radiator grills - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

mountainman · 08-05-2012, 05:37 AM

Here in the mountains we drive fast and close together which stirs up a lot of debris on the road and where does it go? Right..... In my grill opening and up against the radiator. I spend a good amount of time cleaning all that out. Has anyone tried any of the grill screens available or attempted to make their own? Not sure how feasible they would be since you can't really restrict the airflow and the mesh would stop you from getting the shop vac in to clean out the small stuff that gets through the mesh. Unless they were easily removable. Any experience?

Eric G · 08-05-2012, 05:57 AM

I have made my own and they really work. A few other members on the site have made their own as well and they are buried in other threads.

For mine I simply took the bumper off placed it on a soft towel (nose to the ground so I would be looking at the inside of the bumper (facing towards the ceiling. Bought some metal mesh (ACE or Home Depot has this) with 1/8" square holes, cut to fit over the openings in the bumper by bending over and using heavy duty hot glue affixed it the bumper inserts (NOT THE BUMPER).

I have used this method for over 10 years both on cars, race bikes and other areas that I want to keep crud out of. There are vendors out there that will sell these types of guards, but why spend the extra money when you can do it yourself.

Best of luck and if you want some pics, just PM me as I have a build going on and the bumper is off the car right now.

bar10dah · 08-05-2012, 07:21 AM

Check out the photos almost all the way at the bottom of this page.

mountainman · 08-05-2012, 02:38 PM

great link. Just what I need. thanks

Eric G · 08-05-2012, 02:39 PM

As promised:

I still need to pull a few leaves out that have been caught. Also, the little hole is where my temp probe passes through.

mcomet · 08-05-2012, 02:44 PM

Hmmm pretty cool. I am about to do a radiator clean..this is interesting...seems like this would mitigate the need for future bumper removal...

Bobiam · 08-06-2012, 07:00 AM

Pedro's "gutter guard" appears to be much better material for this than window screening. But if you really associate this with close following distances, it would be wise to rethink your driving habits before you have to pay dearly. It's only a matter of when, not if.

mountainman · 08-06-2012, 08:42 AM

I'll take that into consideration. You must be the one on our club drives that leaves the big gaps in the line to let the trucks and tractors in so we all get separated and lost.

Bobiam · 08-06-2012, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mountainman

I'll take that into consideration. You must be the one on our club drives that leaves the big gaps in the line to let the trucks and tractors in so we all get separated and lost.

Thanks to GPS I always find my way back!!!!

Eric G · 08-06-2012, 02:57 PM

Mine are not window screen material as that is way to fragile. I use stainless steel mesh or galvanized when the SS is not available. I have and do run this on my race bikes and LSR bikes and along with all of my off road rigs. The plastic and paint give out before these screens do. Cooling temperature is not an issue and even at the track under full load, I am still in the green with room to spare.

In ten plus years I have never had a clogged or failed radiator using these. I will say that when I cleaned the boxster out the radiator looked like a garbage dump back there and now they are staying clean and running well.

Ghostrider 310 · 08-06-2012, 03:01 PM

I used this, it comes in flat pieces. when it was done it looked like a factory piece

Street Scene MESH VALANCE Grille InsertS - JCWhitney