DIY: DLS Customs oil cooler grilles, fog light strakes and AC condenser grille inst.
03-19-2005, 05:08 PM
#1
DIY: DLS Customs oil cooler grilles, fog light strakes and AC condenser grille inst.
Yesterday I installed the oil cooler grilles, fog light strakes and the AC condenser grille from DLS Customs. I wasn't particularly thrilled about removing the bumper, but after all, things were actually pretty easy. Dennis gives very good installation instructions, so that makes things simple. I snapped a few pictures and made some observations that might help other people who are planning to do a similar installation. Here it goes:
First, let's see the preparation steps - the first pic shows the grilles and strakes out of the box, with some of the included fasteners. I didn't make a picture of the AC condenser grille in the wrapper.
As it was mentioned, the bumper must come off. Follow the instructions in this thread.
You will need some rug underneath the bumper while working on it to prevent scratches. Don't take any chances...
After taking off the bumper, now it is a good time to clean your oil coolers from bugs, pebbles, critters and any other dead creatures that might have gotten caught there. I used a small flathead screwdriver to straighten the cooler fins (luckily I only had a very small amount to clean off and straighten).
First, let's see the preparation steps - the first pic shows the grilles and strakes out of the box, with some of the included fasteners. I didn't make a picture of the AC condenser grille in the wrapper.
As it was mentioned, the bumper must come off. Follow the instructions in this thread.
You will need some rug underneath the bumper while working on it to prevent scratches. Don't take any chances...
After taking off the bumper, now it is a good time to clean your oil coolers from bugs, pebbles, critters and any other dead creatures that might have gotten caught there. I used a small flathead screwdriver to straighten the cooler fins (luckily I only had a very small amount to clean off and straighten).
Last edited by Tamas; 03-19-2005 at 08:04 PM.
03-19-2005, 05:09 PM
#2
To install the AC grille, you have to remove the black plastic aero package support. My car has the stock front aero lip, so I'm not sure how this looks on a car without it, but I suppose this is there on all cars. You need to remove the screws marked with red, and also the two little black plastic pushpins at both ends. The second photo shows the bumper without the support and the third is a shot of the bumper with all screw and fastener position marked that need to be removed.
Last edited by Tamas; 03-19-2005 at 05:23 PM.
03-19-2005, 05:11 PM
#3
The upper edge of the grille will be attached to the marked two spots, so you need to remove these fasteners. Just pry the center piece with a flathead screwdriver and they will pop out real easily. Dennis provided two replacement fasteners that will be used in place of the stock ones - this is necessary because the thickness of the grille material will not allow you to reuse the originals. I wish I had two more of these and then I would have utilized the other two spots as well, although that is not really necessary. I just tend to fasten things the strongest I can 
The mounting points are marked with red on the grille for your convenience, and they are dead on in this case...
The mounting points are marked with red on the grille for your convenience, and they are dead on in this case...
Last edited by Tamas; 03-21-2005 at 04:12 AM.
03-19-2005, 05:13 PM
#4
The next step is to use two screws with a large washer to attach the grille to two stock screw holes. As you can see in these pics, the red markings were a tiny bit off in my case, but that's no biggie. There is enough overhang of the grille so that you can use any mount position that fits the screw holes on your bumper.
After this, you need to bend the grille over the edge of the bumper openings so that it will follow the contour of the bumper. I have no photo about doing this on the lower edge, but it's basically the same there. Dennis' instructions explain this really well. He marked the bend line on the grille, but it's pretty obvious anyway.
After this, you need to bend the grille over the edge of the bumper openings so that it will follow the contour of the bumper. I have no photo about doing this on the lower edge, but it's basically the same there. Dennis' instructions explain this really well. He marked the bend line on the grille, but it's pretty obvious anyway.
03-19-2005, 05:14 PM
#5
The next thing is to re-attach the black aero package support element. This will cover the bent grille so that the mesh is between the bumper and this black support thingy. You can reuse all the screws except for the middle one (marked) because that became too short for me. I just replaced that screw with a longer one and the AC grille is done with this.
03-19-2005, 05:16 PM
#6
Next on the list are the oil cooler grilles. As you can see on the first photo, stock mounting locations will be used on the bumper - makes you wonder what was the original intention by Mazda for these. Maybe they were thinking about including such grilles to begin with but then they decided not to? 
The location marked with the arrow is also used to hold the fog light in place. You probably will need a longer screw than the one there already - use one that is included in the package. If you use anything longer, it might poke out on the other side and that'll ruin the front of the bumper
As mentioned, Dennis provides the necessary fasteners for his products - and I found them perfectly adequate except for this one case. On the second picture, you can see the black plastic push pin that was intended to hold the mounting brackets to the grille frame. I felt that these might not be sturdy enough to hold the grille in place, so I substituted them with nuts and bolts. These will not be visible since they are covered by the brackets or are behind the bumper, so the silver color will not stick out. I used two nuts on each bolt to secure them.
The location marked with the arrow is also used to hold the fog light in place. You probably will need a longer screw than the one there already - use one that is included in the package. If you use anything longer, it might poke out on the other side and that'll ruin the front of the bumper
As mentioned, Dennis provides the necessary fasteners for his products - and I found them perfectly adequate except for this one case. On the second picture, you can see the black plastic push pin that was intended to hold the mounting brackets to the grille frame. I felt that these might not be sturdy enough to hold the grille in place, so I substituted them with nuts and bolts. These will not be visible since they are covered by the brackets or are behind the bumper, so the silver color will not stick out. I used two nuts on each bolt to secure them.
03-19-2005, 05:19 PM
#7
When installing the grilles, you need to attach the upper bracket to the bumper first. The two lower brackets come already attached to the grille frame with plastic pins but as said, I replaced those with the bolts. You attach the two lower brackets to the stock mounting holes, plus there's one more screw that goes directly into a screw hole without bracket.
The following pics show the grilles installed in place. I also marked the locations where the fog light strakes are attached to the grille. These are using the same black plastic push pins that were in the previous post. Here, the fact that these are flexible (and so are the strakes as well) is a very important feature, as it lets you to bend them slightly in case that's necessary to position them properly. The outer edge of the strakes are held to the bumper via double-sided tape.
Now the only thing remaining is to put the bumper back on and it's done.
The following pics show the grilles installed in place. I also marked the locations where the fog light strakes are attached to the grille. These are using the same black plastic push pins that were in the previous post. Here, the fact that these are flexible (and so are the strakes as well) is a very important feature, as it lets you to bend them slightly in case that's necessary to position them properly. The outer edge of the strakes are held to the bumper via double-sided tape.
Now the only thing remaining is to put the bumper back on and it's done.
Last edited by Tamas; 03-19-2005 at 08:11 PM.
03-19-2005, 05:21 PM
#8
And here is the result.
I really like the way this looks and can recommend these to anyone. Time will tell how the fog light strakes will stay in place - hopefully the fact that they are on with those flexible plastic pins will help them against some bozo in the car wash
Worst case scenario: if they come off or get damaged, I can take them off without having to remove the bumper again and will still have the grilles in place. Hope that will not be necessary though
Perfect protection against flying debris and cool looks - I'm very happy how this came out. Kudos to DLS Customs.
I really like the way this looks and can recommend these to anyone. Time will tell how the fog light strakes will stay in place - hopefully the fact that they are on with those flexible plastic pins will help them against some bozo in the car wash
Worst case scenario: if they come off or get damaged, I can take them off without having to remove the bumper again and will still have the grilles in place. Hope that will not be necessary though
Perfect protection against flying debris and cool looks - I'm very happy how this came out. Kudos to DLS Customs.
03-19-2005, 05:59 PM
#9
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Nice looking install. I just did my oil cooler grill & fog light strake install today as well. My kit was missing some installation hardware, but I made due. The grilles are on nice and secure, but I'd like the strakes to be more secure. They'll probably be fine, but they don't feel as solid as I'd really like them to. Putting the bumper cover back on wasn't much fun either. I kept trying to find the magic angle to reinstall it where it would just click back into place, but couldn't. I got it back on, and all the holes lined up and the fasteners went back in, so I guess i did it right. There aren't any misalignments that I can find, so I'm gonna call it a success.
I also bought side strakes. Those I installed the day I got them, as they're really easy to do. Rock solid install, and they look great.
I also bought side strakes. Those I installed the day I got them, as they're really easy to do. Rock solid install, and they look great.
03-19-2005, 07:50 PM
#10
Yes, I agree about the strakes... they could be more secure but I still hope they'll be alright. I was thinking first about using screws instead of the plastic pins, but decided against it as I feared the screws would be stronger than the material of the strakes and could break them.
Putting the bumper back wasn't much fun for me either - I pretty much fared like you. Everything lines up fine, so I suppose I'm OK as well.
Putting the bumper back wasn't much fun for me either - I pretty much fared like you. Everything lines up fine, so I suppose I'm OK as well.
Last edited by Tamas; 03-19-2005 at 07:52 PM.
03-19-2005, 08:02 PM
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Nice write up...even I could follow these instructions.. 
I generally like to have a helper to reinstall the bumper but one you get the sides snapped in place the rest is simple.
Car looks great BTW
I generally like to have a helper to reinstall the bumper but one you get the sides snapped in place the rest is simple.
Car looks great BTW
03-19-2005, 08:38 PM
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It must have been something in the air... I also added grills to my oil coolers and ac area today.. though not from DLS.. I went the cheap route and used Gutter Gard from home Depot.
While not quite as 'finished' as DLS version, it will get the job done.
However... something I found to be a real PITA was the silly foglights... there was almost no extra wire slack and even with my small hands it was extremely hard to unplug the dang things..
Even worse to put back when reinstalling the bumper since the area near the fogs are now covered with the mesh....just found it odd no one bothered to mention this in any of the posts I read.. was quite frustrated with that part.. the rest was a breeze.
Best part was the surpise visit by my parents and some old friends from out of town. The first thing my mother sees, is me sitting on the floor in front of my new car, with the bumper behind me :P
While not quite as 'finished' as DLS version, it will get the job done.
However... something I found to be a real PITA was the silly foglights... there was almost no extra wire slack and even with my small hands it was extremely hard to unplug the dang things..
Even worse to put back when reinstalling the bumper since the area near the fogs are now covered with the mesh....just found it odd no one bothered to mention this in any of the posts I read.. was quite frustrated with that part.. the rest was a breeze.
Best part was the surpise visit by my parents and some old friends from out of town. The first thing my mother sees, is me sitting on the floor in front of my new car, with the bumper behind me :P
03-20-2005, 03:28 PM
#13
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That "something in the air" is called "warmth" and it affected me too, up here in NJ.
I installed my DLS strakes and a/c and oil cooler grills this past week. The black grills did not come marked with pretty red paint so placement was a bit challenging as was the lack of cuts along the bottom of the A/C grill for conforming to the curvature. On the oil cooler grill, the top C shaped bracket just would not align and I broke it in the process of attemting to get it to fit. It seems to support OK on the top screw and the two lower brackets so I won't bother removing the bumper again just to replace that bracket. Directions posted were only for the RX-8 with the appearance lip making it a bit puzzling for me with the plain front end.
The strakes went on OK but only after I chased the threads in the strakes as the screws went in so tight they felt overtight before they were home. Ran the tap into them carefully and the rest went according to plan.
I think these mods add 0.00001 HP <grin> but the appearance factor is really good. I also like protecting the condensor and cooler against road hazard damage which others have observed is NOT covered under warranty.
I installed my DLS strakes and a/c and oil cooler grills this past week. The black grills did not come marked with pretty red paint so placement was a bit challenging as was the lack of cuts along the bottom of the A/C grill for conforming to the curvature. On the oil cooler grill, the top C shaped bracket just would not align and I broke it in the process of attemting to get it to fit. It seems to support OK on the top screw and the two lower brackets so I won't bother removing the bumper again just to replace that bracket. Directions posted were only for the RX-8 with the appearance lip making it a bit puzzling for me with the plain front end.
The strakes went on OK but only after I chased the threads in the strakes as the screws went in so tight they felt overtight before they were home. Ran the tap into them carefully and the rest went according to plan.
I think these mods add 0.00001 HP <grin> but the appearance factor is really good. I also like protecting the condensor and cooler against road hazard damage which others have observed is NOT covered under warranty.
03-25-2005, 09:32 PM
#14
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Thanks for all of the feedback and tips. These are very helpful and allow me to make necessary changes in production runs. I now use a tap to thread each strake so that every strake is properly threaded and I check the depth. I had my son do some of the drilling of the mounting holes before as I had clearly marked the bit for depth but should have checked them myself. The reason before for not taping the threads was that I wanted the first pass of the mounting bolt to actually cut the threads so as to make sure they held tight to the resin walls. This material is a softer than metal make up and will strip wth repeated turning of the bolt taking them on or off. However, in practical use, this is not going to happen and some of the experience of others is the reason I started to tap the holes.
As for the flexible pins...they are made of nlon and go into the mounting holes very tightly. Once in, they are very tight and have to be yanked off to remove. The reason for using them to mount the brackets to the frames is they are designed to be floating so that adjustment to the mounting up next to the fog ligh housing they need to float a bit. Any impact will push the grill into the mounting bracket and not push out away from the frame so they do not have to be very tight, they only need to suspend the grille and hold it in place for the protection of the il cooler radiators. My next design change will be to have these mounts, or similar mounts, be part of the frame, as in one piece. The design of this mold will be complex but I have thought it through in my mind about how to do it.
As for the strakes holding. I kept the original ones on my car with just double sided mounting tape for 3 months before removing due to the current design changes. Next generation strakes will utilized a slightly dfferent design where they will attach to the frames at both ends and will be even more solid. I have made every attempt to mount these to the grille frames without the need to drill holes into any of the parts of the RX-8 so as to preserve the car's integrity without sacrificing anything in the end. That way they can be removed without damaging any stock part. If I could talk people into drilling into the sdes of the fog light housing as originally needs to be done with the non fog light version and to also drill into the inside edge of the front bumper cover, I would but I feel that I would get much more resistance to do such.
With every feedback and review, wth every redesign, the products get better and for the feedback, I appreciate this. It is helpful and it is desired. If anyone has any helpful thoughts, receives any item that they feel they could put some input into to improve it, please do so.
In addition, if there are problems with anythimg. get in touch with me and I will resolve it. Just one problem can cause me to stop and redesign as was the result of the grilles before this generaton. Also, if anything breaks, any hardware is missing, or any problems with anything, I will gladly send replacements or even send a new improved version as I have done with other customers in the past.
As for the markings on the grilles, Since coating both sides with the Plasti Dip, I stopped marking the AC grilles with the red marker. I provide the instructions as a guideline as they are quite easy to figure out. The one that didn't have the cuts at the bottom should have, I must have missed that one which will make me more aware of that in the future.
Mazda prvided the stanchions for the cover that goes on the right and side of the auto 8. The reason they are on the left is simply a mirror of the design, it is easier just to do it that way. I think the ones in the middle may be for holding the hose of the 8s which have the headlight washers, that is just a guess on my part though as I have never seen behind the bumper of one.
For replacing the front bumper, the magic is to tilt it up from the bottom, put it on the pin and gently lower it into place making sure the pin keeps hold of the bumper. Once lowered and the bumper is in place under the headlights, the corners are simply clicked into place then all of the bolts are put back. I think that I have removed the front bumper at least 10 times so far and I hate the short fog light connection cords too. But, you get used to it, well maybe you don't but I have. This summer I am planning on mounting my cheap Fiberglass MS style front end so I will not have to go through this routine again.
Tamas, they look great, by the way, I like them on your 8. Thanks for the pics.
As for the flexible pins...they are made of nlon and go into the mounting holes very tightly. Once in, they are very tight and have to be yanked off to remove. The reason for using them to mount the brackets to the frames is they are designed to be floating so that adjustment to the mounting up next to the fog ligh housing they need to float a bit. Any impact will push the grill into the mounting bracket and not push out away from the frame so they do not have to be very tight, they only need to suspend the grille and hold it in place for the protection of the il cooler radiators. My next design change will be to have these mounts, or similar mounts, be part of the frame, as in one piece. The design of this mold will be complex but I have thought it through in my mind about how to do it.
As for the strakes holding. I kept the original ones on my car with just double sided mounting tape for 3 months before removing due to the current design changes. Next generation strakes will utilized a slightly dfferent design where they will attach to the frames at both ends and will be even more solid. I have made every attempt to mount these to the grille frames without the need to drill holes into any of the parts of the RX-8 so as to preserve the car's integrity without sacrificing anything in the end. That way they can be removed without damaging any stock part. If I could talk people into drilling into the sdes of the fog light housing as originally needs to be done with the non fog light version and to also drill into the inside edge of the front bumper cover, I would but I feel that I would get much more resistance to do such.
With every feedback and review, wth every redesign, the products get better and for the feedback, I appreciate this. It is helpful and it is desired. If anyone has any helpful thoughts, receives any item that they feel they could put some input into to improve it, please do so.
In addition, if there are problems with anythimg. get in touch with me and I will resolve it. Just one problem can cause me to stop and redesign as was the result of the grilles before this generaton. Also, if anything breaks, any hardware is missing, or any problems with anything, I will gladly send replacements or even send a new improved version as I have done with other customers in the past.
As for the markings on the grilles, Since coating both sides with the Plasti Dip, I stopped marking the AC grilles with the red marker. I provide the instructions as a guideline as they are quite easy to figure out. The one that didn't have the cuts at the bottom should have, I must have missed that one which will make me more aware of that in the future.
Mazda prvided the stanchions for the cover that goes on the right and side of the auto 8. The reason they are on the left is simply a mirror of the design, it is easier just to do it that way. I think the ones in the middle may be for holding the hose of the 8s which have the headlight washers, that is just a guess on my part though as I have never seen behind the bumper of one.
For replacing the front bumper, the magic is to tilt it up from the bottom, put it on the pin and gently lower it into place making sure the pin keeps hold of the bumper. Once lowered and the bumper is in place under the headlights, the corners are simply clicked into place then all of the bolts are put back. I think that I have removed the front bumper at least 10 times so far and I hate the short fog light connection cords too. But, you get used to it, well maybe you don't but I have. This summer I am planning on mounting my cheap Fiberglass MS style front end so I will not have to go through this routine again.
Tamas, they look great, by the way, I like them on your 8. Thanks for the pics.
07-19-2007, 08:07 AM
#17
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www.grilleguy.com has some decent looking grilles. No strakes though.
07-25-2007, 12:21 PM
#19
As it was said, these grilles and strakes are not available anymore since the guy making them is out of the business of fabricating RX-8 parts.
Also, the fog light strakes became problematic after a while. Simply put, the material was not strong enough and they warped (from the heat of the oil coolers I suppose). So I took them off, but left the grilles in place. Those are still going strong after more than two years and look fine.
Also, the fog light strakes became problematic after a while. Simply put, the material was not strong enough and they warped (from the heat of the oil coolers I suppose). So I took them off, but left the grilles in place. Those are still going strong after more than two years and look fine.
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