Possible Honeycomb grille material. [Archive]

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Bowman9

01-08-2006, 03:06 AM

I was watching "Motorweek" on the Speed channel and they were showing the new 2006 Mazda Miata MX5.
The new MX5 has a lower grille opening that is covered with a plastic Honeycomb without emblems.
The question is how large is this the new grille and is it enough material for our needs.

I also noticed that Kmart shopping carts are made of a plastic Honeycomb design.:P

cyclopsram

01-08-2006, 04:51 AM

Oh no!! possible ricer parts on a Marauder...can't be.... RAM

Bowman9

01-22-2006, 02:27 PM

I found this honeycomb style grille from a 1965 Mustang.
Does anyone have access to a '65 mustang to tell us if grille is big enough for or needs to create a Marauder honeycomb grille?

http://www.mustangsplus.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=MPFMP&Product_Code=02137&Category_Code=grille

http://www.mustangsplus.com/images/02137lg.jpg

Sully008

01-24-2006, 02:13 PM

Well, here's a some quick Photoshops of the honeycomb material with and without a badge. Hopefully it'll give you an idea of how the material will look.
http://www.mercurymarauder.net/showcase/files/2/9/6/0/Grille2.jpg
http://www.mercurymarauder.net/showcase/files/2/9/6/0/Grille1.jpg

hitchhiker

01-24-2006, 02:51 PM

Bowman9

01-24-2006, 03:48 PM

I like the one without the badge. :)
I guess no one has access to a 65-66 mustang to tell us the size of the grille opening???

Rider90

01-24-2006, 04:03 PM

I guess the Crown Vic guys go for the Marauder look, and the Marauders go for the Crown Vic look :dunno: It looks okay :P

merc6

01-24-2006, 04:06 PM

yep the other forums are swapping to our stuff ;) Mazda 6 and the MPV also have that plastic mesh but I doubt it would be enough. Didn't we alerady go over that if he had 1 mm and to cvpi grills he wasn't able to do it?

Bowman9

01-24-2006, 04:37 PM

...Didn't we alerady go over that if he had 1 mm and to cvpi grills he wasn't able to do it?

You are correct that the CVPI grille will not work.

But Marauder owners that would like to have a "Honeycomb" style grille have still been looking for other options, but have not been able to find the correct "size" and "quality" of material to do the job.
We are still looking for different sources, that is why I suggested the 1965 mustang grille and the 2006 MX5 grille as a possible solution, but I do not know the dimensions of these grilles.

The Marauder grille opening (if you were to cut all the bars out) is approx. 30" by 8.5". So we would need honeycomb material slightly larger to work with. We are trying to stay away from the "Ricer" "Home Depot" building material solution.

MarauderMark

01-24-2006, 05:36 PM

I guess the Crown Vic guys go for the Marauder look, and the Marauders go for the Crown Vic look :dunno: It looks okay :P
Yes its a weird thing.:rolleyes:

Hotrauder

01-26-2006, 09:21 AM

J. C. Whitney catalog arrived yesterday and there are several different grill insert material offerings in it. Check it out. Find the one you want and contact the Nutty Guy. Zack. He can do anything, better than you will believe. Dennis:D

RoNiN77

03-18-2006, 05:23 PM

I think that Ford has a honeycomb grill already in production for the police interceptors...

Bowman9

03-18-2006, 05:59 PM

I believe the new VW GTI Mark V's lower grille opening is a honeycomb material. We'll just need to find out if it is large enough for our needs.

It's in the commercial with the tag line "Pretuned by German engineers".

Black_Noise

03-18-2006, 11:03 PM

if you need honeycomb material i have some from work... i was thinking of making a grille myself but its really flimsy hard plastic black honeycomb we use to wrap around coils at work, just didnt want to figure out how to keep it tight without screws showing somehow, can post pics if u want

Dan

03-19-2006, 07:45 AM

Our grills are molded as part of a frame. I think that a flimsy honey comb material could be mounted inside of that.

Honeycomb materials comes in different thicknesses which would reduce flimsyness.

The CVPI honeycombs are not symmetrical honeycombs. they are quite a bit longer than they are wide.

The CVPI honeycomb grill is also one piece molded plastic with the honeycomb frame.

Honeycombed metal is something that machinists might work with and have sourcing for. Think industrial materials. If you want to go in the direction of metal it might be a good idea to start with that industry.

A lot of the honeycomb that I have seen is made from aluminum. Good for weight but bad for color. Again, a machinist might know how to blacken aluminum.

I have thought about doing this and the best way that I know of would be to buy and extra grill and bring it to your local machinist and give it to him as a project.

One last thing. The shadow created by the grill trim ring would probably very easily conceal any fasteners used if the fasteners were a dull black.

I hope this helps.

Dan

Dan

03-19-2006, 07:50 AM

When doing your Google search use the term "Peforated Metal" or "Hexagon perforated metal" or "hexagon perforated staggered" and not honeycombed metal. You'll get far more results.

Honeycomb metal is perforated metal created from slabs and then stretched.

Best,

Dan

Dan

03-19-2006, 08:01 AM

http://www.perforatedmetal.com

http://www.tradeget.com/southern/\\http://www.mcnichols.com/products/perforated/hexagonalhole/ (http://www.tradeget.com/southern/%5C%5Chttp://www.mcnichols.com/products/perforated/hexagonalhole/)

Dan

03-19-2006, 10:50 AM

With http://www.colexcustoms.com/ as a new vendor why not ask them to do some research into this?

Dan

03-19-2006, 01:22 PM

In the interest of making it as easy as possible for anyone to further this project I uploaded several photos which provide great detail about the CVPI honeycomb grill.

Just visit my gallery at
http://www.mercurymarauder.net/showcase/browseimages.php?c=3&userid=2089

Best,

Dan

GreekGod

03-19-2006, 01:35 PM

Black_Noise

03-19-2006, 02:36 PM

actually, i was wrong... its not honeycomb, its a bunch of Xs thats the material that i have...... like this

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

thats just an example

EbonyMarauder03

03-19-2006, 07:11 PM

I honestly believe a 65 or 66 Mustang grille is bigger than ours. I have one in my shop, I'll measure it for you guys. All I need to do is remember.

Bowman9

03-19-2006, 08:27 PM

I honestly believe a 65 or 66 Mustang grille is bigger than ours. I have one in my shop, I'll measure it for you guys. All I need to do is remember.

That would be very cool if you could find out the size of the Mustang grille.
The hardest part of this project (so far) is just finding the material.

Sully008

03-19-2006, 08:33 PM

Can someone Photoshop a horizontal tubular stainless grill on a MM to see what it might look like? I've often thought of making one. It could be brushed, polished, or painted black. Light weight, corrosion proof, and strong.
Hey GreekGod,

Here's a PS with a billet grille. It's hard to make it realistic 'cause the grille material doesn't have a whole lot of detail. Hopefully you get the idea you're looking for.

http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=88 67&stc=1&d=1142825576

GreekGod

03-20-2006, 04:16 AM

I may try making one out of S.S. tubing with a S.S. mesh behind it.

Dan

03-20-2006, 06:27 AM

That would be very cool if you could find out the size of the Mustang grille.
The hardest part of this project (so far) is just finding the material.

Huh?

What part of finding the right material is hard? Getting perforated metal should be easy if you're trying to do a honeycomb front grill. Did you not see the links that I posted or are you trying to do something else?

i'm a bit confused. If anything, the hard part is probably assembly.

Best,

Dan

Bowman9

03-20-2006, 04:15 PM

Huh?

What part of finding the right material is hard? Getting perforated metal should be easy if you're trying to do a honeycomb front grill. Did you not see the links that I posted or are you trying to do something else?

i'm a bit confused. If anything, the hard part is probably assembly.

Best,
Dan

I have come across some honeycomb/hexagonal material, but none in the depth (thickness) I want. As in the pics you posted the stock material seems to be about 1/2" thick.

Your right in that I am trying to make a Honeycomb grille for the marauder similair to that of the Crown Vic front grille.

Sorry for the confusion. :)

jakdad

03-21-2006, 04:23 AM

Ford trucks have HC grills. Should be able to use that.

Dan

03-21-2006, 06:01 AM

I have come across some honeycomb/hexagonal material, but none in the depth (thickness) I want. As in the pics you posted the stock material seems to be about 1/2" thick.

Your right in that I am trying to make a Honeycomb grille for the marauder similair to that of the Crown Vic front grille.

Sorry for the confusion. :)

No problem. I was a bit confused.

At least the photos I posted are having some use. It was my intention to provide the community with something they could go on for this project.

The sad part is that I have had them for about a year. I just never had the time to upload them before now.

Best,

Dan

Bowman9

03-28-2006, 04:06 PM

I honestly believe a 65 or 66 Mustang grille is bigger than ours. I have one in my shop, I'll measure it for you guys. All I need to do is remember.

Hey EbonyMarauder03,

Did you get a chance to measure the grille off of a 65-66 mustang for us???
If so what did you come up with??

Zack

03-28-2006, 08:09 PM

The material is non-existent everyone.
The HC material on the ford trucks is not 3 dimensional, so it looks horrible.
Ive tried the material from the Dodge ram trucks but it comes in 4 seperate pieces. Cant mold HC material together.
This is a dead issue to me.