Hey guys,
I am looking at buying the mesh grille for the xk8.
How easy is it to install the grille on the front.
Does it require removal of the front bumper?

Any help would be appreciated,
Thanks

 

surprised nobody got your question answered jaggy... how about a bump for some exposure.

 

Well I can tell you that I have one that I got off e-bay but have not installed it yet. Looks easy!

 

Hi, I bought a mesh grill from Classic Additions in the U.K. they post all over the world, It's good quality stainless steel, and seems an easy fit although according to the instructions, you have to remove the nose cone, that seems like an easy job also. I would guess the price in U.S. dollars would be around $200. the website is www.classicadditions.com
hope this helps good luck,
John

 

Hi, like h20boy, I installed a factory 3 mesh XKR grill I obtained of a demolished 12,000 mile Silverstone!! Sad but true, anyway, I did remove my entire front fascia. I also wanted to super detail the wheel wells and front area.

Removing the fascia is actually quite easy, the hardest part is removing the front wheels and blocking the car up on jack stands which I did not do. I removed the right wheel. then removed the wheel liner which is retained in place by three plastic nuts (hand tight) one star screw at the rear and two push type retainers at the top of the wheel arch and two at the front attached to the fascia bellypan. Super easy, then you have easy access to three 10mm screws just above the front side marker lights.

I put the wheel back on with three lug nuts since I had to re-assemble later again, then did the same for the drivers side.

The fascia is held onto the bottom of the car with three phillips type screws. after these were removed, I opened the hood to access the six 10mm bolts that are also very simple to reach, removed those and the popped the three rather large push retainers and the whole fascia comes right off! Oh, and you must not forget to unplug the driving lamps and side lamps from their sockets.

So, to sum it up, facia has three screws per side, six along top front edge, three phillips type on the bottom and three large push retainers on the top also.

Like I stated, the hardest most drawn out part is pulling the wheels off and on.

Installing the XKR grill is just the reverse of removing your chrome splitter! It's just held with push tabs. I also did not have to cut or trim any of my 1997 coupes fascia, it all installed just perfect. I will get some pics up as soon as I can figure out how to show you. Hope this helps. Take care and feel free to ask any questions that come to mind.

-Tony

 

Hey Jaggyx - I just installed a Mina convex mesh grille on a 2006 about a month ago, and LOVE the look. The toughest part is getting the old "rabbit tooth" grille out. The horizontal piece is simple, but the vertical black plastic guys are tricky. There are lots of posts on the Forum about that. The hard part is trying to pry the "tree fittings" out. I finally just cut the heads off. You do not need to remove the bumper, but you need to twist it a bit to get those pieces out. I didn't trust the tiny Mina screws, so I got some larger ones. Mina instructions are poor at best, but again, there's a lot of guidance available here. Just search on "mesh grille".

Here's how mine looks:



All the best -

 

here's mine for a comparo in Carnival like Larry's!!



-Tony

 

looks nice, both of you!

 

Why thanks h20boy! And I like your car too, especially with Apollo's! my favorite rim.

 

The more I see of the nicely recessed three piece XKR grills like Tony and Matt have, the more I realize I must have one! Maybe I will budget it in for next summer.

 

I always preferred the more recessed look of the older models versus the "front and center" look of the post-2004 model. The ideal look for me would be the recessed position but without the overriders.

Doug

 

I had thought of this as well. I wonder if you could remove the overriders and mount a later grille from the back possibly using the chome splitter to hold the curve. I did a very quick photoshop mockup on Tony's car (I hope he doesn't mind) and I quite like the look.

 

I've gone back and forth with the front end on the XK8. Very little satisfies me. I usually like mesh grilles on Xj8s but I don't care for them at all on XK8s in any version. I also don't like the Gray bumperettes either, at least the color. Then, a good friend of mine with a Carnival Red XK8 came up with a completely blacked out standard XK8 front - Black bumperettes, black splitter vane. This is the ideal look for me and I copied it on my carnival red XK8. Since then two of my customers opted for the same. One with a silver and one with a BRG.

 

Did you post the photoshop anywhere? I am curious to see what a one-piece grill would look like if it was recessed.

Doug

 

Steve, i'd love to see the black version, care to share a pic?

 

Apparently my image host for that file isn't working right, so I just attached it.

 

I put a pic in my first post.

 

My grille (if a picture shows up; not exactly sure what I'm doing yet) is from Adamesh.co.uk. Some nice stuff on the shelf there.

 

thanks steve! very tasteful.

 

Ha! pretty good photoshop, but I still think the mesh w/overriders? look the best. My $.02 worth!

-Tony