Updating (backdating?) the TJ grille

A front view I forgot to post yesterday.

MasterTest1f.jpg


I did the mockup with factory fenders because I want to make sure the grille is going to work properly and look good with those fenders, but flat fenders will complete the MB/GPW look. I shot a quick coat of olive drab on my fiberglass MG/GPW style TJ flat fenders, as soon as the paint is hardened up well I'll install them.

MBGPWFendersPainted.jpg
 
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jscherb said:
A front view I forgot to post yesterday.

View attachment 220122

I did the mockup with factory fenders because I want to make sure the grille is going to work properly and look good with those fenders, but flat fenders will complete the MB/GPW look. I shot a quick coat of olive drab on my fiberglass MG/GPW style TJ flat fenders, as soon as the paint is hardened up well I'll install them.

View attachment 220123
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As always, art.
 
This morning I bolted up the flat fenders.

MasterTest2b.jpg


Since I painted the fenders yesterday, I only had to colorize the hood in these next photos.

MasterTest2c1.jpg


MasterTest2c2.jpg


MasterTest2c3.jpg


MasterTest2c4(1).jpg


There actually was a real reason for doing these mockups besides seeing what the final product might look like, I had to take a few measurements that I needed for finishing the mold master accurately.
 
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Does somebody produce those flat fenders for you? I know you don't sell your ideas, but does another company make them for sale? In NY I need full tire coverage and it seems most aftermarket fenders do not come out far enough for me. The Rubicon flares on stock fenders is about an inch narrow, but likley to not get me a ticket. Other flat fenders don't go out that far, or they get close by tracking on another bump-out piece which I find less than flattering to the TJ.
 
Goatman said:
Does somebody produce those flat fenders for you? I know you don't sell your ideas, but does another company make them for sale? In NY I need full tire coverage and it seems most aftermarket fenders do not come out far enough for me. The Rubicon flares on stock fenders is about an inch narrow, but likley to not get me a ticket. Other flat fenders don't go out that far, or they get close by tracking on another bump-out piece which I find less than flattering to the TJ.
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I designed these fenders with those laws in mind, they've got the same coverage as factory Rubicon flares.

The back story on these: a few years ago I met Tom Troll through my association with SEMA, Tom was one of the founders and the president of Kentrol. We became friendly and one time when I was visiting his facility in Ohio and looking over their fiberglass operation I suggested that MB/GPW-style flat fenders should do well in the TJ market. He agreed and I left that day with a pair of fiberglass MB/GPW fenders and TJ inner fenders - he gave them to me to use as a starting point for this project. I cut, spliced, resized the MB/GPW fiberglass fenders and adapted them to the TJ with the results you've seen in the photos above. I delivered the mold masters to Kentrol and they started work on production molds. While that work was in progress, Tom decided to retire and sell the company and as part of that he shut down the fiberglass operation (I gather that part of the company was no longer profitable). He apologized to me and returned my original parts. No hard feelings on either side, Tom is a great guy and I really enjoyed knowing him.

Anyway, since then I've done nothing with these fenders except use them on various mockups like this.

If a company/person was interested in putting them into production I'd be happy to discuss it with them.

BTW I also did a JK/JKU version and I've been running those on my JKU for several years (shown here also with the JL-style grille I did for the JK/JKU)...

Final7_zpsibjjaurg.jpg


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Tranz Zam said:
Looks awesome!

The flat fenders do look good, but surprisingly I like it with the stock TJ fenders.
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Thank you very much! I haven't decided which fenders I like better with it yet, I really like both. Doesn't really matter though because anything that bolts up to a factory TJ will work with this grille, even something like an AEV Highline kit. And it doesn't matter anyway because I don't plan to use this grille on any of my Jeeps, it's just an art project :).
 
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jscherb said:
The lights I've got in there now are ordinary 5 3/4" sealed beams I picked up at the local parts store. There are lots of nice LEDs of that size on the market as well.

If there's interest in a group buy I'm open to that although someone would need to take the lead managing the process - I don't sell anything myself and don't want to be involved in manufacturing for sale. I'm very happy to play a consulting role in the process much like I did when I lent my Cool Cowl mold to someone last spring - they arranged with a fiberglass shop to do the production and I advised the shop on how to do the molding properly.

Speaking of lights, I plan to make the mold without turn signals the same way I did the mold for the JK Style Grille for the JK, then temporary inserts can be put in the mold to support various types and sizes of turn signal. All three of these JL Style Grilles came out of the same mold - one doesn't have any turn signals, the one at lower left has recesses for stock JK turn signals, and the one at right has recesses for smaller 2 1/2" LED turn signals. Temporary inserts were put in the mold to make the latter two grilles. In this same way I'll be able to mold these MB/GPW grilles to suit pretty much any turn signal size or type.

View attachment 214368

That's also exactly how I did the mold for the first grille in this thread - no turn signal provision in the mold but when I mold them I put temporary inserts in to support whatever turn signal are wanted.
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Did anything ever come of the Cool Cowl? My TJ has been salivating for years over that one....
 
jscherb said:
The lights I've got in there now are ordinary 5 3/4" sealed beams I picked up at the local parts store. There are lots of nice LEDs of that size on the market as well.

If there's interest in a group buy I'm open to that although someone would need to take the lead managing the process - I don't sell anything myself and don't want to be involved in manufacturing for sale. I'm very happy to play a consulting role in the process much like I did when I lent my Cool Cowl mold to someone last spring - they arranged with a fiberglass shop to do the production and I advised the shop on how to do the molding properly.

Speaking of lights, I plan to make the mold without turn signals the same way I did the mold for the JK Style Grille for the JK, then temporary inserts can be put in the mold to support various types and sizes of turn signal. All three of these JL Style Grilles came out of the same mold - one doesn't have any turn signals, the one at lower left has recesses for stock JK turn signals, and the one at right has recesses for smaller 2 1/2" LED turn signals. Temporary inserts were put in the mold to make the latter two grilles. In this same way I'll be able to mold these MB/GPW grilles to suit pretty much any turn signal size or type.

View attachment 214368

That's also exactly how I did the mold for the first grille in this thread - no turn signal provision in the mold but when I mold them I put temporary inserts in to support whatever turn signal are wanted.
Click to expand...
Did anything ever come of the Cool Cowl? My TJ has been salivating for years over that one....
 
machine000 said:
Did anything ever come of the Cool Cowl? My TJ has been salivating for years over that one....
Click to expand...
Last year someone from this forum borrowed the molds and had a fiberglass shop make about a half dozen of them for himself and some friends. Other than that, I've done nothing else with the molds.
 
I don’t know which of your TJ grills I like better. Just know that if small run of either or the cool cowl happens please let me know where to send my $$.
 
@jscherb I also would like to get my hand on one of those cool cowls ive spent time on here just reading but I finally made this account just to find you and tell you I want one lol
 
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machine000 said:
Did anything ever come of the Cool Cowl? My TJ has been salivating for years over that one....
Click to expand...
sourbluff said:
I don’t know which of your TJ grills I like better. Just know that if small run of either or the cool cowl happens please let me know where to send my $$.
Click to expand...
STXLJ said:
@jscherb I also would like to get my hand on one of those cool cowls ive spent time on here just reading but I finally made this account just to find you and tell you I want one lol
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I'll add your names to the list.
 
jscherb said:
Here's a set of factory CJ lenses posed on the new grille. They seem a little too large to me. That's partly because the slots in the new grille are larger and leave less space for turn signals than on the factory grille, although I think they also look a little large on the factroy TJ grille.

View attachment 144955

The JK ones are a good fit, and are available with clear lenses although these are smoked lenses:

View attachment 144956

But I also like the smaller LEDs I initially installed:

View attachment 144957

The good news is with the current mold I can make grilles with recesses for any of the above or smooth without any recesses for turn signals and it costs less than $25 in materials to make one so I could make a few different ones and then decide ;).
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Want to make this myself, or buy it from you, whatever works. I’ve been thinking of this since before the internet was available…
 
Raingram70 said:
Want to make this myself, or buy it from you, whatever works. I’ve been thinking of this since before the internet was available…
Click to expand...

If you wanted to do something similar yourself, installing turn signals in a TJ grille is something that many people have done and there are threads here describing the process but changing the slots to be larger and to intersect with the headlights and have the result look like it came from the factory is a much more advanced project.

As part of downsizing for my upcoming move to another state, I sold/trashed a lot of my fiberglass molds; the TJ Grille mold in question is one I sold so if any more of these grilles are to be made it would have to be done by the person who bought the mold, not by me.

I only made one complete example before getting rid of the mold, it's the red one pictured in this thread. I haven't decided what to do with it, but it's bolt-in ready so maybe someday I'll install it on my Wrangler pickup but for now it's hanging on my workshop wall.

3Grilles.jpg


PickupCompare1.jpg


This grille will be moving with me to the new house/new state and will probably hang on the garage wall there until I either decide to install it on the pickup or get rid of it.
 
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jscherb said:
If you wanted to do something similar yourself, installing turn signals in a TJ grille is something that many people have done and there are threads here describing the process but changing the slots to be larger and to intersect with the headlights and have the result look like it came from the factory is a much more advanced project.

As part of downsizing for my upcoming move to another state, I sold/trashed a lot of my fiberglass molds; the TJ Grille mold in question is one I sold so if any more of these grilles are to be made it would have to be done by the person who bought the mold, not by me.

I only made one complete example before getting rid of the mold, it's the red one pictured in this thread. I haven't decided what to do with it, but it's bolt-in ready so maybe someday I'll install it on my Wrangler pickup but for now it's hanging on my workshop wall.

View attachment 519689

View attachment 519690

This grille will be moving with me to the new house/new state and will probably hang on the garage wall there until I either decide to install it on the pickup or get rid of it.
Click to expand...

The center grille in that picture looks awfully familiar, Jeff…

🙂
 
jscherb said:
If you wanted to do something similar yourself, installing turn signals in a TJ grille is something that many people have done and there are threads here describing the process but changing the slots to be larger and to intersect with the headlights and have the result look like it came from the factory is a much more advanced project.

As part of downsizing for my upcoming move to another state, I sold/trashed a lot of my fiberglass molds; the TJ Grille mold in question is one I sold so if any more of these grilles are to be made it would have to be done by the person who bought the mold, not by me.

I only made one complete example before getting rid of the mold, it's the red one pictured in this thread. I haven't decided what to do with it, but it's bolt-in ready so maybe someday I'll install it on my Wrangler pickup but for now it's hanging on my workshop wall.



View attachment 519690

This grille will be moving with me to the new house/new state and will probably hang on the garage wall there until I either decide to install it on the pickup or get rid of it.
Click to expand...

I'm in love with that JL style TJ grill. Can you share the info as to who bought the mold?
 
Well, crap. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to start from scratch. I definitely can refer to the excellent postings to see the process, but this is something I’ve wanted to do since I bought my first 2006 TJ in 2008 and thought…. “You know……”
 
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