Warning! "NRG" Mugen-style carbon fiber grill from eBay

[ragebomb]

Hey guys, so I took a risk and bought a Mugen-style carbon fiber grill off a seller on eBay. They sell a lot of carbon fiber stuff, and their eBay listings have some really nice photography, I thought my chances were good that the part would fit. I got it for $160 + $28 shipping. The eBay seller is "StyledJDM" in Orange County, CA. The brand is "NRG" and it's definitely made in China.

Well, the grill didn't fit.

I took the new grill to my local speedshop in Portland (Speed Concepts). They took off the bumper, removed the old grill, and determined there was no way this new grill would fit. It sits about .5" too high on either side, not to mention the top of it would require modification as well. The grill didn't even come pre-drilled.

Anyway I am writing StyledJDM, see if they'll do the right thing and give my money back. I posted some pictures in the next post.

I'll post a few more pics shortly so you can see close-ups of the rest of the grill.

[ragebomb]

Here are more pics of the grill. The carbon fiber weave was pretty good. I have to say that I'm bummed it didn't fit, it would have looked great.

The grill came with a wire mesh in silver. I removed it and painted it flat black.

The other problem with the grill is that *even if it did fit*, the surface where your red H emblem would sit is NOT flat. It is curved. So the JDM red H would not sit properly on the grill anyway. Another headache to consider.

Anyway here are the pics, I'll let you know what this eBay seller does about the problem.

[v1c10us]

All items for return must include an invoice by a professional to warrant uninstallable items
thats what it says, so have your mechanic say these parts wont fit.
They wont accept the part though cause you painted the grill black, and they have a disclaimer saying carbon fiber items may have imperfections that require modification to fit.

[ragebomb]

All items for return must include an invoice by a professional to warrant uninstallable items
thats what it says, so have your mechanic say these parts wont fit.
They wont accept the part though cause you painted the grill black, and they have a disclaimer saying carbon fiber items may have imperfections that require modification to fit.

Thanks man. Yeah, I did get a written note from the mechanic saying it didn't fit. But you are right, the painted grill gives the seller an easy out. Ugh. I believe in karma, I believe in karma, I believe in karma.... :)

[tonysi]

Wow! that sucks it don't fit. I was actually thinking about buying that same exact grill...maybe I won't now.Deffinitly let us know what the turn out is.

[v1c10us]

Thanks man. Yeah, I did get a written note from the mechanic saying it didn't fit. But you are right, the painted grill gives the seller an easy out. Ugh. I believe in karma, I believe in karma, I believe in karma.... :)

They might give you a replacement piece if you cover the shipping expenses.
it is possible that it was a bad piece.

Wow! that sucks it don't fit. I was actually thinking about buying that same exact grill...maybe I won't now.Deffinitly let us know what the turn out is.

like i said above, since these items are probably hand laid and dont use vacuum molds, etc, there is a good chance that they just messed that one up and that you could order one and have no problems.

as for the curved emblem mounting location, if you wrapped sandpaper over something hard that wouldnt conform to the shape of the grill you could sand the epoxy flat if the curvature isn't too extreme, or you could use a few layers of double sided adhesive, the foam stuff, sticking them to eachother so it could conform to the curve

[EP3_U_SEE]

Yeah they been having fake mugen grills on ebay for over a year... i think the china made ones only like 10% of them fit!

[fobman]

grille looks good though..
only if that shit fits right. damn

[kingphoenix07]

Almost any aftermarket part is going to have diffrent fitment issues variing from one car to the next.

I have this same exact(although i got mine from tunerzimage) grille installed. I am sorry to say that your body shop is pretty pathetic if they could not get this on.

As with any manufaturing there is going to be extra material on the final product...the less there is the more planned and researched the production process was.

You will need an extra person for the install. 1st remove the stock grille.
To install this grille you must trim the corners off of the backside lip on the 2 top corners(backside...not seen.). Then u must also trim about a 1/4 inch off the rest of the backside lip...this will cut down the angle at which it finally sits at. add industrial double sided foam tape to the remaining back lip.
next drill 3-4 small hole along the top of the grille.(have it resting in place on the car to avoid havig holes conflicting with other parts/holes/fastners.) have the other person help you line the grille up so the corners are even.make sure that the stock part of the grill up by the radiator support goes in to the lip on the new grill where the mesh is tacked on. in one of the holes drilled on top use a small bolt head srew to fasten it into place...lightly...cf cracks easy so be gentle. now pull backing of the exposed side of the double sided tape and lightly press down...making sure every thing is still lined up. go back up to the top of the grille and put in the remaining bolt head srews in...gently. now press down hard on the double sided tape area. and it is installed.
just remember that this grille doesn't sit the same as our and will protrude a lil...but it looks good. also remeber that no knock-off part is going to be as good as the og...expect to have to do a lil more work for the cheaper parts.

one last thing...if u use cheapo double sided tape(like me) you will have to replace it later. I wound up taking off the bumper and fastning it down with the same bolthead srews as the top...u can even use nuts and bolts down there, once the bumper is off.

[ragebomb]

Almost any aftermarket part is going to have diffrent fitment issues variing from one car to the next.

I have this same exact(although i got mine from tunerzimage) grille installed. I am sorry to say that your body shop is pretty pathetic if they could not get this on.

As with any manufaturing there is going to be extra material on the final product...the less there is the more planned and researched the production process was.

You will need an extra person for the install. 1st remove the stock grille.
To install this grille you must trim the corners off of the backside lip on the 2 top corners(backside...not seen.). Then u must also trim about a 1/4 inch off the rest of the backside lip...this will cut down the angle at which it finally sits at. add industrial double sided foam tape to the remaining back lip.
next drill 3-4 small hole along the top of the grille.(have it resting in place on the car to avoid havig holes conflicting with other parts/holes/fastners.) have the other person help you line the grille up so the corners are even.make sure that the stock part of the grill up by the radiator support goes in to the lip on the new grill where the mesh is tacked on. in one of the holes drilled on top use a small bolt head srew to fasten it into place...lightly...cf cracks easy so be gentle. now pull backing of the exposed side of the double sided tape and lightly press down...making sure every thing is still lined up. go back up to the top of the grille and put in the remaining bolt head srews in...gently. now press down hard on the double sided tape area. and it is installed.
just remember that this grille doesn't sit the same as our and will protrude a lil...but it looks good. also remeber that no knock-off part is going to be as good as the og...expect to have to do a lil more work for the cheaper parts.

one last thing...if u use cheapo double sided tape(like me) you will have to replace it later. I wound up taking off the bumper and fastning it down with the same bolthead srews as the top...u can even use nuts and bolts down there, once the bumper is off.

This is great advice, thanks dude.

Ok, so I have already sent the grill back to the eBay seller. They were really cool about the return, gave me back a full refund, including the cost to ship back to them. So they were totally cool about it.

[maconperformanc]

i wanted to order this one..... crap!

[eptwah]

Im afraid to buy stuff off ebay. ebay is the devil sometimes. I bought some lugs off ebay like 2 years ago and they looked like they were made out of coke cans. I guess ebay is a hit or miss basis

[jubaque]

i bought mine from usashowstopper
i think it is almost the same with yours , but i managed to fit it with minor mod...
about the logo, yeah it is not flat, just bend a little bit of the logo and tadaaa....nicely fit!
the logo should be smaller if u wanna use on the mugen grill (check the original mugen grill, see the emblem slightly smaller than jdm logo?)


btw here some pic, good luck with your refund.... the seller was so nice...hard to find those honest sellers


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_O20icFg0DW...0/IMG_2557.JPG

[02ep3413]

EBay is a way to go for minor parts. better off finding stuff on here, ive gotten a lot of my stuff from corsport

[SinisterCivicSi]

stickied


i hate to see hatchers get jipped. sorry to hear bud, its a beautiful grill, but its no good when you cant get it on the car.