When new, the grilles used in the 1983-86 Cougar were radically different from any other car on the road, mainly because they were rounded instead of square. They were also smaller and narrowed, and really helped drive home the point of an aero car while retaining a traditional grilled. But you may feel the urge to just do something different with the grille. These are some good tips and suggestions if you want to make your grille look a little different from everyone else's.

1983-86
The biggest problem with these grilles is that they're, well, chrome. In the late 1970's and early 1980's a big chrome square grille was all the rage. When the aero Cougar came along in 1983, the grille took the form of a "rounded square", if you will. While the overall shape and proportion definitely fits the car well, the copious amount of chrome slapped onto the grille is a bit incongruous with the rest of the front end. What to do? Well, a little paint goes a long way with helping your grille fit into the car's overall scheme better.

	This is a 1984's waterfall grille after a little painting. The outer surround and the inner main vertical bars were body color. The inside waterfall sections were done in a flat black. Notice that the MERCURY emblem was left off. This perfectly mates your grille to the body, and from a distance the effect is amazing.
	Here is roughly the same idea on the '86. In this phase just the outer part was painted body color. The chrome horizontal bars, vertical bar, and inner ring were left alone. The butcher block inside is also left stock.
	The same grille, only with the butcher block areas painted gloss black. Note how the grille perfectly compliments the blackout headlight covers.

1987-88
The classic Mercury waterfall grille fits this car perfectly. From the factory the vertical slats were painted a charcoal color on LS models and 1987 XR7's, while the 1988 XR7's had body-colored slats. A thin chrome surround is all that's needed to let you know that this is a front end that perfectly suggests the Euro look without forgetting its classy American roots. It's almost a shame to do anything with the grille, and really it's not as flexible to modify as a 1983-86 grille. Still, if you want to be different, here you go:

This viewer used aluminum diamond mesh that's popular with import cars, and simply used paper clips to attach it to the stock grille. A very cool, very simple mod that anyone can do.

Grille Preparation
If you think you'll just be able to slap some paint on your grille, think again. You really think Ford would make it that easy on you? Not a chance. The trick is that the paint must have something to which to stick. Simply rubbing sandpaper over the surface won't work well either. These grilles were either all metal, or ABS plastic with a chrome coating. Simply tap your grille to figure out what you have. With either kind you will have to sandblast the surface. If you're not familiar with sandblasting, here's the deal. You will need at least a constant 120psi, so we're talking a 5hp compressor or larger. And obviously you will need protective gear, like thick gloves, a hat, safety goggles, long-sleeved shirt, etc. If you or anyone you know cannot do this, ask a body shop to blast your grille. Sometimes they can even use beads instead of sand to blast; this is a great alternative as it won't damage the surface.

If you're going to do this yourself, read on. With all-metal grilles your task is a little easier. Blast away until the shine is gone, and you're ready for primer and/or paint. But with ABS grilles (and that's the majority of you out there), you have to be very careful. Hold the grille as far out as possible, say 2-3 feet away, when you blast. If you get too close the chrome plating will wrinkle and buckle from the heat generated by the sand, and then eventually split open to reveal the grey ABS plastic underneath. Once this happens you will have to remove the chrome from the entire surface with a pair of needlenose pliers, by hand. This usually takes about 3-4 hours and is not bloody fun. So you want to keep a coherent metal surface on the grille at all costs, or you're in for lots of extra work. The key is to simply knock down the shine of the chrome so that the grille looks like a dull metal when you're finished. No shiny spots can remain. This is now a perfect surface for the paint. If you want to primer it first, go ahead but apply lighter coats. The paint can then be applied. Although it may not seem that this is a durable solution at first, in reality it works great.

There is a chrome stripper exists that will remove this chrome plating without harming the plastic. It's available to body shops and is really expensive. Check around to see if any shops in your area offer this service, because that would save you a lot of hassle.

So what if you have to use the pliers to pull the metal off? Not a big deal; just takes time. But you are then left with a perfect plastic surface that is very receptive to paint. You should scuff up the plastic with a grey or green Scotch-Brite pad first though.

Handmade Grilles
Paint's not good enough? Welcome to the world of custom Cougar grille fabrication. If you're handy with bodywork and related materials, have a good vision of what you want, and have time to spare, then you can make your own one-off grille that will have everyone talking. Our cars are very forgiving when it comes to modifications, and the grille is a great place to show this off.

Start with some rough sketches. What do you want to accomplish with your custom grille? Do you want a classy look, a modern look, a full Euro look, or something totally new? Your decision will help determine your choice of materials. For example, you might like to have a BMW split kidney-style grille. Maybe you'd like to fab up a billet style slat grille like custom trucks and hot rods sometimes use. The sky is the limit, but in general you'll be using lots of plastic, metal, fiberglass and/or foam to create your grille.

We're not going to tell you how to make your grille. Your imagination and skill should be your guiding light. But in most instances you will start by using a stock grille as a base or shell. We would suggest shopping around at salvage yards or on eBay for a spare if you want to keep your stock one. You will usually find a great deal on a grille that is cracked a little or has a hole in the slats. Salvage yards usually sell complete front ends as a whole, but will likely sell you just the grille if it comes from a car with an otherwise trashed front end. Use this to your advantage because more than likely, a damaged grille will not affect what you're going to do with it.

One thing you may want to figure out before completion is whether or not you're going to mold the grille into the front end. The one-piece look is definitely smooth, but if you're ever in a front-end accident then you're out a custom grille completely. Weigh your options and determine what's best for your situation. A show car, summer-only car, or rare car almost deserves a molded grille. Likewise for people that live in high crime areas, so that your work doesn't get stolen! Molding the grille into the front end is not that difficult. Since the front header panel is fiberglass, you can use fiberglass resin to do this job.

A lot of times, people will also eliminate the hood ornament on 1983-86 cars. This is a good idea, although it's not as easy as it looks. Just slapping fiberglass matting underneath the hole, then filling it with resin, will result in the filler sinking within a month or two. You have to totally shave off the emblem mounting support underneath the header panel first, then use the matting and resin. This takes out almost 1/2" of filler usage in that hole and will not allow the filler to sink.

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