Kel Rx8

i dont think mazda could of done it better
oops they didnt
thats why theres a demand
great job dennis

D MENAC 7

Thanks Kel. The finished product will even look better as it will be totally flush up against the fog light and leave absolutely no space between it and the frame. I am still going to reduce the size of the trim around the fog light so that there is just a small bead around it when I am done. Now to find the time with the strakes needing more sanding, more sanding, more sanding. I have yet to find a machine that can sand these as well as the hand. My finger prints are slowly disapearing strake by strake.... I am starting to understand what antichristpm felt and he only did a few sets...however, I will not give up, they will be made.

D MENAC 7

Who knows, maybe I'll redesign the fog light housing eventually so that it can hold a different style of light. :D Any ideas?

cgrx

Keep Up The Good Work !

D MENAC 7

Thanks but at this rate I might drop dead soon. :D My fingers are hurting, damned strakes. :D

orbist

See www.rx8bits.co.uk for some steel based ones

D MENAC 7

Once again, seen those and they are fugly. Square holes are just not my idea of going along with the diamond shape of the oem grille. Also, they sit back behind the fog light and are not against the front of the nose so they look like an add on not something that would be stock.

MadRonin

Have you ever thought of using a brass tumbler like reloaders use for their empty bullet casings? My dad uses a tumbler to clean all of his shells before he reloads them. It shines them up somethin' purdy. Might work for your stuff.

tokenbrit

Ditto.
And please also consider replacement side ducts (or whatever they are supposed to be), which live behind the front wheels. :D

Air Force RX8

I agree 110%! Those on RX-8 Bits look really crappy. They are purely functional and look out of place. Keep on truckin' Dennis you are the man!

D MENAC 7

Yep, I have. Even got started on them but, have to catch up on some of the other ones first. I am going to have to hire someone soon, I think. But first...

Here is the design I thought about in changing the side vents a bit. The bigest problem is that there are two solid pieces that are most likely there for support behind the grille that bridge the gap of this vent. There are other thoughts I haven't had the time to work on yet.

Nemesis8

iTrader: (3)

The new strakes from Mazda use clamps that go behind these solid braces.

Back to the oil cooler grills. When can we order??? I'm like a kid in candy factory on this one.

D MENAC 7

I am shooting for taking the first orders next week. Still tying to find a decent place to buy the grille material from at a decent price. customgrilles has a great choice but their prices are a bit much. I am going to have to do the computation as to how many I can get from X amount of grille material to make Y amount of oil cooler grilles. And my math teacher thought I didn't pay attention in Algebra. :D

Below are some choices from customgrilles:

There are several with large openings that would go nicely in the area where the radiator gets it's air from. Currently I have some of the same aluminum mesh that I used on the prototype attached to my front air dam and it looks nice in that size but I thought I would look into other stuff too. There is large diamond and small diamond and also what they say is oval too.

Air Force RX8

I lean more toward the 1st pic right hand side material. IMO the center pic material would look out of place and the 3rd pic right hand side material belongs on a pick-up. My .02...

cgrx

rotary shaped material ! Just kidding. =)

MPG > HP

I too ordered the sample pack from customgrills, last year, and have been hoping someone like you would be able to "package" them for us less dexterous types. I like the one furthest to the right, as it looks most like the oem. thx!

Lacroft3

I like the first pic also it looks more like the center grill on our cars.

coldnoodle

do they have any with honey cone shapes?

D MENAC 7

Isn't that what the first pic has? Sort of a six sided opening? Or does a honey comb have 8 sides?

Nemesis8

iTrader: (3)

What did you use on your prototype??

MPG > HP

2nd from left in 1st pic.

D MENAC 7

I got my prototype material from an auto parts place. I have been wondering myself which one it is, I am thinking it is the first pic of the three, the one on the right. I have another source and the material is stainless steel. The first one is the least expensive of the three. The second one is the most expensive and also stainless. The third one is the aluminum material I used.

Nemesis8

iTrader: (3)

Decsions decsions... I can never make up my mind. I like the aluminum one, it may be the least weight also.

HottRodder

The samples all look like what I call expanded metal as opposes to wire cloth. Personally I prefer the stainless woven wire mesh like seen here.

http://www.meshphoto.com/woven/008X008S028_alt.html

D MENAC 7

It's that exact window screen material that I was trying to get away from that inspired me to come up with a design that is closer to a diamond shaped patern rather than that material. Our front grille has a diamond shape, the rear grille has a diamond shape too. Why would one go with a square shaped screening, unless, of course, you would mount it at a 45 degree angle.

Secondly, airflow. Airflow through smallscreening is greatly hindered by the shear size of the screening material it's self that blocks these areas that are there for ventilation. They need air to keep the process of cooling the oil on our cars.