When I was checking out the 8s at my dealer, I noticed that there is a very wide and open space under the grill. (front air dam?)

Questions:

1 - Is this the case with all the US models or just the ones at this dealer?

2 - If this is standard, won't garbage (leaves, newspapers, dead animals lol) start collecting in there?

3 - Also, if this standard, isn't possible that rocks, pebbles, etc will danage the radiator or whatever is located down there?

I used to have this same problem with my Celica. Ordered a crappy mesh grill off of eBay protect the radiator. When I put it on, the radiator already had numerous dents and I also had to clear out alot of newspapers pieces, leaves and garbage from down there.

EDIT: Disregard, mis-read your post....

Protect those oil coolers!

Just back from a trip to the big city, I found the oil coolers both had lots of bugs jammed in them. The moths etc. where just debris, easily hosed away, but the bees and wasps had done damage to the little fins of the coolers - I was amazed how much damage a wasp can do, and maybe some more serious damage from a small stone...

So I fabbed up some soft nylon mesh covers - black, with 1/8th inch holes - reaches right behind the fog lights all the way into the corners of the coolers - perfect.

If you want to make these for yourself, I have done the measuring- each side takes a piece 6.75 x 10.25 inches. (bigger than they look!)

A sheet of this nylon is exactly big enough for the two coolers, and cost me 67 cents!
.
.
.
doc


EDIT - if you are interested in taking the next logical step, and protecting the huge all-aluminium radiator itself, you will need a screen 20" x 25", to stretch between the top and bottom rubber gaskets, and a few tie-wraps to hold it in place. Also done!

Doctorr thanks for the information , i too will perform this simple procedure , as my ride is yellow the bugs and bees seem to think that my car is a huge sunflower and are attracted to it .

Good work, Doc! I've already got worried about the bugs in the oil coolers, and was thinking about some sort of grille - your solution looks to be quick, easy, and effective. Off to Walmart tomorrow!

Regards,
Gordon

Originally posted by Doctorr
So I fabbed up some soft nylon mesh covers - black, with 1/8th inch holes - reaches right behind the fog lights all the way into the corners of the coolers - perfect.Be careful and watch your temp gauge.

Owners of other vehicles with similar vents (e.g.Honda S2000, Porsche Boxster, etc.) have found their cars run much hotter with mesh in place; you wouldn't think it would reduce air flow that much but it does.

Since the temp gauge measures water rather than oil temp on the RX-8, you may not even be able to tell you're reducing the efficiency of the coolers...

Looks good but will it hold. If that nylon screen is up against the coolers I bet that whatever debris flies in there will do close to the same damage. If a wasp can put a dent into the aluminum fins, I bet it can put a hole in that nylon. I guess there are only two way to test my theory. One is to go out and drive on the highway. The second is a little harder. Have the bee's and wasp's fly into the ducts at ~ 80-90 mph :D

Originally posted by BillK
Be careful and watch your temp gauge.

Owners of other vehicles with similar vents (e.g.Honda S2000, Porsche Boxster, etc.) have found their cars run much hotter with mesh in place; you wouldn't think it would reduce air flow that much but it does.


it depends on how far away the mesh is from your radiator/oil cooler (which is still a radiator)

if you could mount some kind of hard wire mesh very very close to your cooler (say, a few mm's away, less than a centimetre) then there would be nearly no appreciable loss in cooling capacity, as long as the mesh wasn't too dense (which is what causes the problem in the first place).

Originally posted by wakeech
as long as the mesh wasn't too dense (which is what causes the problem in the first place). It looks too dense to me.

---jps

You could be right, the mesh I used might be a little 'dense', I estimate the holes at about 60%.

Might be a little heavy for use in Arizona or Texas, but around here we don't have that problem!
.
.
.
doc

Originally posted by Sputnik
It looks too dense to me.

---jps

i agree (my statement wasn't judging *****'s choice, and i didn't wanna be the first to say)

Originally posted by Doctorr
Tracked it to the 'craft/sewing' section of Walmart

Just got back from Walmart - got 'em! Craft section, as noted - they're described as QuickCount Plastic Canvas, 7 mesh. Looks like they're for needlepoint, etc. They're not as soft as a nylon window screen, a bit more heavy duty - the bugs won't be denting the rad fins through this. Available in different colours, too! ;)

I'm gonna go cut one and try them out right now!

Regards,
Gordon

Hery Docv. Thanks for the tip. Will these also work for Armadillos here in Texas? Thanks.

;)

I haven't used the stuff myself, but you can get high-quality mesh for grill screens in sheets from this guy:

http://www.customcargrills.com/

And, yes, this is different stuff than what they sell at Lowes for gutters...similar in appearance, but stronger and better weather proofing.

OTOH...I guarantee that cheapo aluminum Gutter Guard would look better than what you're using here...and protect better, too. Just make sure you get the aluminum kind and not the galvanized steel kind, unless you're also going to spray paint them with Rust-oleum...

Originally posted by Doctorr
Protect those oil coolers!

Tracked it to the 'craft/sewing' section of Walmart (please don't ask what I was doing there!)

A sheet of this nylon is exactly big enough for the two coolers, and cost me 67 cents!


Hey thanks. Looked at my coolers and noticed insect impact damage already! (605 miles). Got the stuff, and it works great. I don't think there is any way to get metal screen in there short of taking the car apart. You have to fold the stuff and push it in place, then smooth it out. Couldn't do that with metal.

I think (hope) even though it's right up against the metal fins, but still loose, it will act sort of like kevlar, and disperse the impact energy and also not allow the insects/rocks to wedge into the fins of the cooler, more likely just bounce off. PLUS, every now and then just take the stuff out, wash it off, or make a new one if it's beyond cleaning!

Also here's a closeup pic for those wondering about this stuff. Tought plastic (not like a screen in a windows) on an quite open 1/8" grid. Great find!

Noticed this as well, took a while but fixed it hopefully. Used the 6"x25' rolls of plastic mesh (about $5/roll) that are used to keep leaves out of gutters. Pretty tough stuff. Tied it in with black tie wraps. Had to unscrew the bottom plastic pan to reach up in to do it, but it was really no big deal. Used one panel for the bottom hole, and another smaller one for the lower part of the plastic grill.

It is a 1/4 inch diamond mesh, very open so as not to cut airflow, and although it may not stop small bits, insects, etc, it likely will slow them or deflect them, and bigger stuff like rocks and road junk will never get there, which is what I was worried about primarily. Even looks pretty nice, should anyone actually look at those areas.

WOW! Kewl! I had almost forgotten about this thread.

I'll check out Home Depot tomorrow for this mesh. Thx again for the idea!

btw - if the forum ever gets a DIY section going, maybe you could post a "How To" there.

Least in our area Home Depot doesn't carry this. Aubuchon Hardware had it, I'm sure others would too.

Maybe Mazda will make a rotor shaped mesh - like everything else in the car.

I don't think it would protect us from piston shaped debris though.

I was at the dealer today and felt along the top edge of the opening for the oil coolers.

There are two screw bosses above the opening, as if someone was intending that there be a grille for the coolers.

If you were to use a stiff material such as the expanded aluminum mesh and make a simple aluminum plate as a backer, you could use the screw bosses to hold it all together.

Feel along the top edge and you will feel two round projections about 1/4 of the way in from the top corners. The projections have cored holes in them. If you take off the bottom air splitter and loosen the bottom of the bumper cap you should be able to access the screws from the back using a 90° screwdriver. If you are really adventurous you can take the whole bumper cap off and make a custom bent backer piece.

I didn't feel any along the bottom, but there are plastic parts you can wedge behind along the bottom. If the expanded material is stiff enough it should stay in place when wedged along the bottom.

Went to Walmart today and got two sheets of the plastic mesh, #7, for .64. Now I just need the damn car to put them in!!!:D

For those that have it installed (nice work btw), is there clearance btw mesh and oil cooler, if so how much, and doy ou think that is optimal?

I just tried installing the plastic canvas. I've got it in there (and used the measurements provided), but it seems to not quite fit. It's kind of bubbled out, like there's about a half inch between the mesh and the oil cooler.

Is this normal? Or am I doing something wrong. Any tips on getting the mesh correctly fitted would be helpful. Thanks.

Did you trim them to the right size? It is just less than half a sheet wide, so needs to be trimmed.....

Also two plastic fasteners poke down from above, make sure to bend the mesh behind them and they will hold it nice and snug, as if that was their purpose!

If you have been driving much you should probably use a flexible vacuum wand to clean out the bottom of the cooler plenums, mine were full of dead grasshoppers! (someone reported a dead bird in there!)
.
.
.
doc

Thanks, doc.

I ended up just trimming them down a smidge more and now they fit perfectly. They actually look nice. It's looks like it could've come from the factory like that. :)

Originally posted by BillK
Be careful and watch your temp gauge.

Owners of other vehicles with similar vents (e.g.Honda S2000, Porsche Boxster, etc.) have found their cars run much hotter with mesh in place; you wouldn't think it would reduce air flow that much but it does.

Since the temp gauge measures water rather than oil temp on the RX-8, you may not even be able to tell you're reducing the efficiency of the coolers...

You are probably correct.
Those guages are really just dressed up idiot lights.
They have 2 positions: Off and running.

Originally posted by Doctorr
Did you trim them to the right size? It is just less than half a sheet wide, so needs to be trimmed.....

Also two plastic fasteners poke down from above, make sure to bend the mesh behind them and they will hold it nice and snug, as if that was their purpose!
doc

Hey Doc!

Are you *******s brother?

I installed the same walmart mesh that was on this thread and was concerned about the open area. I went to the local hardware chain (Lowes in my case) and bought a roll of black mesh that is used to protect gutters from leaves. It has a much greater open area than the Walmart mesh and is similar in design to the grill. The roll cost me $2.69. It comes in a 20' roll. The only downside is that it is about 1/2" more narrow than the cooler, but you can't see that once installed and it doesn't look like it will fall out.

pics please

Gutter Guard Material

Installed in the cooler panel

thanks, that looks good

Thanks JVSpiller. How about a distance shot further out so we can see the entire front end?

I'll be glad to, but it will have to wait a few days. I flying out of town for a business trip in a couple of hours.

Looking at the front of my 8 the other day (something I do every chance I get) I noticed that when the factory installed the fog lights with the Grand Touring package, they removed the grill covers completely that used to fill those holes. So I got down and peered in there, and noticed that the oil coolers are not protected at all with these sub-grills removed, and even with only ~500 miles on my car, they were already full of bug guts! AHHHHHHhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

So after picking them all out with tweezers, a tooth pick, and needle nose pliers (grin!) I got to thinking about putting some sort of mesh into these cutouts, or possibly buying the factory non-fog equiped covers, and cutting it to fit around my fogs.

Anyone done this yet? Or are there any kits out there anyone's heard of?

Thanks...

yes, many have bought mesh from auto or hardware stores and custom made their own covers.

I know doc did his first

http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8147&highlight=oil+coolers

I had a feeling I wasn't the first person on this board to notice the exposed oil coolers. Thanks for the link and info!

Well, I did this today, using the exact mesh JVSpiller did. I worried though that the oild coolers might get hot enough to melt the mesh, so I decided to try and anchor the mesh so it was flush with the front of the spoiler opening. By cutting a semi-circular opening on one end of the mesh to fit around the fog light, I got it in place.

Looks pretty darn good too, except that I wish I could anchor it more securely. Unfortunately there is not much to hook to... I would up putting a screw into one of the holes in the top of the opening where the standard non-fog light equipped grill used to be mounted, and hooking a wire tie over it and through the mesh. Now the mesh won't fall out, I just wish it was a little better anchored at the bottom.

Ah well, I'll keep tinkering and post pics when I have a result I'm happy with.

Thanks Doctorr and JVSpiller for all the great ideas!

I have used black aluminum 1/4" mesh from a craft store, bolting it onto the provided three tabs at the front of the oil cooler. (2 top, one bottom used to fasten the rubber shroud) It sits about 1/4" from the cooler fins and is very well anchored. Bugs and rocks just bounce off. It is the most professional solution I have seen yet.. it looks like it came installed from the factory. I will post pics and more instructions if anybody is interested.

It did require the removal of the front bumper (not hard) and replacing the three plastic pins per cooler with bolts.

The nice thing about the aluminum is no heat concerns nor rusting.

It is also a good idea to protect the radiator.
After I did my oil coolers I looked and saw that I already have some dents in the rad too, so I took the same plastic gutter guard and ran a strip of it behind the air intake area at the bottom of the nose..

Cut to fit, undo the plastic snap screws underneath so I could get hands in behind, positioned it and secured with black plastic zip ties.

If anyone has problems with visualizing this let me know and I can post a pic..

Originally posted by ranger4277
I have used black aluminum 1/4" mesh from a craft store, bolting it onto the provided three tabs at the front of the oil cooler. (2 top, one bottom used to fasten the rubber shroud) It sits about 1/4" from the cooler fins and is very well anchored. Bugs and rocks just bounce off. It is the most professional solution I have seen yet.. it looks like it came installed from the factory. I will post pics and more instructions if anybody is interested.

It did require the removal of the front bumper (not hard) and replacing the three plastic pins per cooler with bolts.

The nice thing about the aluminum is no heat concerns nor rusting.

I would appreciate that

Ok, I went and found some black aluminum mesh at a craft store.. it is the flexible kind used for flower arrangements or as a wire skeleton for paper mache' or model train landscapes. It is quite sturdy yet pliable and easy to form. (unless it is taut like it should be in your oil cooler vent)

Removed the front bumper per instructions I found here on the board, removed the rubber grommets/shrouds from around the oil coolers and rough cut a couple squares to cover the coolers. I just eyeballed for size leaving some extra material for the top and bottom to fold over onto itself for added strength when mounting to the cooler tabs. I folded it over one time for double thickness.. it seems to be adequate.

After shaping the mesh to the way I wanted it I used a screwdriver to widen the mesh where the bolts would fasten it to the cooler assembly. There are three tabs, two on the top.. one on the bottom. I considered making a fourth hole in the rubber shroud beneath the foglamp for extra anchoring.. but it wasn't necessary. I found some scrap nuts and bolts and used them in place of the plastic push pins originally holding the rubber thingy to the oil cooler. It isn't totally clear in the images.. but the mesh isn't touching the cooler, it is about 1/4" away perfectly parallel.

It was a very easy operation I thought.. gave me an excuse to take off the front bumper :) Here are a couple photos... I didn't take any of the install.. but these are of the final product. The mesh is quite sturdy and tight across the front and should repel just about everything but air!

(yes, my car needs a bath)

another with better view of the upper mounting.

great pics
thanks

Originally posted by canzoomer
It is also a good idea to protect the radiator... If anyone has problems with visualizing this let me know and I can post a pic..

Plz post one (or more...). I've hoping someone would come up with a way to protect the radiator. thx!

Thanks, ranger4277, that looks excellent! But one question... it looks as though this could be done without removing the bumper, as the screw holes (at least on the top) look clearly accessible. Am I right?

Thanks...

There's another thread somewhere where a forum member in Australia has posted pics of a radiator guard - black stainless steel mesh. It looks great, and he's planning on developing a kit.

Regards,
Gordon

Omicron,

It might be possible to do it without removing the front bumper cover.. I think it would be very difficult (if not impossible) to remove the plastic pins and then properly tighten the bolts down without easy access to the outer edges of the oil cooler. I wouldn't have the courage to try it with the cover on with the risk of scratching paint. The mesh would have lost its form squeezing it into the opening too.. it might have come back ok once tightened down. It was a little more effort removing the fascia.. but the end result was worth it.

As for radiator protection, that would be a great idea. It isn't quite as endangered as the oil coolers with the oblique angle.. but still exposed. Has anybody else been annoyed with leaves and other debris collecting up against the radiator? That splash guard has water drainage, but the holes aren't big enough for larger foreign objects. Hopefully a solution would place the protection far enough forward to stop that crap from collecting in my splash tray.

I added plastic gutter guard mesh to the back of the grille opening at the bottom.
I removed the plastic screw pins from underneath so I could reach in, slid in the mesh, and zip tied it to the vertical bars on the grille opening.
I made it long enough to tuck in at each side.

I could be fancier, take off the bumper and screw from the back, but as it is essentially invisible, why bother?

Another pic:

I like that placement. Now I know what my 8 project is for this weekend. :)

Thanks Ranger, I appreciate it.

Canzoomer, looks good!

Has anyone tried something like this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33645&item=2437702264

Thanks...

Canzoomer!

Thx for the pics & the info! That really helps! :)

Originally posted by Omicron
Thanks Ranger, I appreciate it.

Canzoomer, looks good!

Has anyone tried something like this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33645&item=2437702264

Thanks...

Looks pretty. But i thinkit may restrict too much air.

I prefer to have it as invisible as possible, both to the eye and to the air.

Here is a pic of my solution for this little "oops" Mazda made. I decided to do this after 1100 miles and 3 divits in my coolers!

I had a hard time finding SS screening. Got the screen from Home Depot for $6. You can find it in the building materials area. It's galvanized for rust protection, comes in a big roll, and is labled No 4 (4 openings/inch).

I made a template from cardboard and traced it on the screen and cut it out. The first side took about an hour to get the shape right and the second took about 2 minutes to copy the first.



I was going to screw them into the nose, but couldn't find a good place or way to screw them down. Then I noticed the long length of galvanized wire that is used to hold the roll together on the store shelf. I figured that I could place the screen directly on the cooler and snake the wire through the cooler and twist it on the other side. This has the added benefit of being able to replace or remove them quickly and easily if need be.

I had to remove the enormous plastic shield that covers the underside and inside of the front wheel-wells (3 screws and 6 body clips). Turn the tire out or remove it for added work room. I was going to paint them black, but the wife thought they looked more "purposefull" (sp) being the galvanized color. I thought she was right, so I left them.

Total time was about 3 hours, but this included an hour of trying to decide where to drill into my car. Glad I didn't. Next is the center opening to protect the A/C exchanger. Any ideas??

Here's a pic (in life they don't have the black diagonals):

That acually looks very good. I would have painted them black, just for the perpose of looking "STOCK". But very nice job on the custom install. Please post pics of the car further back to see the whole thing.

Previous thread about protecting oil coolers (http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8147) from August.

Regards,
Gordon

Good work! I wonder why they need to galvanise SS for rust protection?

I made a similar one, and also a protective grille for the lower opening in the front bumper - after a stone took out my A/C condensor. I made both grills out of the same material - 5.3mm aperature, 1.0mm wire diameter - and had them powder coated.

Working out a way to fix in position was the fun bit!

Pics here: http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13442

Cheers,
Hymee.

In this whole thread, I missed how the grill is actually mounted for the oil coolers (besides the metal screw in alternative)??

Sorry if I'm an idiot...but, thanks.

Originally posted by Gord96BRG
There's another thread somewhere where a forum member in Australia has posted pics of a radiator guard - black stainless steel mesh. It looks great, and he's planning on developing a kit.

Regards,
Gordon

Here 'tis:

http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15204

There are links to pics and others' reviews etc.

I used grade 304 stainless steel woven wire mesh. Aperature is 5.3mm and wire diameter is 1.0mm

I had them powder coated in black - you can hardly see them there.

http://users.tpg.com.au/adslnt5c/Marko/Images/Dscn0006.jpg

Originally posted by huhsler
In this whole thread, I missed how the grill is actually mounted for the oil coolers (besides the metal screw in alternative)??

Sorry if I'm an idiot...but, thanks.

Man - your not an idiot! That is what is is great about this place; ask a question, get an answer! :)

I mounted the oil cooler grill to the mounting brackets for the oil coolers. Some intricate work required cutting the mesh etc. I spotwelded the mesh in various positions to help keep it together. See the attached image below.

I attached the main lower grill attaches to the bumper with a combination of stainless steel set-screws and self tapping pan-head screws. Nice and secure.

Cheers,
Hymee.

Oil cooler grill mounting. This is a prototype, but it gives you the general arrangement.

Cheers,
Hymee.

Hymee's solution is much more than most of us have done though. Quite a few people have just tucked the mesh in between the oil coolers and the front bumper, which seems to work ok.

I personally wanted it flush with my bumper opening, as I thought it would look better, and was concerned with the plastic mesh melting into the oil coolers. So I wire tied it to a screw mounted at the top of the oil cooler openings in the grille... see my post about it elsewhere in this thread for more info.

Hope this helps.

Originally posted by Omicron
Hymee's solution is much more than most of us have done though. Quite a few people have just tucked the mesh in between the oil coolers and the front bumper, which seems to work ok.

I personally wanted it flush with my bumper opening, as I thought it would look better, and was concerned with the plastic mesh melting into the oil coolers. So I wire tied it to a screw mounted at the top of the oil cooler openings in the grille... see my post about it elsewhere in this thread for more info.

Hope this helps.
No kidding!

I did not even tie mine, and I used plastic "gutter guard" mesh for eavestroughs. I just cut pieces to fit,and slipped them in the opening then spread them out so that they are trapped, but do not move. The plastic eavestrough mesh is very flexible and easy to do this with.

I was more concerned with the lower opening in front of the radiator. Used the same stuff and some black plastic zip ties.

Works great, took me a half hour to do.

Can anyone suggest a wire mesh that won't melt, but is still plyable like "gutter guard?"

Thanks for all the hard work, creativity, and sharing!

For the oil coolers, Hobby Lobby (and similar craft-type stores) sells 6"x6" squares of black, aluminum mesh. Not as flexible as gutter guard, but close.

Black aluminum is what i used on mine.. works awesome. It was flexible enough to shape the top and bottom for bolting onto the existing oil cooler tabs. (see earlier photos). Once bolted down, it is quite tight and everything bounces right off!

I think I'll do this when it gets warmer out :)

Thanks for the posts. Now I have to decide which fix is for me.

Originally posted by canzoomer
I added plastic gutter guard mesh to the back of the grille opening at the bottom.
I removed the plastic screw pins from underneath so I could reach in, slid in the mesh, and zip tied it to the vertical bars on the grille opening.
I made it long enough to tuck in at each side.

I could be fancier, take off the bumper and screw from the back, but as it is essentially invisible, why bother?

CZ -
I couldn't help but notice, but it looks as though your radiator is in a different location than where mine is, as shown in the "second pic" post, did you move it? It appears that it's more forward. Any ideas?
-Doccable

When I first saw this post I was reluctant to share the sentiment of a mesh add-on to the front; however, a few weeks ago the craziest thing happened. A truck lost a sheet of thin (thank God) pegboard off the truck bed two cars in front of me. The guy (or girl) in front of me was unable to clear the sheet and ran over it. The suction from that car raised it off the ground for me to hit with the front of my car. It broke the driver's side plastic vertical piece on the lower air dam and marred the body piece between the cneter air dam and the driver's side oil cooler. Although it obviously was too big to fit in the oil cooler slot, shattering could have occured and a worse case scenario would be told. Considering the impact, I like the wire mesh idea. I am also thinking about using the $10 Billet idea like BrotherVoodoo's center grill for the oil cooler slots.

When we went in to our dealer today to put down the deposit, I took the time to look at the radiators on the demo 8s on the lot (one had about 3k miles the other 5k).

On both cars, the radiator fins were noticeably damaged by impacts.

We'll be getting some sort of metal screening and paint (if necessary) to provide more protection the weekend we pick up the car.

Today, while fine detailing my new RX-8 that I picked up on the 10th, one of my first concerns were these openings on the front. The left front oil radiator had a moth stuck to it and after removing it there was a bit of damage there. That is why I got on here tonight to see what others have been doing about this. I have enjoyed all of everyone's ideas and comments.

Several things came to mind while going through this thread. Attachment: I have yet to do anything to my RX about this but am looking into the aluminum grille material. As some folks are big "duct tape can fix anything" fans I feel the same about Hot Glue. :-) If there is any place to have a surface that can be hidden to glue this material on, I will find it when I go to do this sometime soon. Owning a high quality digital camera, I will take photos of the project and post when finished. I am planning on covering all front acces to the radiators, both left and right oil coolers and center bottom for the radiator. Rocks and insects are thick here in middle Illinois.

I am also going to check out materials for the billets I have read about too. I have some ideas after visiting a couple of local auto parts suppliers.

One other unrelated question I have is about stock spoilers. I have one that is different than any of the others on the lot I bought mine off of and is also different than any of the pictures I have seen during surfing. It is slightly wider in width where as it goes slightly over the trunk lid seams and also wider from front to back. It also has a turned up rear edge. The salesman told me my RX was one of the early arrivals and that afterwards Mazda has changed the spoiler going out now. Has anyone more information on this? (My car was kept at the dealer for their sales manager as he was planning to purchase it but his wife would not give him permission. PW!)

Thanks to everyone!

Duct tape,

Hot Melt Glue,

Tie wire....

OMG. Whatever suits your fancy I suppose.

BTW - Stone/Rock perforation is a real issue. For newcomers who may not have read other threads etc, a stone/rock put a hole in my A/C Condensor. $800 repair bill.

Cheers,
Hymee.

FYI,

I went to Lowe's to get the plastic gutter guard roll (as shown in previous pages) but for some reason they don't have it at least in the store that I went. So I went to Home Depot to see what they have. And Bingo!. They have it. Its the same manufacturer but is diamond shaped instead of hex and its made of aluminum! So I got a roll for $3.59 6" x 20' So, you guys guessed what I will be doing this comming weekend :D

I'm not trying to be a troll here, but here's something else to think about before you go and do all the work of fab-ing a mesh protection screen for your car's openings.

Has anyone actually had real damage done to any of their heat exchangers yet? Fin damage isn't really anything - you can straighten them out with a screwdriver or needle-nose pliers, and they should operate just like they should. On top of that, being forced to clean the actual fins and cooler without a mesh grille in the way isn't a bad thing. Eventually the exchangers will get dirty with road grime (with or without mesh), and you'll lose capacity just from the fouling. So having to straighten fins and every so often scrub the coolers isn't a bad idea.

As for real damage, where you could actually puncture or bend the tubes, is a mesh screen really going to stop that projectile from doing the deed? IMO, a screen isn't going to stop the really big problems from happening, and isn't that what insurance (to pay for it) and warning guages (to let you know when it happened) are for anyways? I guess I've got a little riverboat gambler in my blood, but for me the trade-off for serious damage protection does not outweigh the risks of decreased performance of the coolers (either radiator or oil coolers). To put it another way, would you build and install screens if you owned an Enzo?

Of course it's up to everyone individually, but maybe this is just something to think about if someone's still kicking around the idea of building some screens.

You have a valid point. However, if you drive a lot on highways most likely you will see a lot of stuffs laying on the road (rocks, pieces of wood, tire threads, etc.) specially in LA area. Yes, so far I have fews dings in my oil cooler and A/C avaporator. I did straight them out with a small screwdriver. Just yesterday, I was driving to work and there was a plastic bag flying around and it just happened that I bag cought my car because I didn't see flying around in my rear view mirror. Once at work, I went out to the front area the bag was sitting in the front intake area. I took it off with no problem. If I didn't have the mesh in, it would have got inside restricting the flow of air big time. In addition, I would have to put my arm all the way in order to get it.

The only reason I made my grills was becuase of this:

http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12313.

Facts, proof, real-world experience. What more could you ask for ;)

Cheers,
Hymee.

I have a dodge ram 2002 Truck, 32,000 mile. I bought the black bra to protect all the chrome on the hood. The way the bra was designed it included a screen, as dense as window screen in front of the entire grill. It didnot effect the temp with or without the grill. I run 4 test, city and highway miles to see if the temp gauge changed, it did not. Keep in mine last summer the temp in Huoston was 101 -103. One thing I do have, a 32,000 mile grill that still looks brand new.

Originally posted by Hymee
The only reason I made my grills was becuase of this:

http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12313.

Facts, proof, real-world experience. What more could you ask for ;)

Cheers,
Hymee.

That sucks. I can certainly see doing this mod if something like had happened, but $810 for a fix?!? Sounds pretty high for what probably was a pin-hole leak. Either way, I'm all for prevention, but the cost in terms of reduced airflow/time/money and having to mess with body work to me doesn't outweigh the odds of a (hopefully) freak occurance. That being said, I know about driving roads littered with debris (the Katy Fwy outside of Houston is a minefield at rush hour), and my windshield already sports a 2' long crack because of a well placed stone chip I got in the first week I had the car. Long story short, the way I see it, we've all driven cars with unprotected radiators for extended periods of time and there aren't many people I know of that have had similar issues. <knocks on wood just in case...>

Like I said - it is a real issue. Within 2 weeks of me getting my car this happened to me. It also happened to a guy in Texas at arouind the same time, and since then at least one other forum member in the USA.

The $810 is for a new condensor. We tried to "fix" it with liquid steel, but were unsucessful.

Reduced air flow. I don't believe that for 1 second. Please explain.

Mess with bodywork? The front bumper is virtually a "snap on" anyway.

Sounds like something worth protecting to me. It is a real issue. My insurance would have paid, but the $650 excees (deductable to you guys) made it basically not worth the bother.

Now, the stone that hit your windscreen...

I hope your nocking on wood is working for you! Like you said, you have a "little riverboat gambler" in your blood. :)

Put $200USD on red for me next time!

Cheers,
Hymee.

Depending on what type of screen you install (how big the mesh is), you're going to impede the flow and reduce the cooling power of your oil coolers. Don't think it's a big deal? Install a similar screen in the throttle body and see if it makes a difference in your engine performance. If you limit the amount of air (or the velocity at which it passes over the fins), you lose some ability to cool your working fluid (oil/water/freon) because your rate of heat transfer will drop off with your loss of convection. Same goes for fouling (eventual buildup of crud on your fins), except you're losing heat transfer due to poor conduction.

I doubt that most screens people are installing will really make a monumental difference in everyday cooling (there's bound to be a design factor in there to account for most deviations from normal operating conditions), but it's possible that it could make a difference.

And if you just want to be downright cynical, why don't cars like the Porsche 911 Turbo, Mercedes SLR, or Dodge Viper have screens? Just being cheap like Mazda, or is there a reason not to?

Yes it does depend on the size of the screen. I have posted more than once in this place what the specs of the material are.

The thing that limits the amount and velocity of the air going over the cooling fins is the arrangement of the cooling fins themselves. I would have though that from the pictures supplied in these postings it would be obvious that the material used in my grill poses the least restriction.

If you think costs cutting does not play a part in the 3 other marques you mentioned I'm afraid you would be wrong.

And if you really think about it, they really don't need to bother. The damage sustained in such a situation as mine is not their responsibility, hence not covered by warranty. On the contrary, it generates the sale of a new part(s), the dealer gets some income from that, and the dealer gets some income from the repair work/labour.

Cheers,
Hymee.

I have also been considering a mesh screen since day one of owning my 8. I didn't realize until I got the car home that my foglights had caused the removal of the Mazda screens. My Dad had fabbed up a new front grill and radiator screen for his RX2 using a sheet of stainless diamond weave material purchased at Discount Auto for about $30, and I plan on following in everyone's footsteps here.

Thanks to everyone for the great pictures.

Originally posted by Tony Orlando
I didn't realize until I got the car home that my foglights had caused the removal of the Mazda screens.

WTF??? What Mazda screens???

Cheers,
Hymee.

I think he means the plastics covers that come on cars without fog lights.

Hymee, will there be a "Hymee oil cooler and radiator cover" kit?

Has anyone changed their front grill to wire mesh? I know people have talked about it, but I haven't seen pictures of how it turned out.
I made my own oiler cooler mesh and front opening and wonder what would the front grill look like with wire mesh. The first two serves a purpose but would putting wire mesh on the front grill be considered too riced-up for you?
Here what I did.

Oops my first picture was too big

can you show a close up

ricey? nah. Needed... yes.

Here's a close up.

Nice fit but I would rather consider a larger grid pattern.

I think that looks pretty sharp actually. Although I would prefer it in black myself.

I thought about painting it black also. I'll probably paint it black later. I wanted to see if silver would look good on the gray car.

As for the hole size, it's the only one available. I went the cheap route and bought it from Home Depot (gutter guards-aluminum). I wouldn't imagine it would restrict air too much. Engine temp is normal so far. On the plus side, I only spent a bit less than $5 for the whole thing. It's my first mod...a decent job.

Looks good Parmer8! How did you mount it?

Yea i like! id do something like that, function and looks. same question as Omicron. Howd ya do it?

I purchased 3 pieces of aluminum gutter guards (6"x36")from Home Depot @$1.30 ea. and about 10 #10x5/8L screws(either #10 or #12 size screws). One piece for the oil cooler the other two for the bottom opening. The bottom opening is about 48" long. If you can find a piece that long, it would be ideal. I used a wire cutter to cut the pieces. It took longer, but I had all day to play.

I removed the bumper using this link.
http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10941

For the oil cooler, I cut the one piece in half and trimmed it to the size of the opening. The piece was larger than opening but you can wrap the excess around the edges. Trimming the shape of the fog lamp was done by trial and error. There are three existing bolt holes I use to secure the mesh. Two on top and one on the bottom. I use the bottom screw as an anchor for tie-wrapping the bottom mesh area.

The bottom piece was a little more work but still simple. I had to use two pieces since they weren't long enough. I cut both piece the same length. I made the end piece meet in the middle of the rotary crest. I bent a 1/2" piece 90degrees on both pieces where they would meet up. It's like butting two L pieces together. Of course the bend would be inside the bumper.

The mesh was wide enough to cover the opening with excess overhangs on the bottom and some on top. I formed the mesh to the bottom of the lip, trimming pieces as necessary. I pre-drilled some screw holes onto the flat plastic trim attaching the front grill to the bottom lip and secured the wire mesh with screws.

The bottom of the mesh did not have anything to secure to. I drilled a small hole towards the edge of where the lip and mesh meet and secured it using small tie wraps.

Hopefully the picture explains it better. Over all it tool about 2hrs since it was a learn as you go process. Hope this helps.

This is the flat area to drill...It's the piece attaching the front grill and lower lip. By the way...the front grill can be remove for those that want to make that a mesh piece.

View from the front showing where the two pieces meet with a 90degree bend. Again, if you can find a longer piece, you won't have to worry about it.

looks pretty good
you went through alot to make that come together

yea i really like it! unfortunately i dont think my pops would take too kindly to me removing the entire front end of his 30g+ "investment" :p ... maybe some day later...

Very, very nice, Parmer8!!!

If'n you don't mind, in a day or two I'm gonna merge this thread into the "Protect those Oil Coolers!" DIY thread, here (http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8147)... I think your idea belongs there with the other great inventors of this mod. :D

Very nice. I've been wondering how it would look and how dificult it would be. Good job.

I would love to find a source for this mesh in pieces larger than 36"x6" so I can do the main grille in it. Anyone have any ideas on where I could find it?

Try a metal supply shop, you can often get mesh in 4' X 8' sheets and sometimes in half sheets. Often it costs less for the whole sheet than what the auto speciality places charge for a small piece. Occasionally the metal supply places will have scrap pieces that they will let you have cheap or even free.

Originally posted by Omicron
Very, very nice, Parmer8!!!

If'n you don't mind, in a day or two I'm gonna merge this thread into the "Protect those Oil Coolers!" DIY thread, here (http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8147)... I think your idea belongs there with the other great inventors of this mod. :D


I don't mind at all.

Nice job. Shops who sell plastic, teflon, aluminium, brass oftenly sell those grill even in stainless, this is what i will get for mine.

I just bought the gutter guards at Lowes and was wondering if anyone has had any problems with them melting or any other problems now that you have lived with them a while being they are plastic?

I just put my black plastic home depot gutter guard in.

Not too happy with how it looks, but the mounting worked very well. I think I need to use the 2 peice setup for the front so it doesnt bend. However, it IS hardly visible and should do the job until I get ambitious enough to remvoe the bumper again :D Just used some large washers with the screws to help hold it in place and took it for a drive. As long as it deflects some of the bugs/stones/crap hitting my radiators, I'll be happy.

BTW, another thanks to Hymee for his bumper removal guide.

I also finally found out why I could never get my foglamps out. They had GLUE beads on them. Took me 20 minutes to get them open with the bumper off. I never woulda managed it from underneath.

Of course, now I cant find the ultrawhite bulbs I had for them, but at least I left it easier for me to work on.

pics?

Be careful when you are putting the Gutter Guard in I bent a few fins when installing nothing serious but of course pisses my anal self off.

Have to say this is my favorite kind of DIY because it meets the 3 main criterea of 1)inexpensive 2)someone who is not a mechanic can do it 3) Works well

Now I just need to remove my bumper and put the AC cooler guard in place. Wish we could have a bumper removal clinic in NJ as even though it looks easy I know the Murphy Laws very well.

im gonna give it a try
not sure if i will remove the bumper
but definetely a great way to protect our 8.
thanks guys.

who needs those fancy new $40 oil cooler protecters.


if it's good enough for the Porche guys it's good enough for me (http://www.ppbb.com/board/986board.htm)

ahhhh have to do a search for gutter guards the link is not direct.

Anyone with the Apperance Package do these themselves i.e. grill for both the oil coolers and the radiator? All the pictures I've seen so far are of 8's without the AP and Rotary Accents, considering the front air dam and the accents might change a few things.

I'm in the process of fixing an air dam I got from a member on here and then am going to install it myself. I have already purchased some custom aluminum grille material which is 120cm X 20cm or 48" X 8". It is still aluminum color but, I have black trim paint I am going to paint it after fitting cutting the parts and fitting them to size. I'll probably try putting it behind the air dam, that's the appearance package air dam. I have the front Rotary accent too. I may have to buy another piece of this stuff to do the oil coolers, though. It's an APC Sport Racing Series product and I probably paid way more than it's worth so i may just go get the gutter guard stuff for the oil coolers.

About the mounting...I noticed screws mentioned. However, I will probably do this differently. Urethane cannot be glued to and most adhesives will not stick either. How it is repaired in the industry is by melting it, something like welding but without a torch. A solder iron is perfect for this.

You need some urethane material to use to melt this to the front bumper. The bumper is pretty thick material so you can get it hot enough on the back side to melt with the material you are using to mount this by.

I reatached the mounts for the front air dam of the one I purchased damaged and they are stronger than the stock original mounts. I am awaiting an order from the paint manufacturer to be able to finish the rest of the air dam.

For the crack, I used some of the urethane from the air dam that doesn't show and has no structural purpose. I melted into the damaged area, and placed some of the material in there and melted it down and smoothed it out. Afterwards, I shaped it with a course shaping tool then sanded it down to the original surface profile. Once painted, from the front, you would never know it was damaged.

Another thing I used to help reinforce the rear is some aluminum screen material you can get for use of repairing with bondo. It is sticky on one side and is easy to shape and bend into place. This I attached by the same method, melting material below and using spare pieces above the screen to melt the two together. I will be taking some pics soon to try to explain this with images.

Hey DMenac7, could you post some pics of the work you're doing? With my front air dam and rotary accent, I don't know how I'm going to mount the grille on the back of the bumper. Definitely can't use wire ties since they'll show up on my winning blue exterior. Any ideas?

Another question. I've noticed on my AT 8, that the on the right of the bumper the oil cooler is visible and on the left it has a plastic cover and I have fog lights. Can someone explain to me why the MTs have both oil coolers exposed if they have fog lights and the ATs have only one exposed? Also, if you have an AT what have you done to match both sides instead of just protecting one oil cooler? Because my 8 has the Appearance package and Rotary Accents, I'm just wondering how I can do a clean job.....

There is only one oil cooler on the standard power engine, as in the auto.

Originally posted by Hymee
There is only one oil cooler on the standard power engine, as in the auto.

Darn.....it just wouldn't look right with wire mesh protection on one side of the bumper! Any ideas what to put on the other side where there is the plastic cover? How about putting wire mesh with the appearance package and rotary accents in place to protect the radiator?

It looks perfect:

http://rx8.hymee.com/images/dscn5702.jpg

http://rx8.hymee.com/images/wakefield2004/dscn5768.jpg

http://rx8.hymee.com/images/wakefield2004/dscn5767.jpg

Cheers,
Hymee.

goto www.racingbeat.com

They sell oil cooler guards for a decent price. I think it's like $ 38 for two.

Originally posted by Xystas
goto www.racingbeat.com

They sell oil cooler guards for a decent price. I think it's like $ 38 for two. Note that when this thread was first started, the no screens were available. The Hymee screens soon followed, and the Racing Beat ones just came out.

Thanks Omicron - and I also have the screen to protect the most vulnerable bit - the radiator/condensor :)

If anyone wants oil-cooler screens only, please PM me.

Cheers,
Hymee.

I bouth a roll of this grill from home depot a year ago that I was planning to use for my Teg, but ended up putting in my 8 instead :D

A whole roll can cover the entire 3 cars (Two oils cooler + Front air damp) which only cost $24. Look like aluminum, but I think it's some type of galvanized metal.

This is the result:

This is my design for the oil cooler.

Test fitting . . .

Make sure it fit in the OEM plastic cover. . .

How about the air dam?? Any pics of how you mounted that?

Red circles are threaded with screw. Blue are tap and tied with wire. One can do away with wire tie by have access bends overlap to the bottom and use OEM screws location; Which I didn't find out until I cut the piece, so ended up using wire tie :p

This is the first attemp to mount the screen on the bumper, but didn't like the way it look around the fog light.

VERY nice contribution, seikx8!!! :D

Great work seikx8!! :)

Finally took the time to do my grille project, both lower air inlet and oil coolers.

After agonizing between bronze and stainless steel mesh (here (http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16177)), I finally settled on the stainless steel, at 2 openings per inch. This can be purchased online in reasonable quantities from TWP INC. (http://www.twpinc.com/twp/jsp/product.jsp?type=14) .

To fit the mesh I first followed the excellent instructions for front bumper removal here (http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10941&perpage=15&pagenumber=1)

The mesh itself was cut fairly easily with dual-pivot tin snips. It is stiff but bendable enough by hand to be workable.

There are several locations for the openings that present ideal locations for attachment - hollow posts along the openings. I used short self-tapping metal screws along with brash washers where needed to hold down the mesh. The oil coolers have 2 posts above and one below the opening and these seemed sufficient for mounting. For the larger lower opening there were only 2 posts, but additional attachments were possible along the top edge. The bottom edge was more involved. There is a triangular (rotor-shaped?) tab at the mid-point that was larger than a mesh opening. I cut a small notch which allowed me to press-fit the screen down until it locked upon the tab. Zip ties can be used at the bottoms of the 2 vertical struts. I happened to have "lightning yellow" zip ties but will probably change over to black :). Finally, at the bottom outside edges I fashioned some hooks from thick copper wire and secured the mesh to some bolts that lie just outside of the opening.

All in all it seems fairly sturdy. It's not going to stop tiny stuff but my main goal is to stop things that would otherwise threaten rupture of the AC coils or oil coolers, while keeping airflow as high as possible.

Here are the attachment points for the oil-cooler openings

Note - the lower post for the oil-cooler opening is not that deep. I used 3/4" screws and I would recommend even shorter for the lower posts.

Here are the points for the lower opening

I haven't taken any pics of it installed outdoors yet, so for now here's a "flashlight pic" to give you an idea. It does have a bit of a rough look, which is actually what I was going for. Difficult to follow the lines of the fog lights with a mesh this large so I opted to keep a straight panel. The other option would have been to attach closer to the cooler itself and not to the bumper.

Anyway, here she is. I'll try to take a better outdoor shot maybe when she gets her Saturday bath.

Another great job, Nubo! Well done, and a nice DIY too! Thanks for the contribution! :D

Thanks for posting the pics. It's nice to see what's already present in the stock bumper. Great job.

I took off my bumper again to redo my oiler cooler and condenser mesh. I also removed my front grill and added a mesh. This is my cheap mod.

Another shot

I cut out the inside portion and formed the mesh inside the grill. It's zip-tied to the frame.

Now that looks cool!! Great job! In my opinion, regardless of the grill material, our front ends look best when all grills match. Because you changed the center grill, it freakin' looks awesome!!

Yankle

Originally posted by Parmer8
I cut out the inside portion and formed the mesh inside the grill. It's zip-tied to the frame. NICE JOB!!! This is EXACTLY what I've been thinking of doing!

Could you do us a favor though and show a close up of how you zip-tied it to the frame? Thanks...

Sorry, I didn't take a picture of the zip tie location, but hopefully you can visualize what I'm saying. The last picture is of the back of the grill and mesh. The grill is about one inch deep. I formed the mesh to the interior of the grill. The edges of the mesh are bent to the shape of the interior contour. Imagine pushing paper down a bowl. The paper's edge conforms to the interior's shape.

The zip tie location is at the back edges. I just predrilled holes where I think the mesh could be push in. I moved the zip tie head where you can't see it at all. The heads of the zip ties does not touch the bumper at all since the grill does not fully insert through the opening. Hopefully this explains it.

I also pushed/hammered the center of the mesh out so it's not flat to give it a contour shape, like the original grill.

Of course you have to spray paint the foam piece black. Remember use a primer first so the paint will stick or each through the foam.

Originally posted by Nubo
...... I'll try to take a better outdoor shot maybe when she gets her Saturday bath.

Here's a daytime shot of the 1/2" mesh. Had to photoshop quite a bit to get the mesh out of the shadows, but gives a pretty good idea. The yellow zip ties have to go. ;)

damn
thats thick

Did mine a while back and finally got around to taking pics. Here's the Oil Cooler Screen. The edging by the fog lamp is door edge molding. I got the screen as scrap from work.

Here's the lower screen.

Nice job on the screens, but watch out for the curbs....looks like your hitting it.

Yeah, it missed by about 1/8 inch. LOL

They make a pet barrier for screen doors. Found it at a local Ace Hardware-type store. $20. It is powder coated, expanded steel. It was large enough to do the entire thing. Because it's expanded, it looks thicker when you look down upon it, rather than from a head-on view. What do ya'll think?

#1

#2

Notice the hollow rotor? :D

#3

I cut it to fit against the coolers (much like seikx8
), so I didn't have to fiddle with cutting around the foglights, which turned out to be MUCH easier. Safety wired it to the outsides of the cooler.

#4

It doesn't look too bad. If you had it powder coated in black it would look pretty good I reckon.

Although I can't get the word "Cheese-grater" out of my mind :p

BTW - did you weigh it all?

Cheers,
Hymee.

Guessing it didn't weigh more than a pound or two; not a concern of mine, though. BTW, I like cheddar...

OK - that is light. I was imagining a much heavier grade mesh from the description and looks.

For the oil cooler area, the weave is not small enough to stop bugs or the small stones that are what mush into them and flatten the fins and potentially damage the tubes. At least that is what started the thread.

Or was this for appearance only? Here is a pic from earlier in the thread so you can see the problem, and grill size that fixes it, in case you hadn't noticed it (as the thread is so long).

Originally posted by Zoom2X
Did mine a while back and finally got around to taking pics. Here's the Oil Cooler Screen. The edging by the fog lamp is door edge molding. I got the screen as scrap from work.

Did you have to remove the front bumper to do this? I was looking for a method to protect an oil cooler without removing the bumper. The lower damn was quite easy to do...

Thanks
Wayne

Originally posted by Irish_in_a_RX8
Did you have to remove the front bumper to do this? I was looking for a method to protect an oil cooler without removing the bumper. The lower damn was quite easy to do...

Thanks
Wayne

Yes, I did remove the front bumper. It reallly isn't very hard, it will take you 15 mins if you can handle tools at all.

Mike

Lots of 8 owners have ventured to taking their front bumper off. Many to install their grill kits.

Here is a link that has the details:

http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10941&highlight=front+bumper+removal

And why did I do that? 'Cause I had a rock put a hole in my air conditioning condensor. :mad:

Cheers,
Hymee.

Just put some wire mesh on my oil coolers and radiator. Looks great, as I don't have fog lights and that opening isn't so empty now. It looks so good, in fact, that I'm thinking about replacing the factory grill with this mesh so its all one color /style.

Thanks for all the posts here and on the DIY bumper removal. I can't tell you how much of a newbie I am to taking apart cars, but this wasn't really hard at all.

-Rupes

Ha Rupes....you don't have PM option turned on, but are you in BG now or LA? PM me, I live just north of Toledo.

hey guys, nice job with the instals. just an fyi. if you are considering using just normal aluminum window screen, think again. air passing through a screen at any speed is cut to 50% of what it would be if it were an open area. this is why firemen take out entire windows instead of just breaking glass. smoke won't clear fast enough. now the larger the holes in the screen get, the better the air flow. so your best bet might be some aluminum mesh found at places like autozone or a hardware store. good luck and thanks for all your input.

Hi folks,
Just a huge THANK YOU to everyone who's posted their ideas for oil cooler/radiator protection on this thread. Special thanks to Hymee for leading the way by sacrificing his AC condenser. :(

I went with 1/4" hardware cloth for now, Rustoleumed black. It's sturdy enough to stop a stone, fine enough to shred any insect that's big enough to do damage and open enough not to impede air flow very much. $5 at Home Depot for a roll big enough to do all three openings with plenty to spare.

I pulled the bumper and screwed all three pieces on from the back, using the existing screw holes molded on the back of the bumper. A dozen #10 self-tapping screws + washers plus four black cable ties. That mesh ain't going anywhere.

I protected the fog light enclosures from the rough screen with lengths of black door edge guard, as pictured in several photos on previous pages. $1.99 from Pep Boys.

The whole project cost me less than $10 and the car is much more secure. Removing the front bumper on a five day old car is something I would never have imagined doing. You guys made it easy.

Just finished my install of the oil and ac condenser protectors. It took me about 4 hours from start to finish because I've never removed a bumber from a car before and second I wanted to take my time and do things right.

I did what most of you that have added the mesh screen on your 8s, used 1/4 inch galvanized wire mesh. Painted them with rustoleum flat black paint b/c I didn't want the original silver-ish color of the wire mesh to show. And a little elbow grease...voila!

BTW...Mazda does sell OEM oil condenser protectors (apologies if this has already been mentioned). My dealer sells them for $20 each but charges $267 for the install. I asked them if they have a similar but larger protector for the AC condenser and they said no.

Hmmm...1/4 inch wire mesh roll $6, black paint $5, DIY....priceless (or doesn't cost anything extra) = $11.00

Versus $307 for parts and labor from Mazda...and it doesn't even protect the AC condenser. I saved $296!!!

Well, I am finally getting round to posting what I came up with here in this thread.

I was looking for functionality and asthetics. From what I have seen of all of these, there are only one or two that really came close to what I thought were very decent. No offense to anyone but to have square holes on the front makes it look like looking through a screen door. The pattern in the front grille is diamond shaped, not square or any of the many other different patterns.

With that in mind I set out to produce a Screen/Grille that looked as well as it works. Here are the pics of this final installation.

The third pic shows where the original cover for the auto RX-8 cover in the missing oil cooler side on the right hand side of the rear of the bumper cover. Mazda mirrored these same mounting stanchions on both sides.

The second picture shows the frames I built to stiffen the aluminum material so that it sets right up against the rear of the bumper cover. It is also pop riveted with aluminum rivets. They are painted with a spray on synthetic rubber compound named Plasti Dip on one side and left bright aluminum on the other side. The production models will have the ability to change the sides from black to bright aluminum for those who wish to have the bright side out.

These are mounted with small brackets which are then screwed to the frame using stainless steel screws. The upper and outer most mount the mounting screw is directly through the frame and no bracket is used at that point.

I used three brackets to hold the frame in place. The first one has to be in place before mounting the frame in the upper outside corner.

The 4th and final mounting stanchion is shared with the fog light housing it's self.

The final look is also enhanced with the fog light accent strakes that are in front of the Oil Cooler Grill.

This all was designed with the help of the Mazda Service Manual.

Very nice job. :cool:

D Menac 7,
That's a nicely finished look, not only from the outside but also from the back. I like your point of how a diamond shaped mesh echoes the grille, whereas a square mesh (like mine) echoes, umm, a Honda Element!

I used the same mounting holes you did, but instead of framing the screen and making the curved clamps for the bottom holes, I bent the screen down to reach them. Your way looks cleaner and is probably much easier to install.

Couple of questions:
1. You're planning/hoping to offer these for sale at some point, right? Will you post here or...?

2. Any problem spray painting the screen material black?

3. Any plans for the big hole in the center that exposes the AC condensor? IMO any screen there ought to cover not only the wide opening just above the air dam but also the holes in the lower part of the RX-8 grille as well. A stone big enough to do damage could fit through the grille holes.

D Menac 7,
That's a nicely finished look, not only from the outside but also from the back. I like your point of how a diamond shaped mesh echoes the grille, whereas a square mesh (like mine) echoes, umm, a Honda Element!

I used the same mounting holes you did, but instead of framing the screen and making the curved clamps for the bottom holes, I bent the screen down to reach them. Your way looks cleaner and is probably much easier to install.

Couple of questions:
1. You're planning/hoping to offer these for sale at some point, right? Will you post here or...?

2. Any problem spray painting the screen material black?

3. Any plans for the big hole in the center that exposes the AC condensor? IMO any screen there ought to cover not only the wide opening just above the air dam but also the holes in the lower part of the RX-8 grille as well. A stone big enough to do damage could fit through the grille holes.

The answers to your questions are yes yes and yes.

1. You're planning/hoping to offer these for sale at some point, right?They can be ordered from RX8Fun on the vendor's forum located here: http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=37845

2. Any problem spray painting the screen material black? If you use just plain black paint, or any other color for that matter, you first need to use a primer. Also, if there is any debris that hits the screen, it will chip the paint. I put a coat of Adhesion promoter on these before they get sprayed with 4 coats of the synthetic black rubber compound. This compound resists chipping and the elements as well as chemicals.

3. Any plans for the big hole in the center that exposes the AC condensor? IMO any screen there ought to cover not only the wide opening just above the air dam but also the holes in the lower part of the RX-8 grille as well. A stone big enough to do damage I have plans but haven't worked up a frame as of yet. I know there are two more stanchions that can hold screws there. My guess they have something to do with the non US models that have head light washers and hold something relative to them. There are also other mounting points and I have some ideas as to how to do this but have not had the chance to put it into a final design. I did receive some diamond shaped aluminum material that has a larger weave than this material where as the diamond openings are two to the smallers three per inch. This means that something wouuld have to be approximately 1/3" or smaller to make it's way through. I will be looking at this in the near future.

Thanks!

I just did mine last weekend.

I am about to add the mesh to my 8, but i just thought about something else, has anyone thought about adding the wire mesh to the fender vents? maybe rig up a way to get it in there some how? just thought that it may look pretty cool. If someone has tried this, let me know how it looks. Thanks.

Whealy painted his silver.

I am about to add the mesh to my 8, but i just thought about something else, has anyone thought about adding the wire mesh to the fender vents? maybe rig up a way to get it in there some how? just thought that it may look pretty cool. If someone has tried this, let me know how it looks. Thanks.
It will work but, it is a pain in the ass to cut the other OEM plastic mesh out of the center of the thin vents. Besides, there are two support brackets to contend with.

Not that I have done it, mind you...shhhhhhhh ;) Stay tuned to an RX8club forum near you. :D

I finally got around to doing my "fix" for the oil cooler and A/C condensor/radiator protection and since it was a bit different solution to the problem, I thought I would post some pics and a short description of the process. I won't repeat the process of removing the nose since it is covered in detail elsewhere in this DIY.

For the A/C condensor/radiator protection, I used a diamond-shaped, expanded steel grid (Pic #1) that passes 63% of the air volume reaching the front of the grille. I purchased the grid at a local Lowe's hardware. This pattern provides about the highest air volume for the various available grid patterns while still providing protection against impact by significant-sized objects. Of course, the smaller the grid openings, the more blocking material and the lower volume of air that the grid will pass to the A/C condensor/radiator. This pattern nearly matches the pattern in the original grille, especially when painted black.

The grid was fabricated in 2 sections because the material was not long enough to cover the entire opening. The joint between the 2 pieces (Pic #2) was angled so that it was hidden by the rotary accent. Both sections of the grid were attached with a combination of one screw each into an existing hole along with several black zip ties. BTW, the steel is very difficult to work with and I would recommend using aluminum of the same pattern for much easier fabrication. Such material is available from several sources, some of them on-line including http://www.mcmaster.com, but it is not cheap.

For the oil coolers, I chose to purchase and install the Racing Beat grids. I had fabricated grids with the same expanded steel but I decided to go with the RB grids to simplified the installation (Pics #3&5). Installation of these grids was simple and staightforward. (With the nose off the car obviously.)

The final product is shown in picture #4.

For the A/C condensor/radiator protection, I used a diamond-shaped, expanded steel grid (Pic #1) that passes 63% of the air volume reaching the front of the grille. I purchased the grid at a local Lowe's hardware. This pattern provides about the highest air volume for the various available grid patterns while still providing protection against impact by significant-sized objects. Of course, the smaller the grid openings, the more blocking material and the lower volume of air that the grid will pass to the A/C condensor/radiator. This pattern nearly matches the pattern in the original grille, especially when painted black.

For the oil coolers, I chose to purchase and install the Racing Beat grids. I had fabricated grids with the same expanded steel but I decided to go with the RB grids to simplified the installation (Pics #3&5). Installation of these grids was simple and staightforward. (With the nose off the car obviously.)

The final product is shown in picture #4.

Nice work!

The stainless steel woven wire mesh I used has 71% open area, and will not allow something 1/4" in diameter though (Aperature is actually 5.3mm). And those RB ones - in the further back photo's it looks like they are not very open! And I didn't know they were not powder-coated either.

Hymee Enhanced Grill Kits - the original and still the best. In my unbiased opinion ;)

Cheers,
Hymee.

<<And those RB ones - in the further back photo's it looks like they are not very open! And I didn't know they were not powder-coated either.
>>

The RB grids are stainless steel wire mesh, and I believe that RB states 63% air passage. (The photo may be a little misleading.) I did the research on the dimensions of this mesh myself and it is, indeed, 63%. In researching the various screens and expanded metal mesh dimensions, I didn't see anything higher than 63%. Not to say there aren't some, just that I didn't see any.

Dont get me wrong, I wasn't critisizing you, your research, or your choice. I was just adding more "hard figures" to the discussion, and as a comparison.

63% airflow. Call me cynical, but I think of that as saying it is nearly 1/2 blocked.

Cheers,
Hymee.

No offense taken Hymee. In fact, I should retract my statement about 63% being the highest air passage available. I just checked McMaster's web site and it is obvious that my memory did not serve me well. According to the specs on some of their mesh sheets, you can get very high air passage. Of course, it is a trade-off between the amount of air passage, mesh size and opening size, so one must decide what they think is the best option for protection while still allowing adequate air passage to the radiators/coolers.

Looks good Go48!

No offense taken Hymee. In fact, I should retract my statement about 63% being the highest air passage available. I just checked McMaster's web site and it is obvious that my memory did not serve me well. According to the specs on some of their mesh sheets, you can get very high air passage. Of course, it is a trade-off between the amount of air passage, mesh size and opening size, so one must decide what they think is the best option for protection while still allowing adequate air passage to the radiators/coolers.

No worries mate.

Yes - the trick is getting the combo of wire size, apperature, and flow impediment optimal. I could have gotten more than 71% open area (I think about 80+), but it would have been at the expense of thinner wire, and larger "holes". So I chose what I did as the best option considering everything.

Cheers,
Hymee.

First let me show a table which is of wire cloth percentages of opening that may be of help.

It all comes down to guage of wire and size of opening as to what provides the most percentage of air passage.

This is with wire cloth which is very functional but not the prettiest of materials to use when appearance counts. ;)

What I use for the AC Condensor Grill is made from 0.051 thick aluminum with an open area percentage around 72%.

Here is a pic that gives a better idea as to how large the openings are in this material.

Something that is as small as 1/3" which would have to be at exactly the right angle could pass through this opening but, I have doubt that something that small could do any damage unless it was traveling at a balistic speed and I do not think that rocks and road debris travel that fast.

What we offer for the Oil Cooler Grill comes in even a smaller sized diamond pattern than this with openings that are only 1/4" in size. We also offer the smaller diamond pattern for the AC Condesnor Grill too if one wishes to keep the two identical.

My preference is to use the larger because it looks better covering such a large span. The small holes across that large a gap looks more like a screen door. :)

Speaking of which, if I just wanted protection, I would have cut up my screen door and stuck it in there, it would not have been pretty but it would have been functional.

I always say there is always room for improvement on any "original" so called "best".

RX8Fun Oil Cooler and AC Condensor Grills, more than just functional, they look good too. Perfection at it's finest.

Furthermore, these grills don't just sit behind the front end, they attach to the front end.

http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/668220 check out my grill ...

I just drill couple of hole in my oem front grille mesh. :p

Have not installed in back to my car yet

I just drill couple of hole in my oem front grille mesh. :p

Have not installed in back to my car yetI thought about this however that entire top section mearly sits infront of the bumper bar and the black plastic piece the bumper sits on, I didn't think i would help cooling much, probably just increase drag.

I quickly fabed up my own ac condenser/radiator screen, with a sheet of $9 diamond mesh from home depot. In order for it to not side directly on the condenser, i.e. have 1/2 inch of clearance I folded the edges into a box shape.

Further I cut out clearances for all the Freon lines that run to the condenser and other obstructions.

For the Oil colors I purchased the black plastic gutter guard from home depot, I attempted to use diamond mesh, however I can't stand silver colored grills and no paint I found could hold up to the punishment of rocks and it ended up looking very dodgy.

Pics below explain it very well.
PS brakekleen and degreaser along with some scrubbing gets the grills very clean.

I haven't used the stuff myself, but you can get high-quality mesh for grill screens in sheets from this guy:

http://www.customcargrills.com/

And, yes, this is different stuff than what they sell at Lowes for gutters...similar in appearance, but stronger and better weather proofing.

OTOH...I guarantee that cheapo aluminum Gutter Guard would look better than what you're using here...and protect better, too. Just make sure you get the aluminum kind and not the galvanized steel kind, unless you're also going to spray paint them with Rust-oleum...


THIS PLACE DOESNT EVEN CARRY RX8 STUFF...I SEARCHED FOR RX8 AND GOT NO RESULTS!!!!!!!

how did you attach the screens to the back of the bumpers?? i'm kind of scared to get a grill kit...because of the zip ties. what do you guys think?

after putting in the mesh from Michaels.... i can't help but think that it looks like my friend couldn't afford the whole car. :lol:

I did this over the weekend. The screens are metal gutter guard from Home Depot ($1.94 X 2) and I painted them with some decent gloss black spray paint from Rustoleum. The paint chips very easily, and I even used primer. Just be carefull when you are installing the grills and you should be okay. I don't think it will bother me, but only time will tell how much it will really chip. I also painted the plastic grill in the bumper while I had the bumper off. It comes out easily and I like the way all the grills match.

Furthermore, these grills don't just sit behind the front end, they attach to the front end.

First pic.. Where did you get those things by the fog light?

First pic.. Where did you get those things by the fog light?

if you are referring to the strakes, then rotoryFX.com sells them.