I have the stock or standard non-Sport Design 991 front bumper cover, and the two openings for the radiators are huge! They leave the radiators open to damage from all sorts of debris. Where I live in the NE the roads are awful, and we have a lot of leaves and other stuff on the roads all the time. Yes, it is simple to just stick the nozzle of my shop vac into the opening once in a while -- but that only removes what is loose. I wanted to also protect the radiators from rock damage, and getting insect guts permanently embedded in the radiator fins.
So following are the steps I followed to create my own mesh grills...
Openings in stock bumper cover on my C4S:
I initially intended to follow the lead of fellow members SM_ATL and Jim M. and install some wire mesh from the outside - without removing the front cover. They both have great posts in the DIY section, by the way!
But as I got ready to do the install, I just knew I would not be happy without a very solid, tight, "invisible mount" or factory-look finish. Plus I just love to explore and mess with stuff, so I decided to remove the entire front bumper cover and install my grill mesh from the inside!
I ordered my wire mesh from CustomCarGrills.com. Easy to order, and I received my mesh in a couple of days. For reference, I ordered the Diamond Small Mesh, in a single 12" x 48" sheet. You can order the mesh in Black powder-coating, which adds $10-$15 dollars to the order, but I elected to order Silver. Contact me if you want a link to the product page to order for yourself.
My order arrived in a single flat box... it was well packed and protected from bending or other damage really well. Here are some pics of the package I received.
Once I had the mesh out, I measured to center, marked, and cut in half.
With the bumper cover removed, I began shaping a template to cut the mesh. I started by using some heavy gauge wire and shaped it around the opening from inside the bumper. This was a great tip from SM_ATL's DIY!
I then transfered that to cardboard
After cutting the cardboard (yes, it is a rough!!) I trimmed and test-fit to the radiator opening from inside bumper cover.
Once I was happy with the cardboard version, I transferred to the wire mesh and cut. Sorry, didn't catch a pic of this step! The initial cut was purposely larger than I needed, and then I cut to "fit" in the opening. I also wanted to make sure I had sufficient coverage for mounting points, but also not have material causing alignment issues or interference with ducting when I re-installed the front bumper cover.
Test fitting the cut mesh from inside bumper cover:
As I looked at the mesh in place, I decided to paint the mesh flat black. I had a few cans of Plastidip in the garage, and coated each mesh piece with 8 coats. I have a feeling that the paint may not hold up over time, but honestly I don't mind repainting or replacing in the future anyways...
Once the paint was cured, I then used zip-ties to loosely fix the mesh in place, then turned the cover over and took a look to make sure i didn't have any gaps visible around the edges, etc.
Once I was happy with the fit, I removed the zip ties and used heavy-gauge (like 18) coated wire to securely mount each grill. I first used industrial contact tape to hold the mesh in place, putting tape around the entire opening. This enabled me to fix the mesh in position while I mounted more securely. I then found 5-6 mounting points for each grill and tightly twist-wrapped the wire to hold the mesh in place. The mesh will NOT move, shift, and can probably even be hit really hard by a rock without doing more than bending...
Before I replaced the bumper cover, I cleaned-out the Radiator openings - my 6 month old car with 3k miles didn't have too much junk in there, but we are just entering bug season, and in the fall it gets a LOT worse when the trees begin shedding! And more importantly, you can see the radiator is getting bent quite a bit by the little debris that hits it -- including little bugs.
Right radiator:
Left radiator:
Here's a shot after i mounted:
Remounted the bumper and all other parts I had removed earlier, and took it for a test-drive (started raining at that point, so got a good water test as well!):
Next morning I tried to get a good picture, but iPhone just couldn't handle the morning sun....! But I have to say, I am very pleased with the results of this little project!
Thanks!
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