ezucker

This was a little tough because I have an '00 4Runner and I used a grille from a 98. The clips were too big, so I had to do some extra work to mount the grille, but here goes.

BEFORE PHOTO:
(I had plasti-dipped my original grille black about a year ago)




Started with a stock replacement grille for a 96-98. Even though my truck is an '00, you can't use those because as you can see from the above photo, the grille isn't shaped in such a way that it will look good if you cut out the insides, so I had to use a 98 one.



Cut out the inner parts using a fine tooth saw.




Sanded down the rough edges using sandpaper and my dremel with a sander attachment













Applied some bondo to fill the gaps on the inner frame of the grille








Sanded bondo down with sandpaper




The grille mesh material I used I was purchased from ebay pre-painted. I went to at least 5 hardware stores including home depot and was unable to find 1/4" expanded aluminum so I had to order it online. Nobody in my area had this stuff in stock. Anyway. I cut the mesh with tin snips then molded the metal around the outside of the grille using a piece of wood and pliers. Sorry I don't have pictures of this process. I cut out the parts of the metal to fit around the clips.




I bolted the mesh to the grille using five #10 stainless steel machine screws and nuts. Obviously had to drill holes for the bolts.



I then removed the mesh to paint. I scuffed up the chrome of the bumper and applied two coats of adhesive promoting primer then three coats of universal black paint. Then re-attached the mesh using the bolts.








Ok here was the tricky part. Since this was a 98ish grille trying to fit on an 00, the clips were too big. They will not fit in the (see below) square holes inside the bumper frame.



So I used the saw to shave off all the clips and sand them down using the dremel stander.




Then I used some more machine screws with washer and wing nuts to bolt the grille into place. It wasn't easy to get my hands in there, but I tightened them securely and it worked like a charm.














Here's what it looked like once mounted






the finished product with the FJ40 emblem installed









It's not perfect, but it was my first time working with bondo, painting chrome, cutting metal, etc. I'm happy with the finished product. Been wanting to do this mod for years and glad I finally found the time.

habanero

Nice job and write-up. Your 'Yota symbol looks real good.
Weird you had to modify your mounts- they look like the ones in my 96...

The clip is still in it rather than on the grill where it's supposed to be, but there you go.

Looks like you figured out a good solution to your situation. I could be entirely wrong, but I don't remember anyone ever not have the older grille work with their newer 3rd gen.