geekhouse23’s «LIFE’S WAITING TO BEGIN» #EAF Overland & Adventure build

Made some progress over the past few days, here are some pics:

Cardboard «template» is in its rough stages. The top and bottom of the grill is two different sizes in regards to width. With the cardboard, I was able to cut it to compensate for the change in width. I believe from top to bottom there is a 1/2″ difference in width. I still have to test fit it on the truck, check the clearance and then make changes as needed.

Should have some time this weekend to «tweak» the template and finalize everything before the real work begins

UPDATE 11/23/13:

Test fitted the grill to the truck today. Everything lines up PERFECTLY

There is about 1/4″ gap between the headlight housing and the cardboard template.

– I plan to use a piece of ABS to try to reinforce the bottom of the lip, it’s pretty flimsy.

I hope to re-use the center plastic that was cut out to see if I would potentially make SOME

Going to decide on which toyota emblem I like better and order it next week. It will be color matched and outlined in white. Stay tuned!!

UPDATE 12/4/13:

For the emblem, I went with the 85-90 FJ emblem. It is going to be color matched magnetic grey and outlined in white. I chose this emblem for a really clean look.

For the pieces that need to be add to the sides of the grill, I am going to fab some pieces using aluminum flashing after the template I made from cardboard. Then I will resin that in and bondo over it. My original plan was to use the plastic from the center of the grill, heat mold it and epoxy and bondo but aluminum is really easy to work with.

For the chrome grill surround, my plan is to contact the dealership and see if they can paint it. I know this is not DIY and I am upset, but here is the reasoning in doing it this way; the dealership, hopefully, could add a chemical/something to the paint to make it more flexible so that it would not chip and it would not peel from the chrome. I have read another thread where the TW member was able to do this and I am hoping to do the same.

For the mesh, I am REALLY hoping Homer offers 2012+ mesh sheets that I can buy (support TW members ). Otherwise, I will be getting the «small perforated» grill mesh sheet from customcargrills.com.

UPDATE 12/7/13:

Got the aluminum cut, bent and test fitted on the grill today and I think it looks GREAT. Still have some minor trimming and bending to do but that’s pretty much what it is going to look like. I hope to test fit it on the truck this weekend to make sure everything lines up. I expect no issues because I just used the template I created.

I am going to run to the hardware store today or tomorrow for some resin and bondo.

UPDATE 12/9/13:

Resin is 90% complete. Have a few minor areas to go over and then bondo can proceed. So far, this process is not bad at all; just really messy. Might add some fiberglass to the reverse side for strength assuming it will bond appropriately. Here is a pic I took tonight:

Really happy with how it is turning out, was unable to test fit the grill to the truck tonight; hockey game was on and we received about 6″ of snow.

UPDATE 12/12/13:

Began to clean up excess resin left over in preparation for bondo. Still have to test fit the grill to the truck before bondo can begin; hopefully I can do it tomorrow after work. I still need to order the mesh and figure out how to mount it and also talk to the dealership and see if they will paint the chrome grill surround.

Teaser:

UPDATE 12/19/13:

Haven’t updated in a while so I figured I update those who are even still reading this post

I am going to start the process of bondo, sanding, bondo, sanding, bondo, sanding, bondo, sanding, bondo, sanding this weekend. I still have to go pick up the sandpaper but will do that saturday morning. BUT, before I proceed, I HAVE TO test fit the grill before I go any further.

I have been doing a LOT of research and *cough* drooling *cough* over other’s 2012+ satoshi grills, especially Homer’s
I found this thread here and will probably be using this process for attaching the mesh to the grill:
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/232626-so-i-started-2012-satoshi-6.html#post5524876

**EDIT: don’t think I will be using this process above ^^^; looks like in the right (or wrong) light the mesh looks mangled. If you scroll down to post #117, you will see what I mean. Not going to work for the quality satoshi I am going for..no offense OP**

Which reminds me, I received the mesh yesterday from customcargrills.com. I hope to start mocking up the mesh the way I want. I do not want a flat mesh like the 05-11 grills. I would like to break it up a bit for a more «textured» look; again like Homer’s.

Also, I took the chrome surround to the body shop and they wouldn’t color match it. I plan on calling another dealership and seeing who they recommend. If I strike out again, I’ll just paint and clear it myself following this process here: http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/300047-color-match-grill.html

**Have read a lot of threads where people say it takes 11-12 hours to complete the whole grill (dremel, fiberglass, bondo sand and paint). I am at 11 hours now NOT including, sanding, more bondo-ing, paint, cutting/molding attaching and painting the mesh AND I still have the FJ emblem to paint and secure to the mesh..I hope that shows the workmanship and time I am putting into this Satoshi **

UPDATE 12/22/13:

Applied the first coat of primer today!! FINALLY. Still have a bit of sanding to do but I have to run to the store to get some 220g sandpaper. I don’t expect to do much until next weekend as it is the holidays. I am going to talk to my future father in law tonight about cutting the mesh to size for the grill. I also sanded the chrome surround so when the paint from Automotive TouchUp arrives, I can paint. Enjoy the holidays everyone!!

Finishing up things with the lip now hope to be done (painted black) by the time the paint comes (got the shipping confirmation email today ) so I can spray the chrome surround and start on the lettering. Not sure if I want to attach them as is or cut up the emblem see HERE

UPDATE 12/28/13:

Sanding, sanding and even more sanding!

I sanded everything down today until it was nice and smooth and sprayed another coat of filler primer on the grill today. I must say it is looking great! Just have a tiny bit more sanding to do in some areas and then I can paint the whole thing black

I finished sanding the chrome grille surround with 220G sandpaper and it is now ready for paint that should be here on Monday.

I also made the template for the mesh today. As hoped, it will look similar to homer’s mesh on his 2012 prototype

UPDATE 12/29/13:

Test fit the grill today and the sides hit the headlight housing…

GEEKHOUSE23’s Satoshi version 2.0 coming soon…

UPDATE 1/11/14:

After much destruction and sadness, I started on «GEEKtoshi 2.0» today.

This time around I will be building the sides in 3 pieces. You can see I started by building the middle piece. This is the most crucial part of the Satoshi grill; it MUST clear the headlight housing PERFECTLY to not hit. It only took about 20 minutes to fab both sides; this time with 1/4″ lip (see pic below) to rest on the plastic lip on the inside of the grill. This was done for strength, rigidity, and a LOT less bondo work. The aluminum sits almost flush. Once I got them to where I was happy, I «tacked» the pieces with a hot glue gun and went out to the truck. Fits great and I have about 1/4″-1/2″ clearance between the headlight housing and the aluminum sides. I came inside, didn’t even remove the hot glue «tacks» and went to work with the resin. I am going to let it set overnight before putting another coat of resin on.

UPDATE 1/27/14:

For those still following this build, sorry I haven’t updated in a while I have been very busy lately. I have finished building the sides necessary to make this a full deep dish satoshi build. I put one layer of fiberglass on the back side for strength and reduced flex during the bondo process. I am thinking that I MIGHT put another layer or two of fiberglass for a total of 3 layers might be overkill BUT I really don’t want to have to build this a third time

Once I am done with the fiberglass layering, I will test fit it to the truck again. Another cold few days here though so I will finish up the fiberglass, then test fit the grill on a day where it isn’t so cold. I apologize to anyone who is upset with how long it is taking me, believe me, I am upset too. Pictures to follow soon..

UPDATE 1/29/14:

Tonight, I finished the reverse side fiberglass layering and decided to put 1 or 2 coats of fiber glass strips on the inner lip. This was done to insure a good hold since the sides are built in 3 pieces. Inner lip is drying now, I will put another layer on later tonight once this one is dry.

UPDATE 2/2/14:

Today I finished the second coat of fiberglass on the inner lip and started bondo-ing. I also test fit the grill to the truck today before the bondo was put on. Here are a couple pics testing the grill to the truck.

UPDATE 3/8/14:

Got a few things done today

First on the list was to do another test fit. Everything fits like a glove still!!! Still have about 1/4″-1/2″ between the sides and the headlight housing. Starting to sand some more today and was going to apply another layer of bondo to fill all the remaining tiny holes, but my can of compressed air broke! I will be picking one up tomorrow and working on the remaining bondo work then. Instead I got the mesh cut, sized, bent and test fitted!! I think it looks great. I also starting working on how I am going to attach the «TOYOTA» emblem to the mesh (still thinking on how exactly I want to attach it).

Warmer weather needs to come soon so I can paint everything and finish this project up

Here are some pics showing the mesh (it’s bent only very slightly) and a teaser or two

UPDATE 3/30/14:

Nothing much to show; got everything wet sanded and ready for the first coat of filler primer. I was going to paint this weekend but I was busy with other projects and I wanted to wait until its just a bit warmer to paint. Still have to paint (grill insert, mesh, Chrome surround and FJ emblem ) and figure out how I am going to attach the letters (thinking of JB welding bolts to the back so I can remove it easily to fix dings and scratches). Been getting messages from some people asking if I am going to build any grills and while I would love to, I just don’t think I have the time right now. I might come up with some other service pertaining to the Satoshi build process for 2012+ but still working on finding someone to test the process out on. Stay tuned!!

UPDATE 4/14/14:

It has been a while!! I have been super busy with interviewing a few times a week for a new job that I have not had much time for anything. I was able to have a couple hours to work on this thing tonight so here is tonight progress!

– Attached the mesh to the grill temporarily. I have to still test fit it and trim some more to make sure it doesn’t rub or scratch anything on the truck. The edges are SHARP!!
– lined up the «TOYOTA» emblem, centered etc and JB welded bolts to the reverse side of the emblem. Going to let them cure for at least 24 hours and then test fit it again to make sure everything lines up.

After test fitting and trimming everything, I can FINALLY start to paint everything. The insane Midwest weather is really preventing me from making any real progress on this project. I.e. Saturday the 12th it was sunny and 80 degrees; today, Monday the 14th, it was 32 degrees and snowing!! Trying to have everything painted and buttoned up to be put on the truck by the end of this month. That’s the plan at least

Tonight’s pictures:

UPDATE 4/20/14:

I’M IN THE HOME STRETCH!!

Finally we had 3 straight days of amazing weather and was able to start and finish painting and clearing everything. I gotta say that I did not expect a color match rattle can job to look so good but it does!! Everything is now curing in my paint booth which might also be my garage and will stay there curing for 24 hours and then I will be doing the final assembly of everything this week!! Here are some pictures I have of the work that was done over the past 3 days:

I had the use JB weld to attach the zip tie point that are going to hold the mesh in place. The 3M tape didn’t hold well to the fiberglass on the rear. No biggie.

Fabbed center piece and grill mesh:

Mesh came out looking good; painted and cleared. Looks really glossy but you can’t tell from this picture.

Bad pic, but here is the color matched grill surround I did. From chrome to this!! looks 1000000 times better!

TOYOTA emblem color matched and outlined in while as promised. Had to make a few touch ups but you can’t really tell from far away

I will be taking MUCH better pictures in the next few days once everything is assembled and then on the truck.

UPDATE 4/21/14:

GEEK-TOSHI IS FINISHED!!

I got home from work today and assembled the grill. I have to say, it looks damn good.

Mesh attached:

FJ emblem attached:

Grill surround waxed and fully attached:

Satoshi mounted:

UPDATE 5/18/18:

Laid the satoshi to rest. Served me well throughout the years. Currently living in the crawl space/loft in the garage. Had been wanting a pro grille for the longest time and the satoshi was in ROUGH shape.