I'm keen on some protection too so please let me know ... whilst you are at it, you you think that the radiator needs some defense too. I know its a long way back but rock can fly quite a distance ...

 

Do you mean the oil cooler? The condensor is directly in front of the radiator. I'm planning to put a grille in front of both.

 

Hymee, do you have a screen yet?
Will it be just for the centre air inlet or will you be also doing a screen covering the smaller radiator/oilcooler in the LHS (passenger side) duct which seems to be much more exposed. I have a new RX-8 and I am very concerned about stone hits on these radiator/cooler components as I do a lot of highspeed freeway driving along with many large semi-trailers and I had a screen fitted to my previous car ofr the same reason after a number of hits. Looking forward to the pictures and I will be very interested in fitting a screen kit if it looks good and you are going to provide them to interested parties.

Cheers,

Tony.

 

Tony,

Here are some pics of my first prototype...

Un-painted:


Painted, off car:


Painted, on car:


That will keep the nasties out!

I plan on offering these for sale in a kit to interested parties, ready to install with installation instructions and all required fittings.

I am also thinking of the oil-cooler as well, although it seems to be made out of a heavier material (not confirmed), and it is higher up off the ground, therefore perhaps less susceptible. Who knows.

Anyway - I hope you like how it looks!

Cheers,
Hymee.

Related thread in the Tech Garage area

 

Looks pretty good Hymee, and as I do a lot of hwy miles, er, ks I'd be interested. What are your thoughts on price including delivery to Canberra?

Timbo

 

Timbo, I'd be keen too, so we could perhaps get both shipped down together, might be cheaper.

 

Suits me, Pepe

OK Hymee -- you have some customers!

Timbo

 

Hey Hymee,

I'm having problems downloading your JPG's. Any chance making the images smaller?

 

Same. I can't see them either.

 

I've been having a bit of trouble with some images displaying here too (and on another forum). However, I found that if I saved the pages to my hard drive and then opened it from there, then the pics showed up fine.

Not sure why this is, but they aren't especially large (from around 56k to 78k according to Explorer). It might take a few minutes for the full page to load and save as the 5 pics there are about 330k and the other bits and pieces bring it up to over 450k.

Saving the page to HD might be worth a try if you can't get the pics to show on your screen normally.

Oh, and I like the look of the grille Hymee, nice work. I would also be interested if you make kits - or even just knowing more about the mesh, where to buy it, etc.

 

Hi guys,

I don't know why they are not working, but the links themselves work to where I host them, just not from when launched in a browser. Weird.

Unpainted:

 

That last one came up fine on my browser.

BTW, I notice that on car forums people very often seem to blank out their licence plates. A general privacy precaution I guess, but is there some specific 'nasty' that people are guarding against? Some particular misuse of the image or information that could occur?

 

Still looks like problems.

So if you right click these links, then "save target as..." you should be OK.

Un-painted

Painted, off-car

Painted, on-car

Hope that helps.

Cheers,
Hymee.

 

We if the law was reading, and they see a nice picture with plates from Mr RX8FAAAST, along with that other post where they boast about doing 235km/h down the queens highway, they may well get more attention than they bargined for next time they are out and about.

Cheers
---Dave

 

Thanx for the pics Hymee, they worked fine for me, and looks good. I'm definitely interested once you get it sorted!
Are you going to paint black or maybe you could source anodised or powder coated mesh as they are liss prone to chipping. How is the screen fixed to the fibreglass bumper/airdam?
Also what about the little radiator/cooler in the LHS duct which shows clearly on the RHS of your pic and it is in a more vulnerable position?

Cheers,

Tony.

 

Sorry Hymee, looked at the pics but didn't read your comments below them covering the oil cooler .

As for being higher up and maybe less vulnerable to stones, I don't think so. Consider how many headlights get broken by stones and windscreens with 'stars' from freeway driving.

It does seem to have some sort of "rubberised" coating which will help with the bug hits but probably not with stones at high speed. Also it would possibly have a more deavastating effect - its one thing to get a bit hot in the cabin, but it is an entirely different thing to possibly cook the wonderful rotary engine, even ignoring the price of the cooler component!

I think it definitely needs to be better protected, what do you think?

Looking forward to

Cheers,

Tony.

 

I am planning on including an oil-cooler grill as part of the kit.

Powder coating would be the go, but of course add to the expense. Then some people might wan't a different colour etc. Just because I like black doesn't mean everyone else does. What are ppls thoughts?

I hope to have it all sorted over the weekend, and I will be able to post a price. I am thinking around $80 - what do you think? Money well spent I hope.

BTW - There does seem to be a problem with the site - at the moment my browser is stuck on downloading "spacer.gif"

Cheers,
Hymee.

 

HYMEE

Count me in as soon as u are ready , they look great .

 

Count me in too. I think black is the go. Matches the black grill above it.

I think the forum server might be part of the picture problem also. The"save target as" pictures worked a treat though.

Great job on the grill.

 

Hi Hymee

$80 and black seems like a good deal -- count me in

Timbo

 

For that price, definitely... I actually think the black will look great on my car, I've always felt that there's too many gaps right down low anyway, so this should help... either that or I buy a Mazdaspeed kit LOL

 

tell me hymee, will it fit the same for a front end with the air dam?

 

Hey this looks like a great idea!

I think I'm in.... let me know when I have to make a decision !

 

That is why I am making them - because those dam stones come in through that dam opening.

Seriously, I'll have to take a look at the air dam and see the difference.

Cheers,
Hymee.

 

Here's my grille. This is the same mesh as Hymee's except it's in matt black instead of gloss black. This is all my own work... so I can't vouch for Hymee's effort. But I've seen his in person on the SE Qld drive last week.. and it looks good.

The stainless steel mesh is very strong... is significantly harder to cut than some aviary wire I've got.

Sorry about the picture... will post one taken in the daytime sometime soon.