Grille Replacement

[k1001]

Hello everyone!

I have a 2022 Outer banks and was interested in replacing my current grille with the heritage edition grille.
Is this possible?

Thanks in advance!

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[Meanderthal]

It is possible, but not easy. Basically you have to remove the entire front of the body, everything from the hood down to the oil pan is one big assembly that comes off together. Then to remove the grille there are a ton of small snaps that are pretty difficult to remove. It can be done but you need to be prepared for how hard it will be or how much you will pay someone else to do it.

 

[SWUKU]

Paint brother.
Isn't it the same grille you have now but painted white + red lettering.
My BSFE needed a replacement grille and the dealer used a $600 BSBL grille and painted it metallic grey + black lettering.

 

[gatornek]

I've looked into it. I'd like to take my grill off to paint it black to match the vehicle. Like @Meanderthal said the entire grill/lights and bumper assembly comes off the front in one piece. Then there are bunch of plastic snaps that would have to be undone to separate "the grill" piece off. Its actually not too different then what I did on my Mustang. Its not hard, but it is very tedious and you will probably beat your hands up a bit from trying to get all those clips unsnapped. With a little attention to detail and a promise by your wife to leave you be in the garage for at least 3 hours, and you should be good to go.

 

[jkeaton]

Hello everyone!

I have a 2022 Outer banks and was interested in replacing my current grille with the heritage edition grille.
Is this possible?

Thanks in advance!

To answer your question, yes. It is possible.

 

[Meanderthal]

It is possible, but not easy. Basically you have to remove the entire front of the body, everything from the hood down to the oil pan is one big assembly that comes off together. Then to remove the grille there are a ton of small snaps that are pretty difficult to remove. It can be done but you need to be prepared for how hard it will be or how much you will pay someone else to do it.

Here is a picture of mine with the front end removed for a special project I'm still planning to complete some day:

This is basically the first step to replacing the grille yourself, or what a body shop would need to do. After you have done this, the long process of undoing all the snaps on the grille begins. Once the grille has been removed, installing the replacement grille will probably just take a few minutes. Then you have to put all that front end back on the car.

 

[k1001]

Yeah I figured it was way easier said than done.

Thank you guys, really appreciate the help!

 

[gatornek]

Here is a picture of mine with the front end removed for a special project I'm still planning to complete some day:

This is basically the first step to replacing the grille yourself, or what a body shop would need to do. After you have done this, the long process of undoing all the snaps on the grille begins. Once the grille has been removed, installing the replacement grille will probably just take a few minutes. Then you have to put all that front end back on the car.

Love your garage floor man. That can't be laminate, can it? I can't imagine laminate wouldnt crease under the weight of jack stands? It looks nice. I just have cement. Gotta convince the wife to do something like this. Checkerboard would be cool too.

 

[Meanderthal]

Love your garage floor man. That can't be laminate, can it? I can't imagine laminate wouldnt crease under the weight of jack stands? It looks nice. I just have cement. Gotta convince the wife to do something like this. Checkerboard would be cool too.

I think it was 4 layers of epoxy and a top coat. I think it is about 1/16” of epoxy after it was done. I did the work myself and it was somewhat challenging from a time perspective. In two ways, because each coat has to dry for 24 hours and each coat has a flash time so you have to work fast. It was 5 days of doing a coat every night and then you even have to let it fully cure for a few days (maybe a week). There is sand mixed in with the epoxy to give the color and a little in the top coat for some grip. It can be slippery as snot when it gets wet but some shoes are worse than others. I think it looks great too. I don’t like the idea of the speckle chip finish that they do. Anyone who actually works in their garage would not be happy when they inevitably drop something and then can’t find it. It is also fantastic for sweeping it because it can be done in about 2 minutes. Unlike with concrete where you are going back over and over trying to get the dirt out of the surface texture. A dust mop would probably be better than a broom but a soft bristle broom is pretty damn good. I like being able to work on the floor and not be covered in dust. When I have it pretty clean I even run a second hand robot vac in there every couple weeks. I know that sounds nutty but what else do you do with a second hand robot vac?

Some other things to note. Not good if you plan to do welding. I also bought new jackstands that have little pads on the corners instead of sharp metal edges. I see more of these around now but I had to look pretty hard to find them a few years ago. I also park my motorcycle on the center stand, so I have a little rug (by the foot at Lowe’s) that I park it on so the center stand doesn’t dig into the epoxy. Basically, the floor becomes something you have to be more careful with than bare concrete.

The other option that I think could be better is getting the concrete polished and then just applying a sealer. I think that would be nearly as good as the epoxy in every way. I think you can rent machines to do the polishing if you wanted to try it yourself.

 

[gatornek]

I think it was 4 layers of epoxy and a top coat. I think it is about 1/16” of epoxy after it was done. I did the work myself and it was somewhat challenging from a time perspective. In two ways, because each coat has to dry for 24 hours and each coat has a flash time so you have to work fast. It was 5 days of doing a coat every night and then you even have to let it fully cure for a few days (maybe a week). There is sand mixed in with the epoxy to give the color and a little in the top coat for some grip. It can be slippery as snot when it gets wet but some shoes are worse than others. I think it looks great too. I don’t like the idea of the speckle chip finish that they do. Anyone who actually works in their garage would not be happy when they inevitably drop something and then can’t find it. It is also fantastic for sweeping it because it can be done in about 2 minutes. Unlike with concrete where you are going back over and over trying to get the dirt out of the surface texture. A dust mop would probably be better than a broom but a soft bristle broom is pretty damn good. I like being able to work on the floor and not be covered in dust. When I have it pretty clean I even run a second hand robot vac in there every couple weeks. I know that sounds nutty but what else do you do with a second hand robot vac?

Some other things to note. Not good if you plan to do welding. I also bought new jackstands that have little pads on the corners instead of sharp metal edges. I see more of these around now but I had to look pretty hard to find them a few years ago. I also park my motorcycle on the center stand, so I have a little rug (by the foot at Lowe’s) that I park it on so the center stand doesn’t dig into the epoxy. Basically, the floor becomes something you have to be more careful with than bare concrete.

The other option that I think could be better is getting the concrete polished and then just applying a sealer. I think that would be nearly as good as the epoxy in every way. I think you can rent machines to do the polishing if you wanted to try it yourself.

Thank you. I will look into it.

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