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I like the look of the Custom Car Grill screens on my car. In comparison, the side with no screens looks "unfinished". In just the 100 miles of driving I did before putting the screens on, there were already about 10 areas where bugs had bent the fins down, and I didn't even drive at night.
I like the look of the Custom Car Grill screens on my car. In comparison, the side with no screens looks "unfinished". In just the 100 miles of driving I did before putting the screens on, there were already about 10 areas where bugs had bent the fins down, and I didn't even drive at night.
Yep, before anyone got their C8 folks were saying they were going to paint their AC Condensers black. I agree my black Custom Car Grills do help the "look" in addition to providing protection!
I installed these beauties in less than ten minutes myself. Couldnt have been easier. Look great and protect the grilles. Quality construction and Im hapoy with the protection.
If you prefer a clean install with minimal fuss, I'd say they probably are worth it. The Custom Car Grill ones I used required quite a bit of finessing before I was happy with the install. I hid the wire ties as others did, behind the trim piece and on the inside horizontal bars where they aren't seen. I did the same with the inside brake duct pieces also, but ended up with one exposed tie each. Lots of head scratching in deciding how I wanted to approach it, and test-fitting to get it all to fit and look the way I wanted.
I'd probably get the ones with the mounting brackets though, not the ones that tape on.
Last edited by mjannusch; Aug 10, 2021 at 04:01 PM.
Below is a photo of the pax side intake and radiator on my Porsche 718S. The partial black cover is curved, and the exposed part of the radiator is free of damage and debris after 8K miles. I haven't touched them since new. My only explanation is something about the aero design avoids direct hits on the fins.
Those use 3M tape to install. Another expensive mesh offering includes brackets added to make install a bit more bolt-on. BUT what many of us did, was use the high flow (77%) Custom Car Grills mesh and didn't bother with the small amount of area exposed in the center grill. I'm playing the probability odds, even though I bought enough mesh to do the center and the rear fender opening, which has an even lower probability of getting a rock up that high! Also have found no issue with leaves or bugs sticking in the rear fender openings.
As some others did, I elected to make install a little neater but harder by not having visible plastic ties. But a straight forward approach is covered in a Custom Grill Guards video IF you don't mind a few plastic ties being slightly visible. This is a detailed 29 Pic/Long Caption PDF of my install showing where having no visible plastic ties is a bit more of an issue. If you want to install with ties slightly visible you can just skip the removal of that center grill bar that the mesh sold with brackets also requires: http://netwelding.com/CF_Splitter.pdf
PS: Just checked to see current prices:
First, see eBay where I bought mine now has cheap Chinese copies in plastic. Looking at their offering, no way those openings will have the 77% flow of the metal Custom Car Grills. Did not see that Custom Car Grills is now selling there- may have missed.
Even Amazon has some other sellers showing that look to be right. - BUT can't be sure.
I'd suggest buying directly from Custom Car Grills. The 16 X 48 sheet in Black, I bought (with enough material to make 4 front and two for the rear fenders) cost ~$60 PLUS shipping. They offer precut for: 1) the two pieces just the large front area for $69 and 2) all 4 front pieces for $99 both less shipping.
I like the look of the Custom Car Grill screens on my car. In comparison, the side with no screens looks "unfinished". In just the 100 miles of driving I did before putting the screens on, there were already about 10 areas where bugs had bent the fins down, and I didn't even drive at night.
How are you guys cleaning a mess like this ^^^^^^^? I also have the screens but haven't had to clean anything yet. It seems to me if you hose them off you'd be just pushing everything back into the radiators. I was thinking about using a shop vac?
So far, I'm getting by with my air hose. May have plucked out a few dragonflies and larger hoppers, though.
1.Raise your vehicle on a lift for access to the underside front panel.
2.Use a T-15 and ratchet to remove your front lip screws from the under-panel.
3.Note: There is One T-15 screw that is hidden
4.Use a 7mm socket and ratchet for the last screw.
5.Remove the panel and set aside.
6.Remove the 3 screws on the grill bezel (decorative fin) with 7 mm rachet.
These screws will be used for re-install. Push up on the middle of the bezel to remove it.
7.Remove any dirt from inside the grill area.
8.Mount U-bracket onto grill guard with supplied bolts.
9.Use 7 mm socket to tighten, lightly.
10.Remove the 3 spring clips on this bezel (flat head screwdriver).
Install these spring clips on the new U-brackets.
Seat these clips with a small flathead screwdriver (bend tab down).
11.The 2-sided tape is applied to the 2 short side tabs (bottom mounts).
12. Insert cardboard or protective material in front of radiator to protect the delicate fins.
13.Insert guard up into place, matching the orientation and taking care to not damage radiator fins.
Rotate the guard into final position as you insert it. Remove protective cardboard, now.
14.Align the tab with the bumper bracket. Hand tighten bolt into bumper bracket.
15.Align center brackets.
16.Use 3 mm hex key to tighten the bumper bracket screw.
17.Press the 2-sided tape onto the underside of the OEM grill.
18.Re-install Bezel with OEM screws for the center bezel screw, place the spring clip BEHIND the OEM grill and tighten
19.Use 11 mm socket and rachet to tighten all bolts and nuts.
20.Use 4 mm hex key in front to hold bolt head from rotating.
21.To re-install underside panel, slide into place, and hand tighten 7 mm screw.
22.Use a T-15 and ratchet to re-install your panel. Remember to re-install the hidden screw.
The opposite side is the same procedure but mirror image.
^^^ This is what I did with my Paragon screens. C8 was up on a QuickJack, which made it easy. I took my time and the installation took about 2 hours. Screen are solidly mounted and look great.
Got my 23 C8 few weeks ago, picked up with 11 miles and now have about 700. Did not like the way the radiators were exposed in the front. I have mesh inserts on both my C5's. I like the way they look but more importantly they protect everything down there. I searched around for grill guards for my C8 and found a few that looked like they'd do the job. But all of them required dropping the pan in the front and getting the grill guards up and in-front of the radiators. looked like a pain in the *** and overly complicated for a simple problem. Then I came across c8vettepartsonline.
I liked the simplicity of the install of their grill guards. As JerriVette said, install took maybe 10 minutes. I like the quality of the parts and the instructions are definitely overkill. You'd think you were making the grill guards from scratch. The instructions are idiot proof. The packaging of the parts in the bubble wrap and labels is very impressive. Everything you need is included. Alcohol wipes to clean the surface, zip ties as a back up to the adhesive application. The sharp pointy thing to peel the cover off the adhesive strips. It's all there. And I really like the way it looks. Takes nothing away from the appearance, I think it enhances the appearance and definitely protects the radiator fins.
I did see a video with one of the C8 engineers and a discussion of mounting these potentially voiding a portion of your warranty. He explained that GM had looked into various ways of protecting the radiator fins. All the ways they looked at may interfere with the air flow into the radiators and diminish their cooling capabilities. Their goal was to get maximum airflow into the radiators therefore they decided against installing any protective grills. But, they were looking at it from a racing perspective and driving all out at the track in the desert in Ca. or Az. He did say that he thought these protective grills would have no negative impact on normal driving and even track day driving. He did not beleive it would be an issue for 90% of C8 owners.
I put in the grill guards, 2 years ago, in 2 cars, with some Vinyl screen door mesh sandwiched in. To boot I’m running a novi bra in trips. No overheating issues. That vinyl stops more debris and I’ve had mine apart to check rather fins. Looks good.
it’s more a cosmetic move then functional.
Cut and paste This is the netting Picking debris out after 700 miles before the guards, lot if bent fins
Made my own for less than $40 and a lot of fun....Amazon has it all. Come on guys....stop getting +++++++. and you can get the color you want...A fun project
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.
