I purchased the UTR grill for several reasons; it was less common than the Gialla, its made of urethane, and the "fins" on the front added some Skyline-esqe flair to the front. The price wasnt bad either, at $218.75 from everythingg35.com.

After recieving the grill, I was rather dissapointed to find that it did not quite look as it does in all of the pictures. Mainly, the grill had a bunch of plastic tabs molded into it that were holding the grill mesh in. This would have been ok except the tabs were in FRONT of the grill, which made it look terrible! Fearing that somehow I got a fake, I contacted UTR and they confirmed that it was real. They also said that if i didnt like the tabs I could have my body shop cut them off and glue some on the back where they wouldnt be visible. Great. Luckily I'm a DIY kind of guy...so It didnt bother me so much, but who knows what a body shop would charge to do somethign like that!

So I busted out the moto tool and went to work. I cut the tabs off, sanded the grill smooth, and fabbed up some aluminum tabs which I glued on the back with 3M emblem adhesive. I also got some heavier duty grill mesh than the thin stuff that came witht the grill, so it would better match the lower openings. While I was at it, I drilled out the rivets holding the steel support bar (which was installed off-center, and already beginning to rust!) and replaced it with a custom aluminum bracket that I fabbed up, using stainless screws. Also, the mounting holes didnt line up perfectly so I used the moto tool to slot them enough to install the fasteners without having to tweak the grill at all. Lastly, the grill didnt fit perfectly...the left side seemed "twisted" slightly so it was inset a little further than the other side. Using a heat gun, I was able to heat and reform the grill enough to make the fitment almost perfect.

After all of that I finally got it painted by a body shop and installed it. I was able to aquire some double sided tape from the body shop, which I used to secure the bottom of the grill much like the Gialla. The result is very sweet, if I do say so myself, and definitely worth the work.

Bottom line: If you have a great body shop that will do most of the aformentioned work (mainly removal of the tabs and attaching the mesh in a different fashion...the rest could be skipped unless you are **** as I am) without charging you a fortune, or you like doing this kind of stuff yourself, go for it. If you are tight on cash and you dont know what a moto tool is or what it does, buy something else.

 

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Wow, nice work! Although, needing to do all of that extra work for something which is not considered a replica, that's a bit too much hassle for me! Anyways, nice job!

 

lookin good.........great work

 

Looks great...but that's a lot of modding to something that should come the way you made it. Great job taking the effort.

They just posted they have a version now for the Sedan. But your write up makes me worry about buying one, especially considering it may be about $200+.

One question, where did you get the replacement mesh? I've been looking online and haven't had much success in matching the OEM style.

 

i agree the grill was not well made, i had to do the same work you did to get it to fit, and customer service is non existant for the problems, i filed down the rivets because they were protruding and would scratch up the bumper...I also applied clear bra film where the grill and bumper mate up to block any rubbing that might occur

 

For most body parts, minor tweeking/adjusting is required for proper fit. Not all cars are built the same. For the most part lets hope they are, but there's a possiblity that the grill is off or perhaps mabye the car is. There are many variables to say.
But from the looks of MX592's handywork, the grill looks DAMN good!

P.S. we have since adressed and amended the aforementioned issues.

Thanks.

 

I got the mesh from the scrap bin at work, but if you want to find some, go to mcmaster.com and search for "expanded metal". They have all kinds, including aluminum in various sizes. You might also search ebay.

 

looks nice after your diy work

 

That looks really good, I have the same problem, except I ordered mine straight from Silvia Parts and its already painted, I am not that good with tools, I have no clue what to do, someone pleseee help

 

here is what mine looks like, its realy pissing me off