[waydui]

Time for another winter mod, replacing the black plastic slat grills on the engine lid cover with an aluminum mesh, à la Exige.

Tools and Supplies Summary:
1. Mesh from www.Customcargrills.com. I chose the Stacking Oval XXL Mesh. One sheet was enough to do the whole lid, with some left over. Maybe enough to do the side intakes, but not another lid.
2. Krylon Camouflage Ultra-Flat Black paint. Nice Matte finish, about 4-6 coats per piece of mesh.
3. Double-sided foam tape to hold mesh to underside of lid.
4. Rubber Mastic Tape to secure grill to lid. I made a "sandwich" of double-sided foam tape, mesh grill and mastic tape. Very solid construction and waterproof.
5. Hole Plugs, nylon locking to conceal/hide slat mounting holes on lid. I spray-painted the plugs black to blend in to the lid.

I made a template for each opening, cut out the wire mesh with Dremel, painted mesh, applied tape as needed, attached mesh, fitted plugs to lid holes (20 holes in all!!).

Pictures show installation process and final look.

If nothing else, I saved some weight!!:coolnana:

Regards,
Wayne

 

[waydui]

Winter Project #1 - More Pics

More Pics from Mesh Grill Mod

Regards,
Wayne

 

[gameson]

The thing about mesh grill is that when it rains or when you wash the car, water will go straight to the engine bay or trunk, compare to stock

 

[RoadDad]

Nicely done, Wayne. The only thing I personally would have done differently is screw it up .

 

[Aedo]

The thing about mesh grill is that when it rains or when you wash the car, water will go straight to the engine bay or trunk, compare to stock

In what way is this different to stock :shrug:

 

[RoadDad]

In what way is this different to stock :shrug:

With the stock Elise slats the rain water runs into the engine bay only at an angle, never straight in .

 

[waydui]

The thing about mesh grill is that when it rains or when you wash the car, water will go straight to the engine bay or trunk, compare to stock

I considered this before I did the mod.

First, I don't drive the car in the rain (or snow either), it's a fair-weather toy.

Second, when I wash the car, I put a towel over the engine bay so it absorbs the water. Anal, I know...

I still have the original grills/slats, so I can change back quickly if needed.


Regards,
Wayne

 

[Aedo]

Nicely done, Wayne. The only thing I personally would have done differently is screw it up .

rotfl

In what way is this different to stock:shrug:

With the stock Elise slats the rain water runs into the engine bay only at an angle, never straight in .

sorry - too subtle - I should have also put in a -poke-

The engine gets wet when it rains in either case

 

[shay2nak]

you guys don't at least wash the engine down a little?

 

[Ian]

With the stock Elise slats the rain water runs into the engine bay only at an angle, never straight in .

It goes straight in on the Exige and I've never heard of this causing a problem.

 

[Westrock]

The thing about mesh grill is that when it rains or when you wash the car, water will go straight to the engine bay or trunk, compare to stock

Well, there is an alternative, but only the crazy go that direction. rotfl


Looks great though, love the mastic tape, it really finishes up would could be a very rough edge. Thats almost what the Exige looks like, except I think they used some kind of an epoxy to finish the edges.

 

[knucklehead]

The Exige doesn't block any water/rain. I have had one incidents where the car wouldn't start after a heavy rain. It probably was a coincidence, I think it was more of a battery issue since a jump solved the problem. The odd thing is that it never happened again. The car had just been driven from LA to SF two days before, so the problem was not from inactivity.

Great job on the mod!

 

[E.D.]

Wayne

Very nice job!
Do you have made pic's without the without towel on top of your engine? I'm very curious how it looks!

 

[gameson]

How about some backside/inside pics of the engine lid?

 

[waydui]

I finally put the engine lid back on the car after installing new engine lid grills.

BTW, a helper really comes in handy when re-installing the lid. Be sure to align the lid with the lock mechanism before securing the bolts (Don't ask me how I know! )

Here are some pics of the engine lid on the car.

Regards,
Wayne

 

[waydui]

A few more shots...

Regards,
Wayne

 

[swede]

NICE!

:clap:

 

[kingjester]

That looks amazing! Would you mind making me a set? I'd def pay :clap:

 

[Frank Amoroso]

That looks amazing! Would you mind making me a set? I'd def pay :clap:

Either that, or would you lend out the templates? I have the FF header and would love not only the look that the mesh provides but the straight shot heat evacuation path. Only thing is that I have vinyl stripes on the car (and, hence, the lid). I wonder if that would mess up the program. Great job!

 

[Greenstreak]

Great execution! For such simple supplies and some time you really come out with a great mod.