Well i've decided that I am going to mesh out my lower bumper grill with a 1/4" stainless steel mesh. I've gone with this size because it is not too small but not too large either. It will give it a nice little sporty look which will also lighten up the color of my car a bit.

Let me know what ya'll think about this... and I'm thinking about doing this over my spring break which is in a few weeks. But thought i'd fill you in now on my plans for the near future. I'm not buying a kit... i'm buying a big slap of mesh and cutting it myself... costs less to do that and its just something for me to do when i'm bored. (good temporary hobby)!

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thats not bad. how much for the stainless steel mesh? did you upgrade the top grill as well to be mesh, or is it the stock one still.

 

i'm still contemplating the top grille for now... i'll see what happens once i get this project underway. I might be getting a new grille insert if I do the meshing in that particular area. I feel it may look a little awkward if I meshed it now witht that mazda symbol there. Might get crap like leaves and other crap in that area and make it look bad if I do it the way i'm thinking of. Mesh wouldnt look to nice slapped right behind that mazda symbol (it would have to sit back a bit to make it look nice.

 

I did this on my Mazda3. A large diameter socket works good to round the long edges and a golf ball works pretty good in the corners. Work the edges over a little at a time.

I didn't get mine attached very well and it came loose. I'm going to drill some holes through the tabs that are in the bumper that hold in the stock mesh insert and use stainless safety wire to attach around the perimeter.



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that looks really nice on there, especially against the color of your car. one question for you, did you originally have the fog lights and remove them, or did you remove the fake grill pieces. if you removed the fake grill's, how did you do that. i would like to remove the one on drivers side.

 

well done job sstlaure... I could not have done any better. I'm going to look over my bumper a bit and find the best way to mount the mesh. That mesh you put on your car makes it look real nice!

 

sstlaure
I was contemplating on doing the mesh, and you just made up my mind. I will be doing it in a few weeks as it gets nicer. Looks really good on your car.

 

very nice look on that car
good job

 

I do find the fog light piece (seems aluminium) very sweet ! Is it after-market ?

 

The silver pieces are actually painted that way from the factory. I have the factory aftermarket front fascia extension (whole body kit actually) for the 3i model. The silver paint is the same as on my wheels so I think they compliment each other. The lower extension fits right over the stock 3i bumper. Fit/finish paint match is excellent.

The plastic grilles that are in place on the Mazda3/6 hold in with small clips (the hole is on the black part and the clip is molded into the fascia.) I believe that you squeeze the clips into the close-out panel to pop them out. The center close-out also has a couple of screws.

Like I said, my mesh fell out (I still have it), so I can take pics of the empty hole if anyone want to see what these clips look like.

Oh yeah, thanks for the compliments