Here is my How-To for the 05+ Grill Only front end MOD

By SteveKran @ ford-trucks.com


https://www.ford-trucks.com/forum/ge...t-99-04-a.html

 

www.ford-trucks.com sucks! I think it is a little crazy that you can't even look w/o a username and password.

 

Big Ditto, and this is their claim: "Ford Powerstroke Diesel Forum, the fastest growing Ford Diesel Community on the internet!" I don't think so.

 

I'd like to see it also, do you have another place to put it?
Thanks

 

Ok guys, I wasn't aware that you had to log in to view it. Just please don't bash my favorite diesel site. They have helped me out tons of times with my truck and are more specialized with the 7.3 than this site is.

I'll try to get the How-To up in a little bit.

 

Maybe it is decent! I have never been able to look at it and see

EDIT: Dear Lord, please forgive me and bless all those starving little pygmies in New Guinea.

 

Here is my How-To for the 05+ Grill Only front end MOD

By SteveKran @ ford-trucks.com

TOOLS/SUPPLIES
-Safety Glasses (these saved my eyes many times from breaking cutting disks)
-Blue Painter’s Tape
-Masking Tape (preferably a color other than blue)
-Sharpie or good marker
-Measuring Tape
-Needle Nose Pliers
-Wire Cutters
-#2 sized Phillip’s Screwdriver
-Medium sized Flat Head Screwdriver
-Dremel or other precision rotary cutting instrument
-extra cutting disk’s for Dremel (I went through 5)
-Windex/Paper Towels for cleaning grill
-Sharp Instrument (something to score a mark with)
-2 small Plastic Zip Ties

TIPS/SUGGESTIONS
Make sure you have plenty of room, good lighting, cold beer and good tunes on the shop radio.

I used a stool that had a swivel top which made it easy to maneuver the grill.

HOW-TO
I first started by cleaning the grill with Windex so the painters tape would have good adhesion on the chrome surface. Then I covered the bottom “cross member” completely with Blue Painter’s Tape. The reason I covered the entire piece is so that if I slipped with the Dremel and lightly nicked the grill, it would hopefully take off just the tape and not and chrome.










Next I measured slightly more than ½” and made dots on the Blue Painter’s Tape going horizontal across the grill. Before you do ANY cutting, use the WHITE masking tape. Following the dots you made with the marker, run the tape in a straight line across the grill. This is going to be not only your cutting guide, but a little extra protection as well.






White Masking Tape






Next, Measure the same amount (slightly greater than ½”) on the bottom of the side vents and make some dots with the Sharpie. Then, lay a tape line down with the WHITE Masking Tape over the dots. (I’ve drawn in these dots so you can see where the tape overlaps and will know just where to cut).






You can see in this picture how the tape overlaps and where you need to make your cuts.










Turn the grill over. These are going to be the first things you need to cut. You don’t need to cut into the lighter colored (I’m going to call them White Tabs from here out) plastic tab (that will come of later). Just cut the black tab towards the outside of the grill. Make sure you cut all of them (I believe there are 5). Here are before and after pictures of what I’m talking about.

BEFORE





AFTER (Black tab removed)






After those black tabs have been cut off, flip the grill over. You are going to cut off everything below the “slightly bigger than ½” mark”. All you have to do is follow your tape line you made earlier with the White Masking Tape. After you are finished cutting the line the piece is not going to just fall off, so don’t try to force it or you will break something!!!

I have made more cutting lines with the Sharpie between each of the “white tabs”. Before you cut the new lines you just made, take the Needle Nose Pliers and pull off all the larger black metal tabs (they are between the white tabs). The metal tabs can be thrown away. (You are going to be cutting the bottom of the grill off in sections for easy removal).











Now cut one of the new lines you just drew and carefully bend the section TOWARDS you and AWAY from the grill.










Now with enough force you will break away that section of the grill. Continue carefully cutting into the lines you drew and breaking off each section until there are none left.







Now, cut away the “white tabs”. They need to be removed. They should pull out easy because of the black tab you cut earlier in the first couple steps. If they don’t come right out, just wiggle them around a little. If they are still being stubborn, you might want o flip the grill over and cut some more off the black tab holding the white tab into place.











**Be cautious of the thin chrome strip at the bottom of the grill. It is not very sturdy and I would really hate for you to break it by not being careful**

By this time you will have noticed that there are “two layers” of this grill. With the grill facing down, cut the excess black plastic off along the bottom of the grill. Be sure not to cut too deep as you may cut through the chrome piece on the other side.





(Working my way taking all the excess black plastic off)







Now all the excess black plastic on the bottom of the grill is gone.





It’s time to take your old grill off. There are going to be 4 Phillips screws holding the top of the grill on. The bottom of the grill is held in place by 4 clips. These can be taken out with the Medium Sized Flat Head Screwdriver.

Now it’s time for a fit test. You will probably notice that the corners need to be trimmed to a more rounded bottom edge for it to look better (it barely touches the bumper). You can trim a little off at a time until you like the fit. Make sure you keep the tape on the grill until you are 100% ready to actually bolt it on and walk away. You don’t want to scratch that chrome!

While the grill is sitting on the truck for a fit test, you need to go to score marks in the header panel JUST behind the grill (hence the need for a sharp instrument of some kind). The header panel is made out of fiberglass. You are going to drill a small hole in the header panel and Zip Tie the bottom of the grill in place via that hole. The smaller the Zip Ties, the better it looks and less obvious it is. I made my hole with my Dremel, otherwise I would have used a drill.

Here is where I am scoring the header panel to determine where the hole needs to be.






Shown below is the driver’s side of the grill and you can barely see the score mark on the bottom left of the middle opening.





Now I have taken the grill off the truck and carefully put it aside. I then drilled a hole on the mark I scored into the header panel.

Here is the hole just big enough for the zip tie in the header panel on the passenger’s side.






After you’re happy with the fit of your grill (make any last changes now) you can take all the tape off and mount it to your truck. The top 4 holes mount up PERFECT and you will need to Zip Tie the bottom of the grill in place. The Needle Nose Pliers came in handy feeding the Zip Tie through the hole in the header panel and securing it around the grill. After everything is mounted, trim the excess Zip Tie with the Wire Cutters for a nice clean finish and close the hood. You are done!

Now that wasn’t so hard, was it? Depending on what you paid for your grill (I paid less than $100 for this used one) you will have less money wrapped up into this grill and a little satisfaction of a job well done.

Out with the old, in with the new.

Sorry these pictures are a little crappy, they were the best I could get at night. I will add some better daytime shots soon.














After a quick carwash

 

I bought a pre-cut grille. The bottom clips were repsitioned and tie wrapped. The chrome at the bottom sagged away from the honeycomb. I wasn't pleased with either of those issues. This was my solution. Grt rid of the tie wraps and secure the bottom chrome edge to the honeycomb insert.

 

Nice! That looks good man. I'll have to do that to mine and maybe change the How-To

 

The reason I used two screws to secure each clip was that the guy who cut down the grille had already drilled two holes for the tie wraps. One screw on each clip would work fine. I just needed to fill both holes. Your way is fine because you can't see the tie wraps from the front. The tie wraps on mine were visible and not to pleasing to the eye.

You did a great job on the grille and the write up. Had I seen your write up before I bought the already cut down grille I would have bought a stock grille and followed your instuctions to the letter and been totally satisfied.

 

Thanks man. That was my first time ever writing a How-To. I'm planning on writing one in the next week or so about how to install a leveling kit using shackles on the front end.

 

Ok, I went and got a username for "your site." It is a little awkward to navigate. Then again the server probably doesn't crash CONSTANTLY. (FTE has been rather good all month though!)
I do have to disagree that they are more specialized. Where are you going for your info? I guess I like how emergencies, mods, and maint are all in the same 7.3 catagory on FTE. I never know what I am looking for till I find it The other thing I don't like is being shoved into the same group as the OBS guys. The early 99 and OBS should have their own group with the SD guys having theirs. The engines and mods are too different to have them together. You get all excited for a good topic only to read three paragraphs in and find out it is an OBS mod. JMHO, but I am a member now...

 

Did you use the shackles on the front and back or just the back? Where did you get them? How much money? Can I make myself? Will measurements for fabrication be included in the write up?

 

I used front shackles only. They were a couple inches longer than the stock shackles and attached at the same place, between the back of the front springs and the frame.

I got them from username "Scuffy" on ford-trucks.com (real name Scott)
He owns a shop in Winston Salem, NC called Trucks Unlimited. I remember paying in the neighborhood of $50 for them.

You might be able to make them yourself if you've got access to a good metal fabrication shop. I'll see if I can get some measurements while they are on the truck.

 

Looking forward to that write-up. I want to level my truck. This is one of the options I was looking at from Rubicon. Only problem is the expense.