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DIY grille mesh on 2002-2005 complete!

14K views 25 replies 11 participants last post by  j006 
#1 ·
FINALLY got around to doing this mod. I HATED those plastic black slats in the grill and the main opening below, and the Hirsch grill is outrageously expensive so I ordered some black powdercoated expanded flattened metal mesh from customcargrills.com - fantastic product! It has a matte black finish and is very easy to work with. Kudos to mt.aero on this board for the inspiration on this project! Here's how it came out!!





Next I'm gonna find some way to mesh around the foglights if it kills me so I can be rid of this black plastic forever! :cheesy:

Cheers!
 
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#4 ·
Thanks! It took a while but I think the result was worth it.

I love it !! Was it hard to separate the chrome from the black fins ?
Well it definitely takes some time. You have to go really slowly and it's almost inevitable that some of those little plastic tabs will break while you're trying to separate the two. I used a coping saw to cut the bulk of the slats out first, and then a dremel to grind down the nubs of the slats flush. The part that requires patience is cutting the mesh to size and trimming and trimming and trimming to get it to sit just inside the two halves without exposing any raw edges of the mesh. Sounds easy but it takes some time to really get it perfect. I hate anything that looks halfway done and like anything, getting a professional-looking job takes time. I've been meaning to do it for years now actually..

Cheers
 
#7 ·
Nice work J! Its a LONG process to do it right, but its so worth it in the end. Mine took a full 3-day weekend to complete with all the paint drying and such. Ive wanted to do the lower bit on mine and you just convinced me to get to it. I have also been wondering about the fog surrounds and havent come up with anything....yet.

I say get rid of the chrome on the grill surround to complete the look. Matte black wrap? We are getting pretty close to having matching cars.... except I dont have a big brake kit in my garage. :p

Did you put some sort of edging around the lower mesh?
 
#8 ·
I say get rid of the chrome on the grill surround to complete the look. Matte black wrap? We are getting pretty close to having matching cars.... except I dont have a big brake kit in my garage. :p

Did you put some sort of edging around the lower mesh?
With the surrounds, I hit them with a scotch brite pad and now it looks brushed. You might not be able to tell from the photos but it looks MUCH better than the chrome for the time being. I had actually done the two outside surrounds in the matte black vinyl just to see, but I felt like from a distance that something looked missing; almost like a void between the lights ya know what I mean? It's because the headlight housings are so shiny with that chrome in there :x which I hate. It looks nice at night with the light bouncing around from my new 6000K bulbs :cheesy:, but in the day it's just too shiny to make it look mean IMO. Optimally, I would love to take the light assemblies apart to strip the chrome off and paint it matte black inside the housing. That mod is NOT for the faint of heart though, because if I mess up that housing they are PRICEY as you know. Then I think the matte black surrounds would look perfect as the whole front of the car would be much darker. Who knows though, next week I'll probably change my mind and wrap the surrounds back in black again. :cool:

Yeah I know about the BBK :cry: I was actually considering selling the front kit and getting one of those Brembo setups from genuinesaab instead.

Yeah the same site I ordered the mesh from had this rubber edging to trim the mesh with. You can order whatever length you need and it works great...

Next mod is the rear lip spoiler which just arrived from partsforsaabs today! I'm thinking of definitely painting it matte black to contrast. Ever thought about trying to fit a Cupra R spoiler lip under our Aero bumper? I think I'm gonna try...A bunch of the Audi guys have done it and I think it looks perfect: http://goo.gl/y6im

Cheers
 
#13 ·
I would leave the front like that. It looks awesome. Wouldn´t get rid of the Saab 3-port-grille chrome. It´s a SAAB, man. It has its own PERSONALITY. Leave the chrome like that. ;)
Only, if you want to make it more modern, you can paint the black trim all around the car. What rear bumper do you have on the car? 2002-03 aero? 2004-05?
The euro clear side markers also look better than the orange ones. Great job.
 
#14 ·
I read your post up there about painting the inside of the headlights, and I agree that that would be a bit scary to do.

But what about just tinting the lens of the headlight? Like what saabhutter did on his 9-3?



I don't think you'll notice any difference in the light output with 6000k bulbs and of course you have the fogs too.
 
#16 ·
Next I'm gonna find some way to mesh around the foglights if it kills me so I can be rid of this black plastic forever! :cheesy:
imho, the pre-06 front ends are gorgeous with your car as one of the prime examples!

On the other hand, my dame edna, especially the sebring and hyundai sonata look-alike chessy plastic fins really get on my nerves. For those of you with MY06 or later, after the hood is popped, I see two plastic bolts and two torx bolts on the outer edge. Is that all there is to remove the black plastic piece?

Also, J, the mesh piece you bought online, is it fairly easy to rubber-hammered into desired shape?
 
#21 ·
Yeah that looks pretty sweet, but that's not the one I was thinking of; that's a custom splitter made from a flat piece of something. It's more or less two-dimensional whereas the Cupra R lip looks more like a little snow plow. :cheesy: You know what I mean.

the pic I was thinking of is from a very low angle and from the front right corner of the car. I want to say that the color of the 9-5 is dark, like blue or grey or black. I'm pretty sure it is an Estate and not the sedan as well. I need to sit down and sift thru that site to try and find it again....
 
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