Nice looking grilles just aren't available for the B6 Passat. You can have the standard black plastic slats in the chrome surround (boring), the 'sport' chrome slats (horrible) or the R-line grille. Now the R-line is obviously the best option after market, but it's still not what I would call a really good looking sporty grille. Plus it's far too expensive.
So, do I buy an aftermarket badgeless grille? Nope, I hate them.
My only option then was to make my own...
I started with a really cheap one I found on eBay. Someone had sprayed it black already but had made a disgraceful job and wouldn't therefore fit it to their car :
![Image](http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss335/garthfred/Passat/grille_3%2011_zpsmxbxbfcr.jpg)
My first job was to hack a couple of the slats out
Then I had to fibreglass the gaps and nitromorse the whole thing to remove the awful paint job
![Image](http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss335/garthfred/Passat/DSC_1003_zpsvi1qqeog.jpg)
Then fill the rough bits out :
![Image](http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss335/garthfred/Passat/DSC_1020_zpsqbituguq.jpg)
I sprayed the thing in filler primer to smooth it :
![Image](http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss335/garthfred/Passat/DSC_1021_zpsl8g7cmbo.jpg)
Once that was sprayed matt black, I fitted some mesh to the open areas:
![Image](http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss335/garthfred/Passat/DSC_1026_zpsijwtwo6x.jpg)
![Image](http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss335/garthfred/Passat/DSC_1027_zpsxheiabna.jpg)
Then I sprayed the chrome surround graphite grey metallic as I hate the chrome and didn't want black as my car is black.
Once it was all assembled, it looked pretty nice in my opinion :
![Image](http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss335/garthfred/Passat/DSC_1028_zpsb7zyyy68.jpg)
So now I've gone from this :
![Image](http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss335/garthfred/Passat/DSC_1016_zps52pa7ill.jpg)
And trial fitted the new one
![Image](http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss335/garthfred/Passat/DSC_1029_zps9xr8kyj5.jpg)
Once it gets light outside, I'll fit it properly.
Any opinions on it?