I would think the "Blackwood" is similar to the color/grain of the "Ruzo" ****/Dash Covering in the gallery. Is it Karl? Have you seen it on a finished product yet?

 

Just got my finish samples.

Four CF finishes
Red
black (not quite as dark as it looks} The original!
blue
silver (this is much brighter silver in person)

Four Wood finishes
Blackwood (think Lincoln Blackwood pickup)
Zebrano Wood (Cadillac)
Light burl (Jaguar)
Dark burl (Bentley & Rolls)



Look closely at the blowup. The colors are close on my monitor. Each display shows color a little different.

These finishes can be applied to any car components as well as other things. The process "molds" the finish to any surface.

 

RPM,

Have you done anything more on the grill design?

 

I hit a roadblock with trying to fill the whole 'space' and the hood latch.

 

Burtman Industries makes a nice grill for the crossfire, however it costs $690 plus shipping, which is quite ridiculous.

 

Louie K,

I agree that the price seems high. However, to their credit they do make one. Which is better than anyone else. The price also includes the two lower grilles and I think may be negotiable by a little.

The construction is all steel, tig welded and fits all the mounting holes. Plus, like RPM and I found out they seem to have solved the issue of the hood latch. Lastly, the price is high because demand is low. If people were as enthusiastic about this grille you can actually buy as they were about the CTD grille that never made it to production (we were toyed with for over a year!), the price just might go down.

Most complaints on the Burtman grille were about the wide Chrome edge of the grille. I did a photo retouch and made the edge body color and it looked better. To each his own, but if you want a mesh grille it looks like they are the only choice.

 

I was under the impression that CTD does produce a grille for the Crossfire. They list one on their site, and the AutoXclusive store sells one (I get the idea that they mostly sell CTD parts when it comes to the Crossfire?). Am I missing something? Or are you talking about CTD producing a second Crossfire grille?

 

SRT I would be interested. I will pm you for the details.

 

CTD offers a chrome overlay for your existing grille. They also offer replacement lower grilles. There are a number of threads that discussed their progress (or lack thereof) on a replacement mesh grille. The thread ran for over a year with pictures of prototypes that changed a few times but never came to production.

Both RPM and I tried to come up with an alternative mesh grille and soon discovered it would take some work to clear the hood latch mechanism under the hood. We assumed this was where the problems were. I have been in touch with a company to make an affordable mesh replacement but it will require a commitment from around 100-200 members to make one that most consider affordable (under $300) There are up front costs of over $10K just to make the mold and get started. Burtman has built a solid stainless hand tooled replacement. To my knowledge they are the only ones to actually make a mesh replacement grille for the Crossfire.

I also offer a couple alternatives to the standard grille. Originally I posted "new look for less" which showed how I body color matched my existing grille to the car. It was easy because my SRT is black. I added chrome strips to replace the standard silver and the entire cost came to under $20. Many members did this modification. Some went as far as to paint their grille to body match other colors.

My other offering is to take your existing grille and apply synthetic carbon fiber. I have since done that to my grille.





I have also used this process to many other parts of my car. The current cost is $184 USD plus S&H. Look in my gallery to see what else I have done. If you are interested, PM me.

Thanks,
Karl

 

Thanks for the clarification. I assumed the situation went something like that.

 

Can you take some pics of the "prototype" grille off of the car (sitting on some carpet or concrete or something)? Like you said, the pictures are dark. I was thinking about buying another grille to experiment with, and was considering doing something similar - basically, trimming off most of the horizontal bars and trying to lay mesh over it. The problem I'm sure I would be faced with, like all other Crossfire owners, would be clearing the hood latch. I guess I would just have to set the mesh back slightly, kind of like you did.

 

I really like the look of the mesh grill...but I have a SSB Crossfire. Maybe the mesh grill would lend itself to chrome?

 

It wouldn't really help...it would just show the shape with no relation to size. You have to measure the opening and get the curvature down right. The big thing is to figure how to secure a mount to both the grill and the bumper. If it is metal it could be welded. I was working with plastic and for it to be strong enough it needs to be molded.

The alternative is to run the grill to the back edge of the bumper and secure it along the lip. That gives the grille a recessed look that most did not like AND also amplifies the latch issue under the hood edge.

 

Many have tried, but to my knowledge, only the Burtman actually offers a product. CTD offers nice lower grilles, not the upper. I think CTD charges about $150 (plus expenses from Germany). Burtman charges more but includes the two lower grilles as well. If you want mesh it is going to cost you either way.

 

I'm not speaking from experience here, and haven't taken a good look at the construction of the grille, but couldn't you just trim out most/all of the center of the stock grille, leaving the plastic frame around the edges, and run mesh over it? That's what I'd like to try and do, but I'm sure it wouldn't work out as planned. I definitely wouldn't want to remove the grille and put mesh behind the bumper or something.

 

Besides destroying the OEM grille to do that, I think you would have to trim too much to make it "disappear" behind the mesh. It may also weaken what is left. It is probably possible to graft the mounts from the old grille onto a new design but it would have to be done by the individual. I don't think it could be done reasonably (both cost and effort) on a production or even a semi-production basis.

That is one of the reasons I just applied the CF to the stock grille. Got a different look while maintaining the mounts and strength of the original grille.

 

Strength would certainly be a concern. I considered that. You're probably right, though. In the end, I really doubt it would end up turning out anything close to what I picture in my mind.

 

You are certainly welcome to try. That is how RPM and I found out about the hood latch problem. You never know, you might just come up with a solution that works.

 

Wouldn't starting with a stock grill be a good point? I mean you could use all the same hardware or just copy the mounting points and then use the grill as a template.

 

I think it makes sense. However, I don't see how to modify it to work. I tried to make one and am not even saying someone else couldn't. It probably could be done to some extent on a one off basis. What I was talking about was trying to make one that could be reproduced easily and affordably.

This sounds like a good challenge for other members of the forum. Right now I am tied up with other projects and that other thing that I actually make a living from ...my job. LOL.

So there is the challenge, anybody up to it?