TrevorS

iTrader: (1)

How does this look to you? Good? Bad? Indifferent?

My original thinking was to powder coat this upper grill flat black, but I'm thinking maybe it works as is -- not yet decided. I realize I still have to correct some bar spacing at the upper left and the right side camera angle makes the grill look offset to the left, but I'm really interested in getting you guys thoughts -- ignoring those two items.

Would it be best as is, as OE, powder coated flat black, or powder coated satin black? The only thing I'm sure of at the moment is I prefer it without the "SCION" badge !

Thanks -- Trevor

Big_Bird

I'm really not feeling it at all, but that's just me.

TrevorS

iTrader: (1)

Fair enough response, thanks dude !

Jay Blaze

JMO Trev, i had a billet grille just like this on my Galant and I did the black powder coat... to be honest it looks just like our lower grille now.... if thats what you wanna go for then by all means but you prob just better off blacking out the Scion emblem on the OE grille and putting it back on just cause the billet in black is only gonna make the front area look open...but like I said man just my $.02

TrevorS

iTrader: (1)

Thanks man ! I'm finding it tough. I'm not really ecstatic about the design of the OE grill, though it's certainly servicable and I'd never complain about it. However, I'd really like to replace it with something I like better, but the question is what?

I like being rid of the center "SCION" badge (kinda like a bulls-eye ) but I'm trying to decide if the aluminum facing is good or bad. In a way, it takes the original badge silver and both spreads it out and dilutes it -- to me, making it less obnoxious (?). I'm finding the upper grill silver low key, as in laid back, and yet it still provides an accent relative to the flat black side and lower grills.

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to do this with both the upper and lower grills (let alone the side grills), but I'm thinking it might actually work for the upper grill only.

Well, just my thinking !

Jay Blaze

hmmmm I hear ya.... its a tough choice bro, since our options are not much for grilles.... unless you go for a custom mesh grille in black..... hmmm now that I look at it blacking it out may just serve you well cause it will flush well with the lower grille.... top it off with the black bumper overlay and it will def look hella nicer!!

TrevorS

iTrader: (1)

Thanks dude ! I appreciate you taking the time!

shortbusxb

Anything is better than stock. Those eyelids are the sex!!!

superwhitecoke

that looks dope imo

Nesta

I got the same problem and same eyelids, heck I think it would look great powder coated black with a red TRD emblem.
Love my white box but I need to cut it with some other color.

Nesta

CSUnited14

i hate billet grille but man i like that for some reason but i would prob prefer it in black.. i like it on your xb :D

Murphys_Law

iTrader: (3)

if you black it you need black wheels and tails, but get the lower grill as well either way, i like it like it is

AndreyCo

Looks good now. If you paint it black it will disappear and you will have wasted money on something that is no longer visible.

Century

ok, first of all the billet grille + eyelids look SEXY. Definitely feeling it PLUS my SW is white as well. I definitely want to do this myself. BTW...why haven't you changed the bottom grill to billet as well? (you know, the one with the foglights...) You should do that one as well, I am sure they make it.

One more thing. I've seen a picture of an xB with the original grille BUT instead of having the "scion" logo in the middle, they removed it and replaced it with the "xB" logo from the rear door. Now, instead of aplying the new badge right on the middle, they located it on the bottom driver's side. I think that would look incredible, either on the stock or billet.

TrevorS

iTrader: (1)

Thanks guys -- I'm wondering if there may actually be something working with the staggered silver line of the headlights and grill. I think the eyelids are helping that.

I'm not sure about adding silver at the bottom as well, will probably have to live with this a little and see how I feel about them. I recently removed the xB from the rear and I'm liking the cleaner look. Now the front's finally off, I'm not in any hurry to rebadge it, though it's certainly an interesting idea !

My original intent was to replace the OE grill with OE color horizontal bars and eliminate the badge. I'm definitely prefering having bars on both grills and losing the badge. However, I need to be careful about the color -- the grill looks much more subdued than I anticipated, and that works for me. That bit of silver just could be the right "other" color for me.

Thanks much guys To be honest, I really didn't buy billet to have billet, it was just all I could find that seemed to offer what I wanted (and I don't mean the color). I would have been happy to go with black plastic, though I'm now thinking maybe it's just as well I did go billet. Got to think more about the lower grill, even if I stay silver on the upper, not sure about doing the same on the lower. I could probably try playing PhotoShop games and see how it would look.

RC-PILOT

Try a photo shop of the grill in white and see what it looks like. I like the look as is, but it's your B, and it doesn't matter what we think. I have the Red RS6 and everything on it is black. I like white & chrome, I also like mono color done well.

nodsetse

I think it looks great the way it is now, but not alone, it definitely needs a matching lower grille.

TrevorS

iTrader: (1)

True, it doesn't strictly matter how others feel, and if I was clear on what I felt looked best, I wouldn't have asked for other's thoughts.

However, I'm undecided and others sharing their thoughts can be helpful. It doesn't mean I'll necessarily agree, but they can provide alternative perspectives as well as additional ideas that might appeal to me. Further, most people enjoy polls and the results can be interesting, but again, the "winner" won't necessarily be what I run with !

In any case, thanks for your input and feel free to log your preference, I'm guessing of the available options, the first might come closest. As I mentioned above, I was also steering black (flat black), but I'm not so sure anymore regarding this grill.

TrevorS

iTrader: (1)

OK, looks like I definitely need to do a PhotoShop.

Here it is (imperfect, but shows the idea):



PS. Just checked the vendor's site. They have a lower billet grill, but not compatible with fogs. It's a bolt over that would have to be cut to fit. Seems to me the silver look could also be achieved by simply painting the OE lower grill faces silver, though there would be fewer bars.

TrevorS

iTrader: (1)

Just hunted for the TRD badge. Here's what's currently available from Toyota/TRD:



And here is the out of production badge I think you're referring to:



I tried positioning my removed xB badge on the lower right of the upper grill, but somehow, it just occurred to me as adding clutter -- I even considered painting it red. At least for now, I think I prefer the nose badgeless. But again, thanks for the suggestion.