ArcticFox

Well, as you may have read from my thread about front bumper screens, I purchased the Cup screen to protect my radiators. I was not overly impressed with the fit and finish and decided I could make my own, and make them look better. I spent about $20 or so and a few hours and made my own screens. The hole size/pattern and gauge is about the same as the Cup screens. I am pretty happy with the resutls. Here is a pic of what I accomplished today....Maybe I will make some of these and sell them...I think the look is better than the Cup ones, and I could do it for a fraction of the price. :-)

Holger B

Looking good!

DavidNR

Looks clean and nicely done! And looks like you painted your lower spoiler lip too.
Give us DIY guys the details.
Thanks.

cosmos

And we get some more detailed pictures please?

ArcticFox

Sure, I would be happy to get some more pics and do a write up. Just give me some time...lol.

I learned a few things when doing this, and if I did it again, I would do a few things differently too.

I did not paint the lip spoiler though...must just be the lighting. Tim

Here is some full frontal action...

cosmos

A write up would be great, as would more pics. Thanks.

DavidNR

Thanks for the help Tim! The fins on my radiator are getting bent by OPR.

skl

What is the material and where did you purchase it?? I'd love to keep the grasshoppers out of the radiators, as well as the rocks, etc...

ArcticFox

The material is "gutter screen" from Home Depot. Comes in 3' lengths. You will need 2.

I really shoulda took pics when I did it, but I was not sure if it would work....so I didn't. It is a bit of a PITA to do, and moreso to describe. But here is a shot at it....

Remove front bumper.

Place bumper face down on a blanket....so that the license plate is on the floor. On the inside of the bumper you will see a plastic trim piece. This piece covers the edges of the large holes in the bumper. Not only are these for show, they also "mount" into the ducting for the a/c radiators, and center radiator. Notice the outside groove on the plastic trim piece (PTP-- lol). This is where the ducting slides into. This will be important during the install as you must keep these channels unobstructed for a good fit.

I bought some BONDO putty of some sort. I am actually thinking that hot glue would work well too....the BONDA was a bit of a PITA as it is a catalyst reaction and that **** dries FAST.

Take a section of gutter screen and cut it in half. Use these half sections to do the outter holes. First sand the mating surface of the PTP...use a 80 grit paper so you get nice adhesion. If you don't rough it up, it aint gonna stick! You want it nice and rough. Now, take the screen and cover the opening...bent and workt he screen untill you get a nice fit. You will NOT want an excess screen going into the mating channel on the PTP as the ducting will have to go in there! Just get the screen perfect and then glue, bondo, whatever works for you, it to the PTP. The edges on the PTP, where it mates to the ducts, has chamfered edges, so there is a good mounting place for the screens on the PTP that will not interfere with the mating of the ducts (at least too much).

Mount all three screens in a similar manner.

Now, mask off the inside of the bumper (exterior) and paint your screens if you wish. I painted them before and got some flaking as the paint was not fully dry AND I painted them BEFORE I was bending on them...not a good idea. Either paint after installed or paint after you get them bent and ready to mount.

After painted, you are ready to remount the bumper. I would advise getting a friend to help as the bumper will need to go fiarly straight on as the screen will interfere a bit now...

I hope that made sense. When i get some time, I think I will redo mine and trim a bit more of the excess screen material. i know I left too much, and some in the channel on the mating surface of the PTP. Fitment could be improved....

When I do have time to redo this, i will take pics and try to do a step by step DIY. Tim

Phokaioglaukos

How hard is it to remove the bumper? Is there an easy description of that?

ArcticFox

Fairly easy really. I have not seen a DIY with pics, so i will do that as well next time!

Here is a quick description. Like the write up above, i dont know the names of some of the parts, so I will apply some generic description of them....this will be interesting.

Open the trunk. There is a plastic trim piece where the trunk latch is....there are four plastic screw type things there. Remove all four by turning 1/4 turn...direction does not matter. Now remove the trim piece. You will have to work it a bit, but it will come out fairly easily.

Now, jack the front end and properly support. You will need to remove some of the plastic rivets and two screws from the fenderwell plastic....it will be easier to remvoe the front tires, but can be done with them on.

On the fenderwells, starting from the top, remove the two screws (torx heads). Now, working down, there are two plastic rivets, then one more at the rear of the slidemarker. Remove all three.

Under the rear edge of the front lip there is one more torx head screw (larger size), remove it. Now you should be able to peel back the fenderwell plastic.

Remove the sidemarker by pulling the rear most part outward. it iwll pop out, then slide rearward and then twist connector to remove the light from the harness. Push the wiring into the hole so that it does not catch when you slide the bumper forward. You will notice a plastic bracket that the sidemarker light sits in....you will see two screws, one forward, one aft. ALSO, notice that a third screw comes in from the bottom...you will see its clip that is screws into. You need to pull the fender well plastic back and remove this screw. Do that now.

Now remove the forward screw on the plastic sidemarker plastic. DO NOT remove the rearward one...this one mounts the bracket to the car....leave it in.

Now, under the front bumper, there are a few more (3, not counting the other rearward one at the end of the lip on the other wheel). One is center, and the other two are spaced out about 18". remove these torx head screws.

Push you temp sensor out of its mount. This is in the passengers side duct. Just push or pull it out of its mount.

Now the bumper is free of all attachments...slide her forward. You may need to guide the edges (by the sidemarkers) off to avoid scraping your paint though! That one clip from the screw that mounts from inside the fenderwell plastic can scratch your paint...it is the only hard surface that can come into contact with the paint that I noticed. May special attention to this clip when removing and especially when reistalling!

I hope this is fairly clear. Again, i will do a DIY with pics when I get around to it,....maybe next weekend if I am lucky enough to spend some time with my car. Tim

Phokaioglaukos

Thanks, Tim! This will be a Winter project for me.

ArcticFox

If you are lucky, I will have the write up done sometime around then...

Phokaioglaukos

Mea culpa. I decided to pull through the space in a parking lot the other day (it's taken me a long time to come to grips with it and fess up), not realizing that there was a low concrete barrier there. I drove right into it, scuffing the front of the bumper and breaking the two columns that connect the lowest part of the bumper with the main part. I am sick at heart.

The replacement bumper comes primed so it has to be painted to match, and then I need a repalcement clear bra on it. That would be a good time to install bumper screens, too.

Tim, can you accelerate the the how to write up a bit?

1999Porsche911

Is there a reason you are trying to reduce the cooling ability of your car? If it's necessary to cover the openings, it would be better to go with a looser grid than will minimize air flow restriction. Those screens have reduced at least 50% of the airflow over the radiators. If it's only for the "bling" then, that's another story.