Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Aesthetics What to do with the Mystique grill?

Yet again my grill is pealing. The first time it happened I had the grill replaced under warranty. Now I'm out of warranty and want a permanent fix.

I was thinking about having it painted body color, but not sure how this would look. Body color is C-Red. What about a flat black?

Just wondering what you guys with a more aesthetic eye would do.

Not sure if anyone has done this or not. If you have I'd love to see pictures.

Here is a link to a pic of the grill if anyone feels like doing a photochop. click me

I'd just stip it down and paint it body color, then put mesh in where the grill is. IMHO, it'd rock.

See if Phatt Spatt of our SE MI forum can do the muratic acid process to it before you paint it body color, might save you some headaches down the road doing it right the first time By the way, where is it peeling? I always thought that grill would look good if you blacken out the actual grill and left the outer part chrome, just my .02 cents worth

IMO putting mesh where the grill is on a Mystique will look bad because the grill is slanted, and not vertical like the Contour grill. Therefore the mesh will not conform to the "rounded" look of the bumper and front of the car as a whole.

I kind of like the way the grill looks stock. Almost BMW-ish, almost....

It's the chrome trim that is pealing the center grill part is fine. Not sure how you would mesh it. It looks to be one big mold. I'm thinking it has to go one way or the other. So this weekend I'm going to body match the chrome part and see how it looks. If it doesn't work I'll just get a new one from the junkyard.

I'm thinking just a dremel tool with a sanding bit would take the chrome off. What's the deal with the acid dip?

use the muratic acid dip, it works better than sanding (i sanded, i know it was a pain in the butt and i think the acid would have done better than i did) Also i would think about painting it clearcoat black if your mistique is that dark red.

Strip it down and paint it body color. It will look like a Lincoln MarkVIII LSC grille. Then, if you need further modding, put the mesh grille behind the fins.

Check this out for an idea:

I think that will look good. Thanks guys. Now I just have to figure out how to get the damn grill off with out taking off the whole bumper.

Damn black is tempting me though.

I think the existing chrome grill ring will still look better than a body-colored ring.

BTW - Those MarkVIIIs sure put the F back in fugly.

To late. Painting has already begun. We'll see how it turns out. I'll post pictures of the results.