Mounting a Mesh Grill
 

No mention in search about how folks are MOUNTING their one piece convex chrome mesh grills. On my '99 XK8 convertible, I first removed the plastic bumperette covers. I then scuffed and blacked out the metal bumperettes and chrome plastic crossbar. Of course my $175 eBay grill came with NO hardware nor ANY instructions so I winged it... drilling 3, 1/8" holes into the front leading edge of the now black crossbar, far left, center and far right. Now secure and fitting well but with three small screw heads visible. Polished heads were too shiny. I then blacked them out and perhaps better but still visible and not the 'factory look' I was looking for or as I seen in my Google image search. OK, I give. How do you guys do it? :icon_shrug: (attached photo shows no visible mounting hardware)
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...276c03b389.jpg

It looks great. And I applaud you for the way you hid the stuff behind the now installed grill.

There is one thing that you need to watch very carefully and that is the coolant temperature. That grill will restrict airflow compared to the standard configuration. If you do not have the real gauge kit installed to give you the true coolant tempt at all times it may be a good idea to get one and install it. I don't know if you live in a hot climate or not. I do know that I would not put one in my car as I live in Texas where it really gets hot. On previous cars I have owned I have had severe coolant problems due to the heat.

Have fun with it. And I say again the it looks great, but watch for over heating.

FWIW I have a similar grill on my XK8 and have had zero issues after about 60K miles with it installed. Plenty hot here too.

I blackened my mounting screws as well. Seemed to help some, but I think the problem is that we are both looking too closely. ��

Cheers,

Gary

I may have gone overboard on my installation, but I ended up pulling the front bumper off, removed the metal over-riders by grinding down their mounting bolts, sprayed everything in there with black paint, and then mounted the grill directly to the front bumper (my grill was from Mina Gallery and had two tabs that came perpendicular off the bottom of the grill)... here is the final product:

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...2f0a629237.jpg

:icon_that:

I pretty much did the same as Chris. Bumper cover off, remove the two center aluminum uprights, mounted the grill to the bumper cover using screws around the edges so not visible.

Hi; The grill looks great. I have the exact same car. Seeing yours and the others made up my mind.
Thanks and enjoy
Mitch

Here is my car now with black screws. Not good enough but my $124 eBay grill has no mounting tabs and honestly, I'm not sure if it's worth the trouble to remove the bumper cover to get the big alum brackets off... at least, just not yet! :)
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...802185dd1a.jpg

Looks very nice... I would just get some silver or "chrome" paint and hit each of the screw heads to make them less noticeable... either that or get some stainless screws and replace them.

I started with brightly polished screw heads and they were too shiny. Then, I blacked them out with a flat black and they still stand out. Next is back to polished heads with a dab of black paint in the center. Jeez! I feel like Goldilocks, I want them 'just right' but it's just a stupid grill... so I need to get over it I guess!

Great forum! Thanks for all the helpful feedback!

Another possible way to go. On a black car it looks good.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...7f8234829b.jpg

The grills look great guys. Have a question, is the work all done externally, or do you have to get in, under and behind the grill before you can pull it? Being a "Large economy size guy, I and my hands do not always fit into some of the small spaces the the XK has.

To do it right you should plan on removing the front bumper cover. There are about 20 fasteners, the types vary per model year. The only ones that you have to work a bit to get to are the 3 on each side that join the bumper cover to each front fender. It is easier if you remove the wheels and the fender liners but still can be done if you can get into that area via the access panels in the fender liners. Those with larger builds might have trouble fitting their arms in thru the holes.

I did mine all with just front access and hence the 3 visible screws. Then again, my $124 eBay grill had no perimeter mounting tabs even if I did try a 'blind' mount with the bumper cover off. You get what you pay for and sometimes absolute perfection is not always the goal on everything in life... even if it's for a JAGUAR! ;)