Raptor Grille? | Page 3 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Raptor Grille?

Thanks again guys. :thumbsup:

What format of files does your laser run?
The wheels are 17x9 Ballistic Outlaw with 285/70-17 Falken Wildpeak AT

Not sure I will check it out and get back to you. What kind of material did you use and what thickness?
 



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Not sure I will check it out and get back to you. What kind of material did you use and what thickness?

.090 aluminum for the main grille and .125 aluminum on the letters.
 






VERY nicely done sir!
 






I think it'd look great with what I want to do with my hood:
image-2008343080_zps7ef47a83.jpg

Yesssssssssss
 






Man that grille is amazing. It looks like you could waterjet all of the pieces. I plan on trying to make this when i get back from Afghanistan next month. How did you end up mounting it?
 






Man that grille is amazing. It looks like you could waterjet all of the pieces. I plan on trying to make this when i get back from Afghanistan next month. How did you end up mounting it?


Thanks and thank you for your service.

On the sides I cut some .090 aluminum at 9"x2.5" and matched the curvature of the grille and body work. I then held the bottom piece on to match the lines from the top of the bumper and bottom of the grille then held one piece and drilled a hole and repeated the process for a second hole. I was by myself, but having an extra hand would make things go smoother. I then measured the other pieces and did some math to see where the other pieces would fall in evenly then matched the bend from the hood for the top and tacked everything in. After everything was tacked in place the grille was pulled off then I finished welding things up. Keep in mind I did not bend the middle section and it will look odd. I was planning on making a support section in the middle and it worked out quiet well to push the middle out and have it match the curvature of the top and bottom.

I hope all of this made sense as I'm horrible at explaining things. I thought about how I was going to mount it for about 4 days and my final idea worked pretty well.

Welcome to the boards. :salute:
 






That is SWEET! I think I might want one!
 






That looks awesome I'd definitely buy one.
 






Nice!

I got the new grille assembled last night and sprayed it with bedliner this morning. I used VHT graphite wheel paint for the letters. There are some little final touches that I will deal with in a few. Here's how it looks at the moment.

IMAG0485-2_zps5fb32f8c.jpg

Never been so jealous! Awesome idea!!!!
 












That hood is a beast where did you find this ?

Google. I'm trying to find an auto body shop that'll do this to my hood but I'm having a hard time finding one. I only got one BS estimate and it was $3500.
 






If you ever decide to make and sell this, I would be interested. Looks great!
 






To answer this thread the the PM's I have gotten, I won't be building these grilles. They would have to be built using a vehicle to get everything lined up and if I was able to have a jig to assemble them you would still have to do cutting to remove your outer grille and I know some aren't comfortable with that idea.

I'm trying to be as honest and realistic as I can and atleast I'm not someone looking to churn a bunch of grilles out, take your money, and wish you the best of luck with the fitment.

Sorry again,
Brad
 






To answer this thread the the PM's I have gotten, I won't be building these grilles. They would have to be built using a vehicle to get everything lined up and if I was able to have a jig to assemble them you would still have to do cutting to remove your outer grille and I know some aren't comfortable with that idea.

I'm trying to be as honest and realistic as I can and atleast I'm not someone looking to churn a bunch of grilles out, take your money, and wish you the best of luck with the fitment.

Sorry again,
Brad

I have already bought an OEM-style "donor" grille for this project specifically. I'm ready to cut it up, after that piece would be made. I guess I will need to see if i can get someone with CAD experience and CNC capabilities to do what I need.

Can you at least say how you got the design from concept into finished product? I'm assuming you had to trace a real Raptor's grille, then draw it in CAD, or start in CAD from scratch? The idea would then be to shrink it to fit the size of the Explorer grille.
 






If you do decide to start selling these count me in. I would just buy a donor grill to cut up as well.
 






I got the new grille assembled last night and sprayed it with bedliner this morning. I used VHT graphite wheel paint for the letters. There are some little final touches that I will deal with in a few. Here's how it looks at the moment.

IMAG0485-2_zps5fb32f8c.jpg

Ghost pilot, great job on the custom fab job! I don't suppose you'd be willing to share the dimensions of the letters in your grill would you? I've searched and searched, and if I was to simply order the letters for a Raptor, they'd be way too wide for my truck. The F and D are 13" x 3.5", and the O and R are 9.5" x "3.5". Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thanks,
Derek
 






Wow that looks great... how is it holding out???
 






Is your explorer lifted at all or does it just have different tires?
 






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