Well my 3.5" thick intercooler needs a little more room so I think I'm going to take out the grill now. I trimmed the hell out of the backside of the grill so I could try and keep it. I forced the bumper back on and it's still pushing on the intercooler and actually kind of warping the R front lip. So does anybody have any good tips on cutting out the grill. I've cut alot of bumpers and grills for innercoolers but I want a nice straight edge and don't want to mess it up too bad. As ghetto as it sounds I've always had the best luck with a REALLY sharp pocket knife or even really sharp steak knives. Dremel's are OK but don't leave a very nice smooth edge.
Thanks for any info.
M



[Modified by 01ITR#700, 12:19 PM 1/3/2003]

 

dremel in my opinion. the dremel not only CUTS but can smooth over any rough edges also.

 

yup and also get a round sanding bit....definitly smooth things out.

 

i used a jigsaw. didn't come out perfectly straight, but you can't tell unless you get on your knees and really look.

 

dremel melts the **** man .
i used a saw zaw, worked great and then tried to snad it with dremel and meleted a little. all in all mine lokks good . just takes time and patience. i took the whole grill off the R all the way upto the Turn Sig brackets and took some of the brackets off , just enough for the thing to latch and hook good and then took off some of the underside of the lip so the IC would clear it , you will have 2 bolts on the underside you need to take off to get the bumper off, just take all that out between those bolts leaving those tabs on to bolt the bumper back on . . . ill see if i can take pics of mien to show you, i know im prob not as clear as i wanna be

 

I can help you do your bumper Mark. I had to trim a bit from mine too so my IC would fit. I used a combination of dremel cutting disk and a utility knife w/ good razor blade in it for finishing it up. We're working on my car tomorrow for a little while if you wanna come down and do your bumper too

Justin

 

any of you have any pics of what it looks like when you cut the bottom grill out on a 99-00 civic?

 

Use a cutting disc on a dremel or a die grinder.

 

I highly suggest a larger diameter cutoff wheel in a actual die-grinder. The dremels wheel is so short, it's difficult to maintain a straight cut.

 

Not a 99-00 but close. Old pic!

 

use the dremel man, it burns the plastic up a little, but you can go over it with sandpaper or even a razor blade after to get all the roughness straightened out

 

Jigsaw w/ a blade made for cutting plastic..had a nice clean cut....patience and planning also helps


[Modified by TurBoTeG, 12:55 PM 1/30/2003]

 

is there any holes left from where the bars are cut off on the inside of the bumper... i mean is the bumper hollow on the inside or is it a solid piece of fiberglass.

 

is yours behind the bumper support or under it.

 

what about taping over where you are going to cut. Does masking tape help reduce paint chips from the cutting device?

 

recipricating saw...