So last time I washed the car I noticed some fins on my oil coolers did not look as straight anymore

So placed an order for a couple of these:



RB's website show two screens on the picture, so one can easily assume they sell two screens per order without reading the information below. I didn't read the first time, but was able to fix the order.

Because of the color of my car (Metropolitan Gray Mica) I thought the screens would look better on black. So I went ahead and sprayed them with black rust oleum "hammered" finish. Reason why is because that paint - beside having a bit of a texture - is actually more like "gun metal gray." I really like that color.




Then proceeded to do the install.


After removing the front bumper, RB instruction's say to simply slide the screens through the rubber cover around the oil coolers. But since it only takes two plastic clips to remove that cover, I went ahead and removed them as well. I wanted to clean everything inside the area, and I also wanted to fix some of the bent fins the best I could.

Once I removed the cover, I found a trash can in there



There was actually more trash/junk in there that I removed before I took the pics

Wow, that area really has a great potential to accumulate junk from the road. You cannot really see it from the outside. So I'm thinking I will remove the bumper from time to time just to clean inside between the rubber cover and the oil coolers as part of the maintenance of my car.

Small detail, but I really like the "gun metal gray" screen better


Seems like many people here still do not have any screens protecting those oil coolers. Please, stop being so cheap and lazy, do you yourself a favor and install them!! I removed all kinds of things when trying to fix the bent fins (small pieces of rock, wood, dirt, sand, you name it.) In reality, Mazda did a good job with the location of those oil coolers. But how easily it is to underestimate how vulnerable they are to junk from the road.

As many have said in other threads, the install is actually really easy. However, I had a hard time unplugging those damn fog lights. My hands are a bit bigger than the average person, so I had a hard time squeezing my hand in there without having to remove more of the plastic undercover - which I didn't want to do 'cause I'm lazy One of the side markers also gave me a hard time because of the same reason. So I simply removed more of the plastic inside the wheel wells. Other than that, it's really easy. Takes less than 1hr total.

Now I feel better knowing my oil coolers will be better protected - at least from the bigger stuff on the road.

If you are still too cheap to buy the RB screens (I know, they are a bit pricey for what they are. It's over $60 bux for the pair when you add shipping), there's an old thread somewhere about how to DIY with rather inexpensive materials you can buy at a local hardware store.

I went with the RB screens mostly because I really liked them when I saw them installed in another RX-8. Also, even though the screens are just that - screens, LOL - they fit perfectly in that area; and quite frankly, even though it is a simple product, it looks very well constructed. Plus I don't mind buying quality products from companies that support rotary engine products and research.

Anyway, save your oil coolers!!!!!!

 

I am about to install a set of screens this weekend, should have done it a long time ago. Will be painting them black.

You posted about RB not being upfront about needing two screens? This is what is on their site.

"These screens are sold as individual units. Review the following ordering information:

A. Manual transmission RX-8 requires two (2) screens.

B. Automatic transmission equipped RX-8 is equipped with only one (1) oil cooler and requires only one (1) screen."

Just sayin.

 

btw good luck getting the black to stay. I did the same thing to mine and after one season they were no longer black :-p

 

Haha, true. I fixed the information in my post. I wrote earlier was not correct. What happens is that the first time around I simply looked at the picture and then placed the order. Then read the info below - the part that you quoted here - and realized I needed two.

Sorry for the misinformation in my post.

 

Damn!! Well, as I said, I'm planning to remove the bumper from time to time to clean the area around the rubber covers. So I'll re-spray the screens when I do that.

Still, I believe they look better that way based on the color of my car

 

Rustoleum! My gloss black RB screens are still perfect after 10,000 miles. The flaking aluminized plastic grill on my DD is still perfectly black after 5 years.

Rustoleum rocks!

 

thats what i used, the hightemp one too.

 

Odd. Maybe the standard variety holds better - that's what I used.

 

I am about to install a set of screens this weekend, should have done it a long time ago