VIDEO: How-to DIY Prius Grill Block

[bennelson]

Hi Everyone,

The other day, Tim, (ecomodder username "Daox") stopped over and we worked on our pair of cars, which are both 2004 Toyota Prius.

We did an EV switch on mine and block heater on his, but a FULL GRILL BLOCK on both cars.

We shot some video, and this shows you how we built a lower grill block from wood blocks, screws, fender-washers, and coroplast based on Daox's original grill block. We also improved on that design and added zip ties in the corner.

Although not covered in detail, the video also shows the upper grill block made from cut and folded pipe insulation.

The next day, I also painted my lower grill block to match the body color. Since Daox's car is gray, black coroplast and gray foam blend right in without any other changes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjGXSZsfyHk

The original "how-to" notes for this grill-block method are at http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...hod-15335.html

Here's both cars after the finished grill-blocks.

[Daox]

The video turned out pretty good.

[bennelson]

I also tried painting the pipe foam upper block to match.

The red paint went on the pipe insulation fine, but flakes off easily when bending the insulation to fit it back in. Maybe if it was on over a base-coat of latex paint or something else more flexible?

I'll post a photo as soon as I have some better light.

[bennelson]

Here's the car with the painted upper grill block.

[bennelson]

Well, it's been a while since Tim and I put lower and upper grill blocks on our cars.

Since his is gray, he just stuck with the black and gray materials we were using, but I did a little painting.

Sad to say that the red paint has completely flaked off the upper grill-block pipe insulation. Not a big deal, still works great. I just really liked the way it looked in red.

The lower block, make from the black coroplast is MOSTLY still red. It has had some paint flaking, but it looks like what one might expect from road salt, pebbles, and other debris.

Mostly, I wanted to post today to say that I took the wife's Red Hymotion Prius through the car wash. We have WAY TOO MUCH salt on our roads all winter long in my area, and the entire bottom half of her car was white with salt.

I went to the "soft-scrub" car wash, which has ACTUAL GIANT BRUSHES to scrub the car (unlike the "TOUCHLESS" car-wash.)

The reason why I mention this is that the upper grill block was just fine. Even though it's just two strips of pipe insulation (no zip-ties, wire-ties, or anything else) it had no problem going through the car wash without getting yanked out.

Chalk one up to friction fitting!