Making your own oil cooler and brake duct grilles.

[AC Bill]

For my fellow Roadster builders who are on a budget, or just like to make things themselves, here is what I did. Cheap and simple.

Go to a commercial kitchen supply store, and purchase a "large" crispy pizza crust pan. They are made of extruded aluminum, and should cost less than $10. Who knows, you may even be able to purchase one cheaper at Wal-mart if they sell them.

I did this while my body was still off the car, but by simple measuring it could still be done with the body on. I held the pizza pan up to the back of the openings, and traced them with a marker. Then allowing for some extra material, I cut out the pieces. After that I held the pieces behind their respective openings, and using only my fingers, I squeezed them in to a shape that conformed with the opening. You may first want to make a few relief cuts along the edge to help do this. Your kind of molding them enough to wrap around the rear of the opening..if you get what I mean..lol
In my case, I allowed for the quickjack body bolts to help retain them, by cutting two holes on one side of the grilles, for the bolts to pass through. Silicone the other areas at the back for additional retention. Some fellows just use silicone by itself, and don't bother with the body bolts. and I will probably do just that, for the oil cooler grille, as I can't see any other easy way to fasten it.

[riptide motorsport]

Perfect!

[NicksPapaw]

Great job Bill. This can also be done using a gutter guard found at your local HD or Lowes. Doesn't always have to cost a bunch to work correctly.

[Gumball]

Yet another reason I love this site - such great ideas from all the builders. Keep 'em coming!!!

[NICK C]

Thanks Bill. Too cool.

[Tpa65cpe]

Bill, great job on the grill's. BTW Necessity is the mother of invention!!

[Vette1972]

That is slick way to fix a grille. Nice!

[MACK6639]

Talk about timing. This weekend three of us were talking about this very same subject.
I have some leftover SS mesh from Pegasus that I used for a radiator stone guard. I
will give that a try, but the pizza pan idea is a good alternative. Thanks for the BUMP Bill.

Mack

[BEAR-AvHistory]

FWIW mine are held in with GE silicone from Home Depot. Still tight after 22 months.

[flynntuna]

Wondering if this material would work?

https://www.walmart.com/ip/46059475

[AC Bill]

Wondering if this material would work?

That should work fine. Might be a little harder to bend back, but just cut a few more reliefs in it, (or darts as women would call them when working on a dress material).
You could use a hammer and a piece of pipe, to form the rounded ends easier.

[canuck1]

MMM... pizza! This thread is making me hungry!



Sean

[jakester888]

In my case, I allowed for the quickjack body bolts to help retain them, by cutting two holes on one side of the grilles, for the bolts to pass through. Silicone the other areas at the back for additional retention.

I don't want to go through the quick-jack bolts - and I'm not as confident that Silicone would make a good bond between fiberglass and aluminum. Is there a special fiberglass/metal bonding glue I can buy?

[AC Bill]

There are several epoxy glues available that would work with both materials. Gorilla glue for example.
Could be difficult to remove afterward, if you ever needed to, as that stuff really sticks.

Several builders have used silicone for this purpose, (and fo holding the FFR fender vents in place), and somewhat surprisingly, it seems to hold better than one would think.

[steno]

Silicone works just fine!

[AC Bill]

A bump up for new builders..

[BEAR-AvHistory]

FWIW mine are held in with GE silicone from Home Depot. Still tight after 22 months.

Will update this. 5+ years on the road @ 12,000+ miles & the GE silicone is still holding fast even with a cold air duct on the oil cooler vent.

[Avalanche325]

Nice.

As long as there are no anchovies.

[Malibu46pt]

Does FFR sell,larger pieces of the material that they sell for the air ducts that can be used to make the grill insert

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Thread back from the dead. Will add my screens are still on after almost 9 years with silicone. Radiator shield is a dirt track Nomex piece cut to fit & sprayed flat black with outdoor grill paint.

[AC Bill]

Kevin have you noticed any change in running temps since adding the Nomex?
I've been lucky so far, as far as rad damage from road debris, but I shudder whenever a dump truck, or low deck, hauling an excavator pulls in front of me. Nomex would be a simple solution.

[Alan_C]

I used the Ultra Black gasket maker to adhere the grills, just like silicone but sticks even better.
As for the grill material, I used expanded SS purchased from Online Metals. I wanted SS for the corrosion resistance. As large piece of the expanded SS was used to make a radiator protector. I used screen door trim to make a protective edge for the protector and then used the industrial Velcro to adhere it as I wanted the protector removable.
Just another way to approach making these parts.

[Malibu46pt]

I sent a request to FFR to see if I could purchase a large piece of the air duct mesh for the front grill. They have not responded . Does anyone know where to purchase the mesh and what are the specs. As always disappointed in the lack of response from FFR