Fitting a Honeycomb grill with pics (LED front Indicator too)

[JohnnyType2]

I struggled to find any decent pics of the actual process of removing and fitting the honeycomb grill so i took a few of my own.

arch lining removed, the lining extends to the front of the car so you have to remove at least four fixings under the car on the engine tray (all the fixings are torx 25) before you can pull it out.  I think there are about 15 torx head fixings per arch liner. 

 

two screws that need loosening before the bumper can be dropped, i tried but failed to do this without removing the arch lining but to be honest, i spent more time swearing than it would have taken to get the wheel and arch out, if you dont have a flexi tool you will need a small ratchet as even a medium one is too bulky to get at the bolt at the front. I ended up coming down though the engine bay using a 20 torx to work the screw out.

 

Electrics must be disconnected here

 

i found it easier to drain the bottle from the connector on the headlight washer before removing the connector from the bottle.



bumper disconnected and ready to remove the grill surround



i had some help




removal of the surround is easy with the bumper off. Be careful not to damage the clips, start at the top and work along left to right, and then do the bottom as i found it was easier to work the surround off more gently.



here you can see one of the two brackets on the bumper fixing it to the body, if you open the bonnet and look down through the two large round openings at the front you can see where you use a flat head screw driver to push down on this clip and pull back to drop the bumper down.

plastic welding on the grill surround looks like this and has to be dremelled off




Dont remove too much as you will melt the reminder to fix the new grill on.

new grill popped into place... 



and the remaining plastic melted over with a soldering iron... Plastic melted over forms a strong enough bond to not need glue or any adhesive, its not pretty but its strong and solid enough not to come off. Just make sure you only dremel off enough to remove the bumper and no more.

while i had access to the headlight from the arch i removed the indicator cover with a blade and replaced the nasty orange indicator with an LED one, and used the cover kit from skoda to seal the headlight again.




the LED is coloured but no where near as strong as the original bulb. Brightness is the same or stronger i haven't had a chance to see it at night but day time definitely looks same or better.

 

the holder has a groove so the bulb can only fit in one way. 

Dont forget to test the indicator before refitting (thanks @KevC_Derby)  

here is the part number if you need the covers from skoda, they are about £7 each i think.

cover in, nice tight fit, it has an O-ring so should be moisture resistant. No drilling required as the supplied torx bolt just screws in.



not a great pic, sorry, but no more nasty orange glow in bright sunlight.



with the grill fitted, time to reverse the process... I fitted the surround back before refitting the bumper as i was able to see all the tabs seated correctly from the back.



wheel arch back in...



old grill out (and forsale)






vRS badge painted in black magic also fitted 

 

 

that's it, i don't think i would be as nervous next time as when you figure out all the fixings its fairly straight forward. Some tips would be tape up the inner wing if you are accessing the inner bumper screws from the engine as it will protect the paint on the wing if the flexi-driver rubs it. Also tape the join between the wing and bumper before you remove the bumper as it has a tendency to flip up as you pull it out if you are on your own. This should stop the wing getting damaged/scraped.

tools were 20 and 25 torx bits, flexi driver to reach the awkward bolts, large flat head screw driver to pop the two front brackets and a flat blade trim tool to remove the grill surround, dremel for the plastic welds and a soldering iron to melt them back again, other than the normal tools for removing the wheel. 

Over all for fitment i would give it 9.5/10 all the fixing points are perfect but the top of the grill just below were the front bonnet badge is, sits a few mm too low and looks as though its where the moulding was filled, you have to get up close to see it but its nothing to fret about, im just very fussy. The only thing i would worry about are the extra stones onto the radiator, but i've seen someone fit a mesh ordered from eBay which was the perfect size and looked great. I'll do a follow up when i get it.

Edited 2 April, 2018 by JohnnyType2

[KevC_Derby]

Add “Test indicators before re-assembling” 

[JohnnyType2]

(took as 'given' peeps would know that) why what happened? did you get a couple of dud LEDs? i think once you have the cover fitted you can get at it easier from the engine...?

[BATVANVRS]

On 02/04/2018 at 02:26, JohnnyType2 said:

 

vRS badge painted in black magic also fitted 

 

 

I've been looking recently at this grille from SS  really think it suits the cars & you're car much better  was kind off put off thou about removal but seeing this great guide you have put together makes me want to do it (think I will wait for the next SS sale) But looking spot on mate  me likely.

[JohnnyType2]

i'm reasonably 'handy' but if i can do it, anyone can, Its just a matter of taking your time over the two screws either side and plastic welds, grinding them out is critical. If you don't leave enough material you are looking at sikaflex/hot glue on the areas to the sides and where the welds were plus clamping it all up, and a few hours wait for drying. Its easily the best mod you could do IMHO it totally transforms the look of the car. someone sent me a link to a mesh grill that fits behind to further protect the radiator. The TSI boys might appreciate the higher airflow though.

[penguin17]

Nice work 

[KevC_Derby]

On 02/04/2018 at 12:18, JohnnyType2 said:

(took as 'given' peeps would know that) why what happened? did you get a couple of dud LEDs? i think once you have the cover fitted you can get at it easier from the engine...?

 

Yeah had dud bulbs/LEDs inverse polarity on other vehicles over the years that have been a biatch to change once all reinstalled.

[BigBute]

On ‎02‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 02:26, JohnnyType2 said:

I struggled to find any decent pics of the actual process of removing and fitting the honeycomb grill so i took a few of my own.

arch lining removed, the lining extends to the front of the car so you have to remove at least four fixings under the car on the engine tray (all the fixings are torx 25) before you can pull it out.  I think there are about 15 torx head fixings per arch liner. 

 

two screws that need loosening before the bumper can be dropped, i tried but failed to do this without removing the arch lining but to be honest, i spent more time swearing than it would have taken to get the wheel and arch out, if you dont have a flexi tool you will need a small ratchet as even a medium one is too bulky to get at the bolt at the front. I ended up coming down though the engine bay using a 20 torx to work the screw out.

 

Electrics must be disconnected here

 

i found it easier to drain the bottle from the connector on the headlight washer before removing the connector from the bottle.



bumper disconnected and ready to remove the grill surround



i had some help




removal of the surround is easy with the bumper off. Be careful not to damage the clips, start at the top and work along left to right, and then do the bottom as i found it was easier to work the surround off more gently.



here you can see one of the two brackets on the bumper fixing it to the body, if you open the bonnet and look down through the two large round openings at the front you can see where you use a flat head screw driver to push down on this clip and pull back to drop the bumper down.

plastic welding on the grill surround looks like this and has to be dremelled off




Dont remove too much as you will melt the reminder to fix the new grill on.

new grill popped into place... 



and the remaining plastic melted over with a soldering iron... Plastic melted over forms a strong enough bond to not need glue or any adhesive, its not pretty but its strong and solid enough not to come off. Just make sure you only dremel off enough to remove the bumper and no more.

while i had access to the headlight from the arch i removed the indicator cover with a blade and replaced the nasty orange indicator with an LED one, and used the cover kit from skoda to seal the headlight again.




the LED is coloured but no where near as strong as the original bulb. Brightness is the same or stronger i haven't had a chance to see it at night but day time definitely looks same or better.

 

the holder has a groove so the bulb can only fit in one way. 

Dont forget to test the indicator before refitting (thanks @KevC_Derby)  

here is the part number if you need the covers from skoda, they are about £7 each i think.

cover in, nice tight fit, it has an O-ring so should be moisture resistant. No drilling required as the supplied torx bolt just screws in.



not a great pic, sorry, but no more nasty orange glow in bright sunlight.



with the grill fitted, time to reverse the process... I fitted the surround back before refitting the bumper as i was able to see all the tabs seated correctly from the back.



wheel arch back in...



old grill out (and forsale)






vRS badge painted in black magic also fitted 

 

 

that's it, i don't think i would be as nervous next time as when you figure out all the fixings its fairly straight forward. Some tips would be tape up the inner wing if you are accessing the inner bumper screws from the engine as it will protect the paint on the wing if the flexi-driver rubs it. Also tape the join between the wing and bumper before you remove the bumper as it has a tendency to flip up as you pull it out if you are on your own. This should stop the wing getting damaged/scraped.

tools were 20 and 25 torx bits, flexi driver to reach the awkward bolts, large flat head screw driver to pop the two front brackets and a flat blade trim tool to remove the grill surround, dremel for the plastic welds and a soldering iron to melt them back again, other than the normal tools for removing the wheel. 

Over all for fitment i would give it 9.5/10 all the fixing points are perfect but the top of the grill just below were the front bonnet badge is, sits a few mm too low and looks as though its where the moulding was filled, you have to get up close to see it but its nothing to fret about, im just very fussy. The only thing i would worry about are the extra stones onto the radiator, but i've seen someone fit a mesh ordered from eBay which was the perfect size and looked great. I'll do a follow up when i get it.

 

[PurtonVRS]

Cracking job on this mate and perfect for those of us who haven't done it yet! Where did you get the led indicator bulb? Figure if I'm going to have the bumper off I may as well swap it out! How does the bulb compare to the original? Noticed you said you hadn't seen it at night at the time.

[Vilho]

Hey, is the upper grille the same size in rs octavia and normal octavia?

[JohnnyType2]

On 24/07/2019 at 22:59, PurtonVRS said:

Cracking job on this mate and perfect for those of us who haven't done it yet! Where did you get the led indicator bulb? Figure if I'm going to have the bumper off I may as well swap it out! How does the bulb compare to the original? Noticed you said you hadn't seen it at night at the time.

its a good bit brighter

 

On 13/08/2019 at 05:34, Vilho said:

Hey, is the upper grille the same size in rs octavia and normal octavia?

 

yes 

[Noms]

Changing the front grill is something I would love to do.

I'm a little concerned that the size of the 'honeycombs' may let in small stones whilst driving. I guess because the same thing happened to my BMW 5 Series resulting in requiring a new AC compressor.

Should I be worried?

 

Also, I've noticed that a UK company is also selling them: https://www.undergroundparts.co.uk/collections/all-skoda-parts/products/skoda-octavia-2013-2017-honeycomb-mesh-gloss-black-sport-front-radiator-grille

Does anyone have any experience with them?
I'm also a little concerned that I'll get hit with a huge duty bill if I order from SuperSkoda.

Thanks.

[craig24]

Is that an aftermarket badge? Just wondering how you fit it to the honeycomb grill, struggling as I don’t want to take the bumper off.

[JohnnyType2]

On 23/12/2022 at 16:57, craig24 said:

Is that an aftermarket badge? Just wondering how you fit it to the honeycomb grill, struggling as I don’t want to take the bumper off.

yes theres a badge type with bars at the back that grip to the honeycomb, kind of like T shaped dry wall fittings, you can get these on ebay 

[craig24]

8 minutes ago, JohnnyType2 said:

yes theres a badge type with bars at the back that grip to the honeycomb, kind of like T shaped dry wall fittings, you can get these on ebay 

thanks mate, easy enough to fit with the grill in place?

[JohnnyType2]

29 minutes ago, craig24 said:

thanks mate, easy enough to fit with the grill in place?

 

yes even with my fat fingers   

its fixed with 6mm nut

[ArranS]

I've used your guide today to replace my broken grill. I went with a standard looking one, you can't actually buy the original grill on its own from Skoda on its own, you have to buy the whole bumper, I was told. Anyway, good guide and thanks, I didn't read far enough down the page to see the part about releasing the 2 tabs at the back of the grill from the hole on top of it, so I was a bit confused at first. The left side came off with just a pull, but the right wouldn't budge. I found out later it was because as well as the other parts of the grill, the left tab was snapped and just fell off when I took the bumper off. 

 

Really worrying trying to plastic weld the new grill in place, I also used some JB Weld plastic bonder on them to fill in the gaps. Looks like nothing ever happened now, also used the JB Weld to stick the vrs badge back on too. 

[TheJooooosh]

Would be possible, or has anyone managed to change the grill without total front bumper removal. Could you access the plastic welds without totally removing the bumper? I do have quite small hands tbh so I'm just curious.