Since our Project Tahoe received the Perma Tech
coating over a year ago, we knew the front end had to change. The
chrome grill just did not work any longer. Along with turning it
black, we wanted to give the front a more custom look.
For help we finally turned to GrillCraft in
Hawthorne, CA. GrillCraft makes sport grill inserts for just about
any vehicle in black or silver. We ordered up a new black
GrillCraft Sport Grill Model #1450.
Now to take care of the rest of the grill. We
thought about removing and painting our chrome grill but just could
not get too excited about that. We were also questioning how well
the paint would stick to the chrome. We then decided to give Ebay a
try. We found that for under $100 bucks we could have a nice new
shiny black replacement grill delivered to our doorstep. Guess what
we chose?
Installation
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New black grill (courtesy of
Ebay shopping) and GrillCraft Sport Grill
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Grillcraft Sport Grill and
instructions
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Mark and drill one hole on
each side.
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Install quick
nut.
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Put the screw in from the
back.
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The top insert is now done -
repeat on the bottom.
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Old grill and shiny new black
grill with Gillcraft inserts.
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Now we needed to remove the
old chrome grill. There are about 6-8 screws holding it in
place.
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The parking lamps need to be
removed, so the grill can unsnap out of place.
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We needed to move the side
marker lights and inserts for the parking lamps from the old grill
to new grill.
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Black grill ready for
install.
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The emblem was moved over, also.
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Our naked Tahoe.
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We needed to re-route the wires to our PIAA
lights since they could not come through the grill any
longer.
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New whole just behind the
bumper for the wires.
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We ended up with a much cleaner install than
the original through the grill route.
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Before and .....
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...after. Much nicer!
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Summary
Sometimes it still amazes me how much of a
difference you can make with just a couple hundred bucks and an
hour or two. Now I have to wonder why I waited a year to perform
this little project. No, we aren't going to make it up the hill any
faster or crawl through any deeper mud holes, but it sure does
improve the overall look and fit the theme of the transformed
Tahoe.
Have Fun!
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