Mesh Grills!
 

I was recently washing the 8 when i found candy wrappers stuck under the front bumper. I decided that that was the last straw! So I began looking for mesh screens to enhance the appearance of the car/protect from unwanted foreign objects. I have looked at strakes, and many other grill manufacturing sites. So far This site has had the nicest looking gills in my opinion. (www.grilleguy.com) However I also went on Mcmastcarr.com and typed in wire mesh, and get the same tpye of grill only in stainless, and have alot more option to chose from. So my question is this. Has anyone had anyluck with any of these grills, are they flimsy? DO they rattle? Are they mounted securly or held in place by some mere tie-straps. Any input would be greatly appretiated.

I used to have the ones from grilleguy...very high quality and sturdy. The ones from rx8strakes are flimsy. You can even get the ones from grilleguy powdercoated black too, which I recommend because it was way too bold for my taste just aluminum.

Pics of grilleguy center and rx8strakes lower: (should have gotten the grilleguy lower too)
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...1/DSC01078.jpg
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...1/DSC01075.jpg

see very bold...some like it, some don't...black powdercoat would look awesome IMO

Good luck!

Yea, grill guy appears to be thicker aluminum. Powder coat huh? I was thinking of getting the RaZor mesh it has a little bit more flow than the standard one they sell, what do think? How about installation was it simple? Any extra hardware i should buy before attempting to install the mesh?


By the way the mesh looks real good man nice job!

"RAZR grilles - Made from our Super Hi Flow aluminum these grilles have 63% Open Area with 5/32 inch holes. You CAN'T get more flow with out going to "Chicken Wire". This is the highest flow material available in a circular pattern."

Well then the RAZR wins my seal of approval.

Get it in Black if you can,or powder coat it. Would look much better.

yeah, go with the razr, those look nice. I think to have them powdercoated it was 10 bucks or so more...I don't remember.

you have to take off your front bumper to mount them, they go on easily with some zipties. he will provide you a link for installation instructions on completion of order as well.

Awesome, guys thanks im going to go ahead and order it now. Ill post pics During and after installation is complete.

A good choice. Don't forget the pics.

Get them from grille guy... got the entire set for the front. Center, Oil Coolers, and Bottom. Got mine with the Black Powder Coat and it looks awsome on my WB. Have not got pics yet. with shipping it was $116.00 :ylsuper:

post pictures :) i has wb and was looking into these grilles just the other day

Make your own. I did. I got stuff from homedepot for cheeper that what you pay for online. Dont feel like doing a DIY? well guess what? you still have to take off the from bumper to install everything lol

I'm sorry, but the stuff at home depot can't look as good as these

pictures?

116 for mesh?? damn.

it's not like standard mesh....very thick and durable

This stuff is top quality... not Home Depot Rain Gutter or chicken wire from Autozone. It is Perforated Aluminum 1/16 of an inch thick...

http://images.marketworks.com/hi/66/66199/bpc_1.jpg

I know its pricey, for that price you can get a nice big 30''X 30'' of stainless mesh, I guess in the end it comes with pice of mind knowing that it is made to fit the RX-8, and it has worked with various customers. That is the main reason why i would dish out the 119 buks for the grille-guys, wire mesh. Plus it has the option of powder coating which you do not have w/ the home-depot stuff.

Autotechnica also has some mesh material. Thats what i have on my 8. not sure if this is what your looking for, but it is about half the price of the grilleguy stuff and you can get it in black, but as i said im not sure if this is what your looking for.

I can't say that I much care for the round hole grill look personally, nor would I agree with their quote of not being able to flow more air than their design, but it does appear to be of solid quality. There are going to be those who do like it, but it's not my cup of tea.

I believe a diamond mesh grill would provide more air flow comparatively and still provide the much needed protection for the oil coolers and the fogs. Having a grill on the lower most portion of the front bumper opening is overkill imo, but if one were to be concerned with radiator damage, it should be painted black if done.

Not trying to toot my own horn, but this is one of 3 front bumpers I've had for my 8; this one below with brushed aluminum diamond mesh, and the other two with black diamond mesh.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n...6/HPIM1405.jpg

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n...6/GEDC0210.jpg

Grill style is a matter of personal taste, so to each their own, but there are a lot of small stones in our area due to the extensive "rockscaping" done in Arizona that threaten the fogs and grasshoppers that love to embed themselves in the oil coolers in the summer time, so I felt the need to help keep the oil coolers from having mangled fins and having to replace a broken fog lamp sooner than later.

Nice job Rx8evo! Mesh looks real good man, yea i like the contrast of the black mesh better. My order should be arriving between wed and friday. I plan on installing the mesh Saturday if i have enough time if not ill do it on Sunday for sure.

Actually I would suggest these guys, I had this on my original MS front before I recently had it replaced, I have another sheet as a spare. The powdercoat is top notch and the material is very stout.

http://www.customcargrills.com/

Question...I was reading up on the manual to install the grills from grilleguy, and i see that it says something about having an extra set of screws for the installation in order to install the grill rigidly on the bumper assembly. Any of you know what size screw they are referring to so i can buy them.

Well the Grills are in, see pic =) I will probably be installing them on Christmas morning before the peoples wakes up. If not ill have em in by Saturday noon. :)

Done

Pics

get some pix from far away to get the whole front end

i would have removed the stock grill. it looks weird with a double grill in there.

You cannot see it too well bc/of the color and the sun is to bright, but it looks pretty fresh.

When i took off the stock grill the bumper got all flimsy, so i decided to just keep it and put the grill over it. It seems that the front OEM grills adds rigidity to the bumper. Installation was pretty strait forward, took only 3 hours, including a lunch brake.

I like it, looks good

Thanks! Glad you like it, i had to make a few extra holes in the bumper assembly, the instructions that are provided leave the grills kind of floppy so i made a couple of extra holes and added some extra screws ect.ect. Its on pretty tight now.

did you just put the front grille over the oem one??
looks great

Yes, I was going to take the OEM one off but once i did i noticed the bumper got like jello, and the aluminum grill that was going to replace the front OEM grill was just not thick enough to support the front bumper assembly. And also if you take the front OEM grill you can see the Styrofoam piece that goes behind the bumper looks real ugly.

Some more pics

the front bumper wont be flimsy once installed on the car.

spray paint the styrofoam black.

but i know you have it all done and arent keen on taking everything off again. its a bitch i know.

I seriously thought about doing that, and i would not mind taking off the front bumper to do all that, the problem is having time to do it! lol Thanks for the idea kersh4w, it was also raining on the day i was doing this so painting would have been out of the question. I guess when i get ready to put my CAI in ill do all of that. And another thing you'll be surprised of how dirty it is behind your front bumper, i had spider eggs growing in there and spider webs every were, i guess since bc/i keep my car outside all the little bug and critters crawl in and call it home.

This is what I put on mine. Blk powder coat. You can get it from custom car grills. I tried to get it in every opening. If you zoom in on the hood pic you can see it in there too and in the fender.

http://www.customcargrills.com/products.asp?id=44

Very good thread, but I am worried about air flow.

I have the racing beat gauges installed on the car, and i have not noticed any difference in water temp, oil temp, or oil pressure for that matter. Anyways since i last posted, I took my front bumper off again and put back on my Oil cooler air diverters, I cant say i notice a difference but i guess it helps. Soon I will be taking off the Mid front OEM grill and making a custom grill similar to the ones in the pics to replace the whole front OEM grill.

Okay so today i removed the front bumper, and put the mid front grill one, here are some pics, they look bad bc/ they were taken with my phone. I painted the Styrofoam piece a flat black color. I also had to cut off some the the plastic on the bumper to make way for the grill, thank god for a DREMEL!!

Some more pics

ANd some more

Thats all of them

Cant really see any details in your pic's :uhh:

Need bigger pics. Hard to say, but it looks better without the other grille behind it.

THe 1st 2 that I took are the largest, i dont have a good camera so sry guys =(

Some more pics
 

more pics

more

I'd been dragging my feet on adding mesh, had read this thread before, and the last round of pictures had me make up my mind.

I went with the powder coated razr side and lower grills from grilleguy. Came out to like $75. I can't bring myself to pull my main grille although jonathan's looks nice with the foam backing painted black.

that looks really good man....how did you attach it?

Let me tell you the mid grill is a pain in the ass. It involves cutting and drilling into the bumper, and you need a dremel no if ands or buts. 05 it is attached my small wire ties. you cant really see them b/c they are really small and close to the grill. If you look hard enough tho you can see them. Shell if you have any questions about mounting your grills let me know. Also you might want to keep the air diverters for your oil coolers. I know that the grill guy manual says to take them off but i suggest other wise. They were put there for a reason! And if any of you are wondering the paint i used is Duplicolor for priming the bumpers. I'm not sure but i believe it is safe for Styrofoam.