

Ohh man, that thing looks so sweet! I can't imagine the JL grill comes from the factory looking any better than that. Truly superb work on this and can't wait to see it mounted up!

 

Paint process finished, shot 3 coats of clear. Grille is now done.











I'll let the clear cure overnight; tomorrow I'll reinstall the mesh and turn signals and put the grille on the Jeep.

PS: If you're wondering why I put copyright notices on these photos, the other day a company used one of my earlier images from this project for commercial purposes without my permission. Copyright law grants an immediate implied copyright to the photographer even without a notice, which the company violated, but maybe this notice will prevent that company from using my images again.

 

A few more...



Some closer views. It's hard to tell the inserts in the slots and headlight buckets are actually molded as part of the grille .

If you look closely at the area of the grille to the left of the turn signal hole, you can see my reflection as I'm standing over the grille to take this photo :



The overhead bulb in the garage is visible in this one (and if you look towards the lower left corner of the photo you can see the bulb over the second bay reflected as well, it's further away so it's a lot smaller).

 

That's incredible. One of the most impressive projects I've seen. Well done

 

First thing this morning I installed the turn signals and the mesh behind the slots.







A view of the back. In the factory grille, the turn signals snap into place - clips on the back of the light housing snap into slots in the recess in the grille. When they're installed in a hole like I did there's nothing for the clips to snap into. To secure them in place, I made aluminum clamps similar to those that hold many old-style gauges in a dash or panel. These hold the light housings in place very well.



I'll install the grille on the Jeep this morning.

 

And a few photos of the factory grille and the new grille for comparison. The factory grille has aftermarket slot inserts that were in the grille when I bought the Jeep.

 

Thank you!