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The front radiator fins get bent by bugs easily. I only have 1300 miles on it and it has now a lot of bent fins. I can use a brush to get the bugs off but there are a lot of bent fins. I used a small screw driver and the plastic fin straightener bought from Amazon but it’s still not right. The radiators are all aluminum and are right up front and easy to see. The fins are very thin and easy to damage. I am not happy and I don’t see a simple solution.
^^^
Have any idea how to install without taking the front end off??
Does that black plastic bezel come off with plastic trim tools etc??
Or perhaps from underneath with the panels removed?? Can't tell from this pic.
I design and fabricate for Radiator Grille Store. So I have designed some in my day. We try not to cover any of the body work that Chevy intended on us seeing. So the grille sits behind the stock grilles.
While I appreciate the comments, the issue is the bright aluminum radiators are very pretty when new and very noticeable from the front. Any damage just looks terrible. How will it look after 10,000 miles?
Not to get off topic. But where are the ac condensers. They generally sit in front of the radiators, on almost all cars.
I’m surprised that there is not on in front of one of the radiators.
Russ: Thanks for posting. Solution to this problem isn't obvious to me. If some sort of bug-filtering mesh were installed in front of the heat exchanger, not only would it look awful (as you point out), but it would also affect the air flow through the heat exchanger enough to compromise its functionality. I'm guessing that GM has a challenge here because thicker & stronger Al fins between the tubes would reduce the heat exchanger effectiveness (capacity to transfer heat), and they look to already be frontal area limited with the current C8 design.
Do I recall that some models do and don't have heat exchangers inside both side "scoops"?
While I appreciate the comments, the issue is the
bright aluminum radiators are very pretty when new and very noticeable from the front. Any damage just
looks terrible. How will it look after 10,000 miles?
All these years in development and now we have damaged radiator fins. How the hell can this happen? I guess we know how they were able to have a base of $60k.
A SS screen not unlike the kind you've seen aftermarket companies produce for the C5, C6 and C7 to pretty-up vent openings would be just fine. The openings in the SS screen are typically 1/8" or more. They would not block air flow hardly at all, and would look nice.
Here is a pic of a 911 (which have had front mounted rad's for many years) front end with a screen...
Last edited by VETFEVER; Apr 10, 2020 at 09:02 PM.
Those are the A/C condensers. Radiators are mounted behind them. They will get beat up from road debris. Just the nature of the beast. For example my personal 16 Malibu has a larger lower grille opening and after 78000 miles I finally caught a stone that punctured my condenser. The fins are trashed looking after all those miles. These pictures are the first C8 we got in with transport damage of the right radiator support. Inboard radiator shelf must have caught the ramp on the carrier.
Only a matter of time before someone scoops up a bird, squirrel or cat. and does some real damage. Im looking into some type of fine mesh to solve the problem . An aftermarket vendor should come up with a solution before I do.
I saw this problem coming when I first saw the design. I contacted this company https://www.radiatorgrillstore.com/ and asked about add on grills. They said as soon as they could get their hands on a C8 they would design some. Just a tip, DON'T try using a pressure washer. Tried that on my C4 A/C condensor and bent up the fins.
Last edited by Broken Halo; Apr 11, 2020 at 08:06 AM.
Front radiators
