No. But I will tell you what my made-up theory is. The custom car grill units appear to be cut from sheets of already perforated aluminum sheets, the same sheets they sell for DIY, and the cut pieces have no border. Both the scrape armor and C8vettepartsonline grills have borders. The ones from C8vettepartsonline are 345 dollars. I think I read (I think in a post by the vendor) that theirs are laser cut to shape and then perforated from stainless steel sheets (their web site says they are stainless). So the border is not added after cutting, it is actually an un-perforated part of the sheet. You can see this same type of border on the ends of the perforated sheets that custom car grills sells. I include photos below. I think this method of making the piece directly from a solid sheet, rather than cutting it out from an already perforated sheet may cost more (maybe not that much more, but more). The scrape armor grills also have borders that appear to be part of the piece, not added after cutting, so again, I think that would cost more. Not saying it justifies totally the difference in price.



Custom Car Grill sheet. These are aluminum sheet that have already been perforated. I think the vehicle specific ones are cut from this after it has already been perforated, hence no border. Note there is a border at the top, where the sheet is uncut.

Close up of the border on the CCG sheet. If you look at the C8 vetteparts on line, or the scrape armor grill, you will this border all the way around, suggesting they were cut to shape and perforated at the same time.

 

Thanks….count me out. I will be doing my own for $59. Thanks to the detail instructions from Phil and Jerry.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if other vendors start coming out with grill guards and screen material that uses a large mesh similar to the Scrape Armor mesh.

 

The Scrape Armor screens do look good and I have no doubt they work great, but as mentioned, $400 is a tidy sum for them.

 

I think the cost of the Scrape Armor grill guards is directly related to their working with GM Engineers and being the only one of these approved as an official GM accessory. I might be wrong about warranty denial. Tadge may have a memo out to all Chevrolet service managers telling them to deny any warranty work that could be attributed to any other grill guards.

 

Four hundred dollars? OCD ain't cheap.

 

It does sound unreasonably expensive but not so much compared to the total cost of the 2LT HTC I'll be driving home from the museum in 2022 which, based on current prices, will cost about $97,000 after I pay sales tax and license fees. I'd sure like to drive home from the museum with these installed.

 

They are in fact, not like the Paragon ones. They flow much more air which is why GM approved them. I have a set of the prototypes. These are really quality parts and come with their own tool kit to install them.

 

These are approved GM Accessories and therefore WILL NOT effect your warranty.

 

The scrape armor is using the larger hole size right? I find it interesting that the GM approved one has the larger holes. As I recall, Tadge did say they were still testing them and might come out with something. If they did thorough testing, I would imagine they tested designs with smaller holes, with a goal of selecting a design that provided the most protection while meeting whatever criteria they were using to measure impact on cooling system capacity. I would think they would have selected the smaller hole design if the performance met whatever (stringent) criteria they were using. I also mentioned earlier that they use the term airflow - "35% more" than others. And while I don't know that they did, if they were testing it at Spring Mountain, they may very well have put an airflow sensor behind the condenser/radiator and measured the actual airflow impact. They would have to have accounted for the fan operation. But working with GM, it would be surprising to me if they did not do all that, actually. And, whatever they did to test it, and whatever criteria they used, they ended up with the larger hole design.

Also, I saw a comment about why it was "pressed" to fit the contour of the grill, but I think it was deleted. I interpreted that to mean the contour of the back side of the existing plastic grill work (not the face of the condenser). And I don't think that is flat. That is, this particular design is meant to fit exactly flush/snug against the original plastic grill work. That is another feature I like about these - the fitted shape, along with the borders which will make the piece sturdier..

I am in no way saying the other choices are not good, or fully functional. I already have ones that I made from the custom car grill 1/4 hex, and I intend to keep them. I will not be getting the scrape armor screens, although I like them much.

 

There was no such memo. What Tadge DID say was that if you put grill guards on your car and if those grill guards cause an overheating problem, GM isn't going to warrant that. But there are people with aftermarket guards on in places like Florida and Nevada, and I've not seen one single report of anyone having an overheating problem attributable to guards.

Lots of dealers, including the 3rd largest (don't know about the top two) will put grill guards on during PDI if you want. They don't seem to be worried about overheating either.

 

I'm sorry.......I thought this was enough to show my sarcasm. I agree with both of you. My dealer installed my Paragon grill guards during PDI and I'm in Georgia. My C8 runs cooler than my wife's 2020 Denali in the Georgia heat. I'm not in the least bit worried about my warranty being denied and said as much when I started this thread.

 

And to think I did mine for $20

with an aluminum screen door protector from Home Depot. $400 is INSANE.

 

CP, I strained to find your zip ties. Having found them, I strained to find the outrage that I could see them. Having failed, it was no strain to conclude that I, too, should make my own. And, thanks to scrape armor, I know now to be purposeful in choosing the hole size in the raw material I will cut and install. Thank you.

 

This post has been incredibly enlightening. I find it interesting that people can spend nearly 100k in some cases on a car and then complain about $400 for GM Approved Screens for the car. Having seen these in person already I can tell you there is a huge difference between what Scrape Armor is producing and other products or even DIY screens people have chosen to put on their cars. The investment to properly make these was significant as they follow the shape of the inner guards, are easily removable and are strong enough they are warrantied just as any GM Accessory is.

But like anything else... if you don't want them there is no reason to bash the company or make inappropriate comments. You do You.... for me I have a set of Scrape Armor guards just like I have Scrape Armor on my OEM 5VM kit.

 

Laptime, it’s hard to find logical fault with what you’re saying, at least in the isolate. The problem is that every single accessory item produced for these cars costs $100 when it’s “worth” $10, or $500 when it’s “worth” $50, or $1000 when it’s worth “$100.” So sure, it’s “only” $400, but it’s not, because there are nine other desirable accessories, equally Corvette-taxed, that add up to $4000.

Now, I don’t know how to form beautiful carbon fiber, or forge my own custom wheels. But I can buy good quality grill mesh, make a template, and cut the mesh to fit, and take some satisfaction in the accomplishment of doing so. And if I share a bit of smugness over the money saved with others who are similarly inclined, that oughtn’t affect the vendor selling at Corvette-tax prices.

 

Now, I don’t know how to form beautiful carbon fiber, or forge my own custom wheels. But I can buy good quality grill mesh, make a template, and cut the mesh to fit, and take some satisfaction in the accomplishment of doing so. And if I share a bit of smugness over the money saved with others who are similarly inclined, that oughtn’t affect the vendor selling at Corvette-tax prices.[/QUOTE]

I can truly appreciate your comment. Being that I own two Harley Davidson Motorcycles.... if you think Corvette tax is a thing... just hold on to your wallet on Harley parts and accessories.

 

Soooooo. Does anyone else notice that these (very expensive) GM licensed radiator grill covers have openings the size of barn door? They don’t look like they will be stopping any rocks from doing damage to the radiators. Some of the cheap “zip tie” and home kits look like they are more effective and protecting the radiator grills while allowing for air flow.

 

Actually your comment has no basis in fact. The most common road gravel is 1/8 minus. The openings are in fact, smaller than that.....

 

Yep, as I have posted, Custom Car Grill has a mesh with twice the size hex, 0.45", compared to their 0.25" mesh thousands have used. The 0.45" hex appears to be similar to the Scrape Armor size.

A 16' X 48" sheet of the CCG 0.25” mesh costs $59.99 in black, $49.99 in silver. If you don't want to cut your own, they have precut kits for the C8 for the two large areas OR precut kits of 4 pieces that cover the large and smaller exposed AC Condenser areas. Those are made of their 0.25” mesh not their larger mesh. They stop ~1/2 size bugs and debris. No reports of overheating even from trackers. I drove on some 105 F degree days this summer in NE SC and coolant temp did not exceed it's typical <185 F. Your car your choice.

PS: Still not sure IF the Scrape Armor installation requires removing the grill bar to install their three large visible fasteners. If so best done by 1st removing the bottom ~20 bolts and lowering the plastic bottom covers, so might as well add the low cost Custom Car Grill or Paragon. Understand some may prefer being able to remove them from the front, although IMO, having the 1/2 size mesh behind the grill with no Zip ties showing looks better and catches half the size bugs, rocks etc.
To Each Their Own