Salth2o

Ok first of all a big thanks to Kenny at Cobalt-addiction.com. I LOVE the way the top looks, and can't wait to put the bottom in next weekend.

Also this is my first how to so bear with me.

Ok for the first step is to locate the rivets that keep the plastic shroud that covers the core support. These are marked with the red arrows Remove all of these and save them as you will need to put them back in later. Also you can take out the front 2 rubber hood stops now.



Take all of these out by pulling the center part up, then gently pry the clip out of the whole.



Next you are going to remove 2 plastic screws from the backside of the stock grill. They are located about headlight height, and almost look more like a hex head then phillips, a phillips screwdriver will remove them.



This is what they look like when removed.



Next you need to remove the stock Chevy emblem. by removing the 2 10mm nuts from the backside of the emblem



Now you have to release the stock grille from the plastic clips holding it in place. These will be the color of your car, and you can see them by gently pulling the shroud up.



The grill is going to push in towards the engine to release. Took a little coaxing, but finally you will get it free, and it will slide back and you will be able to remove it.





Now you are going to do some cutting. Take the stock grill out and trace lines (I used red) where I have shown you. You are going to cut the lower portion of the grill away from the shroud at this point.



Now start cutting. I found it easiest to use a dremmel, but use whatever suites your fancy.



Also for the back part it was easiest to cut from the back side, and then you just cut the little bars that connect the 2 pieces.



Pretty soon you will have this completly cut away like this.





Now you have to sand all the cuts smooth so the look good and mount flush. I used a file and it worked really good.

Now you have your shroud completely cut away from your old yucky grille. Set it aside as you are done working on it for now.



Now locate the two outer tabs I have shown in red. Draw a straight line and cut these off so they do not get in the way of your new cool grille.




Soon they will look like this.

Salth2o

Now you are going to cut some notches in the 2 outer tabs on the bottom section of the grille These are shown with the red arrows.



Cut your notches to look like this. This will make room for the "L" brackets later.



Now take the billet grille and attach the u clips to the "L" bracket as shown, then attach the bracket to the grille by screwing from the front side of the grille in. This is kindof a pain in the ass, but the only way I could figure it to look right.



Ok now fit the grill into the car, and look where the holes on the "L" bracket line up with the notched out tabs on the lower section. Take a pen and mark these spots, then remove the grille.







Now using a 3/16" drill bit drill holes in the spots you just marked on the notched out tabs. Once the holes are drilled take a u clip and slide it over the hole you just drilled.



Now attach the billet grille to the car on the lower brackets you just set up for.



Next you are going to re-attach the Chevy bow-tie (if you want to). The catch is when you took the plastic grille off there were some spacers molded into it. To re-attach it now you have to use something for spacers to get the bolts to thread. I used a couple of nuts. This part is a total pain in the ass becuase there is not much room to work in there.



Ok so now you are mounted on the bottom. Make sure your brackets for the top look like this, and were attached the same way as the bottom ones were.



Now refit the plastic shroud onto the car. Go ahead and put a few of the rivets in to hold the piece in place while you work. Now reach down through the hood release opening and feel for the bracket. Take a pen or whatever and mark these holes on the bottom of the shroud. Now take the shroud back out and find the spots you marked. Using the 3/16" bit drill holes on the marked spots. Now re-attach the shroud (hopefully for the last time). Take some screws and screw down through the shroud, into the bracket, that you already put a u-clip on. When you are done it should look like this.




Ok so now you are done!!!! It should look like this.



Also have to give credit to my helper....



I will post some pics of it outside tomorrow, and give you an idea of what it will look like with the bottom installed. I will do this next week. Again a big thanks to Kenny and the crew at Cobalt addiction for providing such a kick ass high quality product.

Salth2o

Ok so here are some additional pics....hope you all enjoy and ask if you have any questions.




Close up





And what it will look like when I install the lower grille next week. It is just set in there now for your viewing pleasure.



I hope you all enjoy cause this took a while to upload all the pics.

Doc

that looks pretty good, thanks for taking the time to write this up.

RaineMan

Looks good... 'bout the same as installing a billet grille in any other vehicle... I'm waiting on black ones for mine...

Salth2o

Well I had never done one before so I am certain that there are others in my position. Besides, I looked and looked and looked and could not find a single picture of this grille installed on a car.

RaineMan

Oh I'm not downing your how-to at all... it's top notch. I was just making a general statement that the procedure seems to be about the same. As far as the look... yes, there are very few pics out there.

DanJHartman

damn that looks good with your yellow...wonder how it would look on Vic. Red

CobaltDude81

that looks freaking hott!

97CIVIC

Looks Good!

Newt_177

Definatly Looks Great...Good Write Up Too...My Silverado Has Them...Cobalt Is Gonna Have To Match...

Nuclear

good write up man

Salth2o

Just so you know the only part that looks high polished is the very front of the grille. The flat parts are black....if that makes any sense.

player_1

nice job, thanks for the write up, I'm just not a fan of the high polished look in general, but it looks sweet.

question, is the new top grille one single piece or is it two pieces?

Salth2o

One single piece. It really does not look super high polished in person. However to each their own.

player_1

only problem is I bought the first grill that was available last year, from Mr. Grill, but he only made one for the bottom, and I've been thinking about buying the material and making one for the top.
if you have a picture of the just the top grill it would greatly help me.
unfortunately I can't just get the CA grill because they wouldn't match.
the CA grill is polished, and mines brushed aluminum, and mine is denser.

Cobalt-Addiction

You can buy the polished upper grill , then just use some brillo pads or some fine sand paper and make it look the brushed aluminum . We use scotch brite pads to achieve this look on other items. Also you can paint the polished any color you want . We have used the candy coat paint that is sold at local autoparts stores to give an added anodized type look to the grills in red or blue colors as well as a black which makes it look like an anodized gun metal . There are alot of options if you have some creativity.

Excellent write up by the way and great pictures. The pictures for install aent very clear in the instruction print outs that coem with the grill. This will be a great help for people

player_1

True I could just sand the polished sections, but the biggest issue is still the spacing, between each blade.

the one I have is about 1/4" thick, and has 3/8" spacing, it looks like it's packed tighter.
I'm not sure they'll look good together

Salth2o

My pleasure for the write up....thanks for the great parts.

PLayer 1 Sorry I did not take any pictures of the grille before I put it in. But if you go to the CA website (http://cobalt-addiction.com/exterior.htm) you can look at it on there. Go to the one that is named CW Billet Polished "UPPER" Bumper Grill. Hope that helps. You may think about getting rid of the Mr. Grille one and getting a set of this instead. In my searching the Mr. Grille ones are pretty cheap and would not be to much of a loss.

Salth2o

bottom grille now permantly attached and getting tons of compliments. The chevy dealer actually called me the other day to ask where I got it so they can do it to one of their cars.

xspyder85x

im doing this today, finally!!

KindredX

DanJHartman - I know this is an old post, but you asked what it would look like on a Vic Red SS/SC. Here you go -

Salth2o

Looks good! I love it on my car and get lots of comments on it. I was in Detroit last weekend for the dream cruise and a GM guy asked me about it and commented on how great it looked, and should be done that way from the factory.

Salth2o

Bavoose,
I just looked again and I am not sure what you are asking. Which screws on the back side?

red_wing_2121

Man, that looks real good on the yellow! I think I may get one pretty soon