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I like the no bar look, but here there is no option not to have a front plate. I have a premium plate the height of which is roughly the same as the bar and the background is black with silver lettering and as such it is very unobtrusive mounted on the bar. I actually think any other plate option for me would look worse than the bar does.
Some of your thin plates look WAY better than the rectangular N/A plates we have for sure. I plan on using the Sto N Sho like Unhinged which moves the plate much lower and almost clear of the grill area......plus I'll probably run with it in the trunk (boot? LOL) until/unless I get a ticket.
MShedden did an excellent job of finding two similar pics to showcase the difference between the two grills although I'd point out that on any angle whatsoever the structural bar behind the P7 grill becomes much less noticable;
I like the no bar look, but here there is no option not to have a front plate. I have a premium plate the height of which is roughly the same as the bar and the background is black with silver lettering and as such it is very unobtrusive mounted on the bar. I actually think any other plate option for me would look worse than the bar does.
MShedden did an excellent job of finding two similar pics to showcase the difference between the two grills although I'd point out that on any angle whatsoever the structural bar behind the P7 grill becomes much less noticable;
Totally agree... the picture MShedden posted is close up and straight on.
Here are two other shots that more realistically depict what others will see. As I have pointed out elsewhere, the mesh in these two shots may have been a prototype, as it is different than what is being shipped presently.
More the look I'm hoping to achieve with a substitute grill material...
Yep, prices vary depending on the source....all still very reasonable so far, IMO. Throw one on Ebay though and the selling price may be VERY different!
They were talking about the grille only, not including the P7 nose. Even so, I was surprised that Unhingd managed to obtain that OEM part at such a low price.
Holy Crap! Of course this is the entire nose but not cheap (as expected). It appears to be used so I'd guess a P7 has already crashed and is being parted out.
Holy Crap! Of course this is the entire nose but not cheap (as expected). It appears to be used so I'd guess a P7 has already crashed and is being parted out.
Ships only to Europe, but not France, Germany, Italy, Spain. ??? (Arne could buy it).
That is strange - specially since it says it is shipped from Germany? Maybe it is someone from UK that has had an accident in Germany? Price is in £ and not €.....
I also saw there were other F-type fronts for sale, and they were close to 1/3 of the P7 front.
I do like the P7 front, but in Norway we need the front license plate, and I don't mind the front bar. I also like the more "classic" look of the standard front, so as long as I don't need to change the front, it's not an issue for me.
My plan is to keep the car for many years and also do my best to make sure it is as original as possible
A lot of us are already using the Sto N Sho license plate bracket that goes nowhere near that bumper.
I have seen that, and it might be a good solution here as well - if someone wants the open P7 grille. However I think the standard grille and dual side air-intakes looks good, so it's not enough of an "upgrade" to be worth it for me.
The open grill and singel side intakes does look more agressive and a bit more sportier, but on the cost of the more classic look of the "original" - my opinion. I can easilly see why others beg to differ though
I also prefer the std nose w/ dual air intakes, which coupled with the bar, I think is more aesthetically pleasing. It also looks less like a large-mouth bass.
I also prefer the std nose w/ dual air intakes, which coupled with the bar, I think is more aesthetically pleasing. It also looks less like a large-mouth bass.
I do like the more agressive look of the bar-less P7 grille, but UK front number plates are long and thin and cover most of it anyway so I'm not sure I'd gain anything from changing it.
However, my reason for comment is...
Some of the other threads about replacing the grille touched on that it is actually the outer surround that people are most interested in, and they would accept a more generic infil (mesh, laser cut plastic, etc, which would be better anyway as you could design in the mounts for the centre two parking sensors and a front camera.) As far as I can see there is nothing actually inside the plastic bar, and the square cover on the left is just to access the towing hole on the bar, right?
In that case why can't you just remove the plastic bar and fill/repaint the surround? You'd need to paint/cover the crush bar behind the grille to hide it even with the P7 part, so for the sake of $100 for a bodyshop to lay some FG over the hole, sand and repaint the surround I'm clearly missing something!
It's half an hour's labour to remove the bumper and take the grille off so even if you paid the bodyshop to do that too you'd have plenty of change from $300. Add $100 for your local plastic fabricator to laser cut your mesh and you are done.
I do like the more agressive look of the bar-less P7 grille, but UK front number plates are long and thin and cover most of it anyway so I'm not sure I'd gain anything from changing it.
However, my reason for comment is...
Some of the other threads about replacing the grille touched on that it is actually the outer surround that people are most interested in, and they would accept a more generic infil (mesh, laser cut plastic, etc, which would be better anyway as you could design in the mounts for the centre two parking sensors and a front camera.) As far as I can see there is nothing actually inside the plastic bar, and the square cover on the left is just to access the towing hole on the bar, right?
In that case why can't you just remove the plastic bar and fill/repaint the surround? You'd need to paint/cover the crush bar behind the grille to hide it even with the P7 part, so for the sake of $100 for a bodyshop to lay some FG over the hole, sand and repaint the surround I'm clearly missing something!
It's half an hour's labour to remove the bumper and take the grille off so even if you paid the bodyshop to do that too you'd have plenty of change from $300. Add $100 for your local plastic fabricator to laser cut your mesh and you are done.
Actually, there's quite a bit more labor than that. There's no way to get to the grill and bar fasteners without removing the nose. See post #19 in the link below:
To remove the bumper cover (nose) you take off the splash shields unplug the harness and washer pipe, remove a few hanging bolts and it comes straight off. 15 mins max but you will need to drive it onto blocks or stands to access the splash shields. To then remove the grille there are just 4 screws.
The front grille surround is part T2R5053 which is only $130 USD retail in the UK* so you could buy one and have the entire new grille assembled ready to just swap over with those 4 screws.
* Chrome version is the cheapest, but as you'll paint it anyway it shouldn't matter.
Search eBay for "Plastic Mesh Grille" to find suitable plastic mesh for $20, or design in sketchup and laser cut if you want custom brackets for the sensors. The rear of the mesh/surround won't be visible so you can either overscrew it or bond them together.
If I didn't have to display a wide front license plate on mine I would do it myself at home:
1) Buy new surround ($130)
2) Cut a simple foam mould and lay on a couple of layers of glass fibre to fill the cutouts from the reverse of the surround (FREE as I already have the materials/tools)
3) Fill/sand/finish the inlay, abrade the whole thing and prime/paint/laquer ($10 of paint from local auto parts store)
4) Template the plastic mesh grille and bond to the surround (stainless washers and screws from behind) ($20 mesh + $20 for fixings)
5) Pop the bumper cover off and swap over.
Total cost $180 and a couple of weekends to allow for the FG/paint to set.
It would probably be possible to 3D print some simple brackets that clip into the mesh to support the parking sensors. You could cut one or more of the mesh walls out and then clip something over with a sprung clip, or even clamp with a screw on the rear as they do with the 'R' or 'S' grille badges. If you don't have your own printer there are maker spaces in most libraries/colleges/etc who would print parts for cost.
) : Original Jaguar F-Type Project 7 Bumper front incl. Radiator grille | eBay
