Making fog light grills

[Brandon9999]

Okay everyone,
Any input would be great. I'm looking to install abs plastic mesh in my standard non sline a4. I don't want to go and buy a new sline bumper because of the price, but because I don't have the sline bumper, the curvature is odd. There is nothing on eBay that looks like it will fit, so I thought about busying a sheet of honeycomb plastic and molding it to the covers. On a difficulty scale of 1-10 how hard would it be to construct a cover with the curvature to fit the standard a4 fog light grill. Has anyone done this?


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[L'Audi]

Are you going for "looks decent, bro" from 10ft away? or is this gonna be a more intricate job?

[miA4]

for the amount of time and money you will waste on this, you're better off looking for the s-line bumper. not to mention it will look odd.

[drewgold]

The non-Sline bumpers don't have fog grilles, it's all part of the bumper so not sure what you're trying to do? Just add mesh to the openings?

[Brandon9999]

I'm wanting to do this like the rs4 style and I found that they sold inserts for the sline grill. However the standard non sline has a different curvature and inlay then the sline grill. Here's the idea


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[Brandon9999]

Except that is a god awful price. I have a dremel and all the tools needed, it's going to be a nice job


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[Brandon9999]

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[Brandon9999]

I just have no idea how to bend a sheet to that contour, or a reasonable price of a used set maybe at a junk yard. I was thinking about possibly cutting two lives for the top and bottom of the brace. I haven't heard of anyone attempting to do this


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[Brandon9999]

This is the goal, I just need advice on how to fit that curve with that oem feel


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[Theiceman]

so you want to cut out massive slots in a standard bumper cover and fit in grills ? i think you could not finish it nicely and make it work with a profesional looking finish. go buy an sline bumper cover at a wreckers maybe ?

[jbain2]

I'm wanting to do this like the rs4 style and I found that they sold inserts for the sline grill. However the standard non sline has a different curvature and inlay then the sline grill. Here's the idea


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I don't think those fit the s-line. The dimensions are different. Think that's for the RS4 grille.

[Brandon9999]

No haha not massive slots , I'll place rhe mesh behind the guard right there. The problem is when it comes to mesh, the rs4 grills are $150 for the plastic so I thought it would be cheaper to get a sheet of abs plastic for around $20. I don't know how I would contour it into the slight bend to fit snugly inside with huge gaps on either side.


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[Brandon9999]

Without huge gaps* all I need is that 5 by 7 in piece of mesh but it's already molded. I'm trying to mold it myself to save about $100


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[1killera4]

Buy a car for a 10 thousand dollars and glue 20 dollar pieces of plastic on it. Sounds reasonable....

[Brandon9999]

Oh god, there's so much hate lol. No, I posed the pic of the modded fog lights above. Is there anyway to mold a piece of the honeycomb mesh rather than buying the rs4 fog light mesh for $150 lol. There's already tension building


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[miA4]

Man had you said something about an rs4 grilled, I would have cut my old one up and sent it out to you....

[jbain2]

I bought my car with the s-line bumper and an RS4 style front grille. I think I am going to go with Lltek. Expensive but a good match.

[Brandon9999]

Yea I'm just looking for that curved mesh from the oem rs4 fog light covers but people are asking nearly $150 for a set. I thought I could take a sheet of abs honeycomb and mold it to that same curve, but is it possible? I saw a guy molding a sheet of the plastic with a heatgun but it wasn't the honeycomb


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[Sanjman]

I'm not hating here... think it's a good idea and whoever thinks that you shouldn't attempt to DIY even though it's a "10 thousand dollar" car, is most likely unresourceful and probably don't like to get their hands dirty.

I would buy backup inserts from ebay or a junk yard and away. First thing first, it would be good to outline on a sheet of paper the area inside where the inserts go, and use that to cut the mesh. I would also use a cutters and a dremel to smooth it would. If there is a way, i'd drill small holes where as many points of the mesh can stick in to the bumper or insert. use jb weld in the areas that won't be visible to secure it.

I'd also do this and replace the front bumper grill to make it all match.

[Sanjman]

Buy a car for a 10 thousand dollars and glue 20 dollar pieces of plastic on it. Sounds reasonable....

Don't understand the sarcasm? Are you saying we should be spending more money on stuff just cuz it's a 10K car?

[1killera4]

I'm not hating here... think it's a good idea and whoever thinks that you shouldn't attempt to DIY even though it's a "10 thousand dollar" car, is most likely unresourceful and probably don't like to get their hands dirty.

LMAO...Nice assumption. I am a BSME and have been working on my own cars since 1976 when I turned 16. I still work on my own cars...but now have the luxury of not HAVING to work on my own car.

Call me crazy but an Audi is a nice car..I wouldn't buy one if you were looking to get by on the cheap. Maybe if it was a Honda or Kia I would ...just my opinion. Means nothing.

[Sanjman]

LMAO...Nice assumption. I am a BSME and have been working on my own cars since 1976 when I turned 16. I still work on my own cars...but now have the luxury of not HAVING to work on my own car.

Call me crazy but an Audi is a nice car..I wouldn't buy one if you were looking to get by on the cheap. Maybe if it was a Honda or Kia I would ...just my opinion. Means nothing.

Oh awesome! As a BSME why don't you like getting your hands dirty anymore even though you don't have to? I get anxiety giving my car to someone else to work on because a mechanic wouldn't care to perfect something as much as the owner would... and I'm surprised that as an engineer you would discourage someone from trying to build their own stuff.

[miA4]

Oh awesome! As a BSME why don't you like getting your hands dirty anymore even though you don't have to? I get anxiety giving my car to someone else to work on because a mechanic wouldn't care to perfect something as much as the owner would... and I'm surprised that as an engineer you would discourage someone from trying to build their own stuff.

I have to agree with 1killera4. I don't mind working on my car, when I can, but finding the time to dedicate to do the work is getting harder and harder. Also, my body isn't able to really take the abuse of working on my car like it did when I was 18. i'll be 32 in a couple of days and with the injuries I've had, I choose not to work on my own car anymore. I have my friend do the work at his shop. I trust him to do the work and he does a good job at a fair price.

[Hugh@EuropaParts]

I have to agree with 1killera4. I don't mind working on my car, when I can, but finding the time to dedicate to do the work is getting harder and harder. Also, my body isn't able to really take the abuse of working on my car like it did when I was 18. i'll be 32 in a couple of days and with the injuries I've had, I choose not to work on my own car anymore. I have my friend do the work at his shop. I trust him to do the work and he does a good job at a fair price.

Once you hit 30 things really do change!

[RakkCity]

Yea I'm just looking for that curved mesh from the oem rs4 fog light covers but people are asking nearly $150 for a set. I thought I could take a sheet of abs honeycomb and mold it to that same curve, but is it possible? I saw a guy molding a sheet of the plastic with a heatgun but it wasn't the honeycomb

A heatgun should do the trick, that or throw it in the oven, 200* for a few minutes at a time should be fine, just don't let it melt completely you just want it to be flexible. Then you ziptie it to the curvature you want and let it cool back down. Lots of trial and error but I think you can definitely achieve this. Not sure how well the honeycomb pattern matches the S4/RS4 honeycomb, though. You'll definitely want to replace the grill to match, amazon has some cheap honeycomb grills for $90.

[Schweini]

The whole "its an Audi" thing is so overplayed. I get both sides of the story, and agree on many aspects of either side. Its your car, do as you please. Opinions are expected, but they certainly shouldn't hold anyone back from doing what they want

That being said, OP. I used the steel grating mesh and painted it black. My FMIC piping bulges out too much to have used hard plastic. I think it looks ok. Nothing too crazy off an OEM look

[Brandon9999]

Hey thanks for all the replies everyone. Yea I did the rs6 mod for the grill, so I wanted the fog lights to match. I was going to check to make sure the honeycomb mesh was slightly smaller compared to the grill. I live in the Denver area and unfortunately I can't find many junked rs4s around here. If you can send me the pic of your mesh I'm interested in that.


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[Brandon9999]

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[Schweini]

This really isn't the greatest photo at all, but it does look better after it's all cleaned up

[Brandon9999]

Wow that looks good and would definitely be the cheapest route.


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[Schweini]

It was definitely cheap. I got the mesh from work, free. The only issue with that, is every year or so I need to touch up the paint. But that doesn't take much efforr

[BenMTL]

Subbed.

Get to work OP and let us know how it goes and what materials you used

Got a non sline front bumper so want to do something similar....

[1killera4]

Turned out good. Nice work.

[QuattriumMT6]

As much as it is hated here plastidip would work perfect for those especially if you go heavy on the coats. It's a great alternative if you dont want to constantly touch up and can take quite a beating from rocks and other road debris.

[L'Audi]

The whole "its an Audi" thing is so overplayed. I get both sides of the story, and agree on many aspects of either side. Its your car, do as you please. Opinions are expected, but they certainly shouldn't hold anyone back from doing what they want

That being said, OP. I used the steel grating mesh and painted it black. My FMIC piping bulges out too much to have used hard plastic. I think it looks ok. Nothing too crazy off an OEM look

LOL @ "It's an Audi"... You're absolutely right, IMO, an A4 is nice and all, but it's just an entry level 'sport' sedan.

[QuattriumMT6]

Honestly people hack up/modify/customize cars of higher caliber. If they have the time and money to do so I don't see why not. Otherwise a car is just a car and to an untrained eye it'll just remain as a mode of transportation. OP...your car looks really well done so far. GL with the fog grilles. Looking forward to seeing the DYI for other Audi owners. 👍🏾

[Noel Artiles]

I did it years ago. A little hard to see in the pics but you'll get the idea.





I found a flexible RS mesh on ebay, took off the bumper, cut the inserts to cover the openings, and very cleanly zip tied it to the inner bumper tabs. Looked seamless. I tried to mold it over the fogs but it looked messy.

[Sanjman]

You should see the shit after market parts for lamborghini. Shit you should see how much of a hack job majority of a Lambo interior is.

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