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Thread: my DYI Saudi grille(for D1)

  1. #1
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    my DYI Saudi grille(for D1)

    I've been thinking of doing a DYI Saudi type grille for my D1 since about early this year, when I pulled my grille off in frustration at the high coolant temps I was getting whilst running with A/C on .. but never an issue with A/C off in any ambient temp range.

    The other day I got a S/H grille with the sole purpose of hacking it to pieces and doing said mod.

    Cut it up this morning removing the centre horizontal section, and got some mesh(woven).

    Just a quick mock up pic:

    D800E_DSD_3041.jpg

    Don't like the chrome .. looks a bit to chintzy, so some satin black will be applied soon as a new mock up test.

    Ideally I wanted some 10mm square 1mm wire mesh, but I had to buy 1x1.2m of it .. which I don't need.
    Mesh selling chap had a roll of this 6mm square 0.6mm wire, so I got a meter of it.
    Cut it down the middle of the 310mm width and it gave two pieces of mesh to do the finish.

    Only held in place with duct tape for this mockup, and the cuts in the grille need to be cleaned up, and then some application of something to anchor the mesh securely onto the grille needs to be worked out.
    Arthur.

    '99 D1 300Tdi Auto
    '03 D2 Td5 Auto

  2. #2
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    Looks very "Defenderish"
    You only get one shot at life, Aim well

    2004 D2 "S" V8 auto, with a few Mods gone
    2007 79 Series Landcruiser V8 Ute, With a few Mods.
    4.6m Quintrex boat
    20' Jayco Expanda caravan gone

  3. #3
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    Good experiment. The smaller mesh might be better for reducing the number of bugs getting through to the radiator?


    Quote Originally Posted by AK83 View Post
    I've been thinking of doing a DYI Saudi type grille for my D1 since about early this year, when I pulled my grille off in frustration at the high coolant temps I was getting whilst running with A/C on .. but never an issue with A/C off in any ambient temp range.

    The other day I got a S/H grille with the sole purpose of hacking it to pieces and doing said mod.

    Cut it up this morning removing the centre horizontal section, and got some mesh(woven).

    Just a quick mock up pic:

    D800E_DSD_3041.jpg

    Don't like the chrome .. looks a bit to chintzy, so some satin black will be applied soon as a new mock up test.

    Ideally I wanted some 10mm square 1mm wire mesh, but I had to buy 1x1.2m of it .. which I don't need.
    Mesh selling chap had a roll of this 6mm square 0.6mm wire, so I got a meter of it.
    Cut it down the middle of the 310mm width and it gave two pieces of mesh to do the finish.

    Only held in place with duct tape for this mockup, and the cuts in the grille need to be cleaned up, and then some application of something to anchor the mesh securely onto the grille needs to be worked out.
    MY16 D4 TDV6 - with a little Cambo magic for towing "The Brick"
    MY95 RRC LSE Vogue Softdash "Bessie" (turning circle comparable to QE II) with MY99 TD5 and 4HP24 transplants. Back home Nov 22 after a magic overhaul by Chivalry
    SADLY SOLD MY04 D2a TD5 auto Classic and MY10 D4 2.7 both with lots of goodies

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by gavinwibrow View Post
    Good experiment. The smaller mesh might be better for reducing the number of bugs getting through to the radiator?
    Thanks Gav,
    Yeah, that's why I settled on getting some.
    This mesh stuff can be expensive, and this is more or less a test for my D1, to see if it works as well as running without grille.
    So I'm trying to do it all on the very cheap.

    I would have preferred the 10mm square, or 9mm sq, with the 0.9mm wire(stronger) ... but 6mm/0.6mm stuff this will do for now.
    Quite easy to work with too . Cuts easily with strong snips, but the wire is still very strong(stainless), forms easily too .. I'm just pushing it into shape with hands and various other items to get it into shape onto the plastic .
    I can imagine the 9-10mm 0.9mm wire may be harder.

    So I bonded the mesh to the plastic to make the grille now, and then spent some time pretty-ing it up with some paint and a bit of sandpaper. Not overly fussed, just thought while I had it out and wanted to change chrome to black .. I may as well ...

    more pics:

    D800E_DSD_3064.jpg
    all painted up with some etch primer to help remove some imperfections in the original old grille, and then a couple of coats of satin black to get it back to the typical black plastic looking finish.
    My D1 is the dark gunmetal type metallic grey, but I'm not going to do the colour on this grille .. just leave it as is now. D1 grille should have body colour on the lower 3 slot and below area.

    D800E_DSD_3073.jpg
    JB Weld Plastic Bonder was used to bond mesh to grille. It's strong as all hell(massive surprise), is very fluid to begin with, but then becomes viscous as it begins to set(15mins apparently .. ambient dependent). Cures in 30.
    I had 90+ % humidity to work with the past couple of days, and about 30C or so ambients.
    I had to test the strength of the JB Weld, when I started the process of bonding the mesh. I did in two stages(just in case). First stage was to bond about 6 spots just to line up the mesh with the lines of the grille.
    I used tek screws within a square on various locations to line up the straight lines of the mesh, with the lines of the grille. One screw popped out, and it totally botched the alignment.

    I only noticed it about 30+ mins later when I started the 2nd process of bonding .. so all the bonds had set.
    Very hard stuff this particular Plastic Bonder(I got the black type). Near impossible to cut with a stanley knife without using brute force .. slipping, cutting the mesh of grille, or self ... etc.
    Had to pick out small chunks bit by bit and then finally free up the missed .. still leaving a lot of the JB Weld in place, add some more JB Weld over the old, screw confirmed in place!! .. and all good.

    Alignment isn't perfect, but will do the job for now(I'm not trying to do a show car here!).

    I did also get some fibreglass, just in case the JB Weld wasn't strong .. but no need all. Far stronger than it really needs. If anyone wants to give this a go .. keep that in mind!
    I used wooden paddles to apply the JB Weld. Problem in using it is that it runs too freeely to start with. Kinda good in that it creates a larger surface area to bond nicely to the grille's plastic. But you also want it heaped over the mesh, to hold the mesh.
    No worries, just hold onto enough JB Weld onto your mixing area, and keep mixing it, it slowly becomes more viscous, and you then add less runny dobs of it over the mesh, onto the areas of JB Weld that initially freely.

    D800E_DSD_3074.jpg
    I cut my mesh to be an interference fit laterally. This way, the mesh bends against the plastic sides and helps to locate it a little in the grille. Less likely to move about when bonding mesh to grille.
    But of course I still stuffed it with the missed tek screw/alignment issue!

    D800E_DSD_3075.jpg
    On the lower edge of the D1, we have the lip. Mesh folded(by hand) and only three dobs of JB Weld were used. Plenty strong enough.
    I under estimated the amount I'd need, and worked in small quantities of JB Weld. If I had more, I'd have added more hold points along the lower edge, but with the folded mesh .. not really needed.
    If it fails at any point, I'll revisit.

    Total cost for me:

    $30 - D1 grille from Pick-a-Part
    $30 - Mesh was a bit of an off cut, but off a roll. Chap at the mesh place was a bit weird. I only had $30 cash on me, and he wanted to sell me a 1.2 x 1m bit of mesh for about $190 or something. He saw that I was just stuffing about with a silly project, then came to me with this off cut stuff. Wanted $50, told him I'll come back with more cash .. and then stopped me saying $30 was fine! .. weird chap, but OK in the end.
    In effect it should have cost $60 or so, but then:
    $20 in paint from a local auto paint specialist not far from me. I thought of going to Bunning's .. but then they already have a strong customer base .. give the $'s to an indie!

    I'm estimating the time to make it all was about 2hrs, then about 3 or so to paint/sand(as the S/H grille had some scuff marks on the face).

    Anyhow, I'll wait for a bit of really hot weather(>35C) and get some data in how much difference it makes when the hotter weather comes back and report the results.
    Arthur.

    '99 D1 300Tdi Auto
    '03 D2 Td5 Auto

  5. #5
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    Love the Grille, ive been planning on doing the same. I was wondering what the square mesh would look like, works a treat and looks brilliant. I was gonna use expanded metal sheet like this but i have some snake mesh here and after looking at yours it just might do.
    Cheers Jim

  6. #6
    DiscoMick Guest
    Nice job. I was looking at a screen made with Securemesh and thinking that if it could stop burglars it could work in a grille.

  7. #7
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    As I had zero materials .. I thought to go with what appeared to be as close to a std Saudi grille spec as I could.

    D1 - DHB102590LML-RADIATOR-GRILLE-ASSEMBLY-MESH2.jpg
    You can just see from the pic(located on a retailer's site), that the mesh itself appears to be a bolt in pieces .. see the two screws on the side of the grille body.
    Also, they appear to use a surround of some type(almost pinchweld like) on the inner edge of the grille cutout.
    I would have liked to make up a real Saudi look alike ... but I'm not that pedantic.

    Quote Originally Posted by DiscoMick View Post
    Nice job. I was looking at a screen made with Securemesh and thinking that if it could stop burglars it could work in a grille.
    I guess your A/C condenser fans would be pretty secure from thieving swines too then!

    Weather forecast is for about 40-ish C on Friday. I give it test run and come back.
    Even tho it's ready to install, I won't install it till the hot day test run with A/C running to see if it helps, and by how much.
    Arthur.

    '99 D1 300Tdi Auto
    '03 D2 Td5 Auto

  8. #8
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    I made one this afternoon, i left the center rail and the badge on though. I used 5mm mesh im pretty sure its gutter guard or similar because its really thick and only a 200mm wide roll. I used sikaflax to hold it down, a little ghetto but you cant tell from the front. I'll take some photos once the sika cures
    Cheers Jim

  9. #9
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    nice little project might have to do this myself. Going to pull mine out to replace the ac fans anyway

  10. #10
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    I'll get a photo when I can later(today).
    But a preliminary report on how 'effective' it was on todays drive.

    zero, zip, nada .. nothing!

    Basically no change from from running the std grille.

    Had a quick run into the city, then the long way home via the Westgate(bridge/freeway) and up the Ring Rd back to home.

    Top temp(in about 43-ish degree temps) with A/C on(my main issue) .. peaked at 110°C, run on the freeway at about 100-103 most of the time, cruising at 90-ish(a bit of traffic).
    Slowed to 80k/h for some sections, and temp stabilised in the low 100's(as normal).
    A/C off for about a 10min section at 100k/h, and coolant dropped back to the mid 90's before I hit the major arterial road home, where it slowly dipped back into the low 90's.

    From previous experience, doesn't feel as tho it made any difference at all.

    I know the viscous unit is working, can hear it when coolant is above 90, and revving engine a little .. can hear the fan whooshing.

    So for my next test, I'll do my usual test drive, and do a std grille vs Saudi grille vs no grille run on a hot day with A/C on and get back.
    Problem is trying to time it between work days, and those days being hot(>35°C).
    Arthur.

    '99 D1 300Tdi Auto
    '03 D2 Td5 Auto

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