Hi Guys,

I'm thinking of getting rid of the stock lancer 03 grill and get a ralliart one. But since I've no experience in any kind of mods specially paint, I need your suggestions as to which one should I go with:

1. RA grill w/ RA emblem shipped painted from japanparts.com: $215+customs duty

2. RA grill w/o emblem shipped from HK (seller is C-mod) (not painted): $150+customs duty+paint cost+mitsu emblem

3. Accolade grill w/o any emblem (not painted): $125+shipping+paint cost+mitsu emblem

Now, painting is the thing that I've never done. Is that easy enough for a starter. Should I get a painted one from Japan or should I get it painted in a body-shop/try it myself (how much will the painting cost in either case).

If all of these turn out to be costing similar, I may get it from Japan.

For that matter, has anyone of you seen a RA grill with mitsu emblem. It may not be a bad option.

Thanks,
PST

 

#1.

 

So, do you mean it'll cost similar in the end? I'd prefer #1 but I'm constrained on the budget so exploring other options.

 

I personally think RRMs carbon fiber evo grille for the 02-03 lancer is the way to go. Its pretty nice and requires no paint. Its not a ralliart grille but I dont much care for the ralliart grilles myself. No worries about customs either.

 

Buy a Ralliart grill pre-painted, it looks OEM and fits like OEM.

 

I'd prefer to custom match the paint, that's y the confusion. How is Accolade's grill diff from RRM, material? coz the look are the same IMO.

 

Why? The Ralliart grill comes in all the OEM colors and will be a perfect match, assuming you have an OEM color. I'll say this, I had the Ralliart grill and another grill and nothing fit as well as the Ralliart grill. It was one of the few mods I didn't regret.

 

Yes they are the same. I just suggested RRM as they have a carbon fiber version which requires no paint and I think it looks clean as hell. I thought you were talking about the Ralliart grill that looks just like the accolade and RRM ones but has the bar that goes through the middle that says ralliart. I personally think those are not attractive. It was just a suggestion.

 

I assume this is the grill

 

Oops, my bad. That was for imalancerman. Yeah, I was talking about the one with the bar in the middle. I think the RRM and Accolade ones have at least one difference compared to RA grill from japanparts.com, the upper horizontal portion of the grill blends much smoothly with the hood. Not sure if you noticed that. The RA grill w/o the middle bar from c-mod (Hong-Kong) is another option as I mentioned but I'm worried about the painting costs. ANy idea?

 

what about this grill?

 

Buy OEM, trust me on that one. No other parts will fit as good as OEM. I had one of the other grills you mention and it didn't fit that well and the CF was fading.

 

Ya I noticed but I think accolade and RRMs grilles are designed that way. Not sure why but it seems like they added the extra lip up top for I guess what would be customization purposes. I dunno, just not a fan of the ralliart. And the ebay grilles are cheapy piles that should all be burned and dont fit worth a damn. I bought one off of a wrecked lancer for 20 bucks and got it home and it was nowhere near fitting. Good thing your looking to buy quality.

 

Eh, it looks a little too close to stock for me, but its still nice. I just dont like the bar through the middle on the ralliart ones, but if they come with other options, by all means that would be the way to go.

 

not bad, I've an idea in mind of putting the mitsu emblem like this on the OEM RA grill. not sure if someone has tried it.

where would you get this one btw? and how much?