I do not like the grille on my 2000 Protege. The chrome strip and the drooping medallion just don't fit the car (in my opinion). Recently I was at the local U-Pull Parts and found a 2002 grille. Much to my dismay when I went to install it, it would not fit properly. THEN (after the fact) I did a Google search and, yes, confirmed it would not work.

I was ready to hang the grille on Ebay hoping to recoup my $22. The next morning the "modifier" in my decided to see what I could do:

1. I reversed the horn for clearance (lengthening the wire to do so).

2. I cut the rear support off at the 1" measurement from the edge that attaches to the radiator cradle. I also had to trim around the hood latch an equal amount.

3. I trimmed the outer tabs to fit and re-drilled the mount holes.

4. I re-drilled a new center hole in the bottom of the lower grille. You can re-dill all three holes, but I found the center support sufficient. I also found it necessary to have a (approximately) 3/16-1/4" rubber spacer under the center of the grille to get a better match with the hood line.

5. At this point I simply installed the grille with only the two upper, outer pins and a lower center pin. It would seem to work fine, but I wanted closer to the factory support.

6. The cut out support was (now) two sections. I went back and reinstalled the support I cut out to the radiator cradle. It overlapped the new grille about 1" and was raised about 5/16".

7. I drilled four holes and using plastic spacers and screws re-attached the support to the grille. Hopefully you can see the overlap, gap and screws in image #2.

8. Lastly, I stuffed foam pipe insulation in the gap created by the spacers. Anyone who works on a Protege knows how handy that area is for tools and parts. The foam helps to keep things from getting lost.

Overall I'm happy with the results. The outer edge has a slightly different taper, but it looks like it was designed that way as a separate, narrow air duct. Anyway, since it was said that "it won't fit," I thought I'd post this to say with modifications, and acceptance of some minor fitment, it does work. Oh, and BTW, I used an angle grinder with a thin disc to cut the plastic. It works much better than a saw or knife.

 

I am a owner of a 2000 protege, this mod looks great; perfectly done. I might try this out one day.

 

I didn't like the chrome either. I bought a spray can of black Plasti-dip and sprayed the chrome part black. It looks about the same as your modification as best I can tell and has held up perfectly.