Fitting grills behind 996 turbo front bumper intakes
Discussion
Hi, was cleaning the car on the weekend and noticed the build up of crud at the base of the radiators. Was recommended to me when I bought to fit some grills in behind the air intakes on the front bumper.
I've seen some on ebay that fit over the air intakes but don't much like the look, fairly pricey as well although happy to pay to get it right.
Does anyone have any advice on fitting some grills in behind, what would it take, could I do the job myself or is it a garage job, best materials, can I cut them myself or need to buy pre-cut etc?
Thanks for your help in advance!
I've seen some on ebay that fit over the air intakes but don't much like the look, fairly pricey as well although happy to pay to get it right.
Does anyone have any advice on fitting some grills in behind, what would it take, could I do the job myself or is it a garage job, best materials, can I cut them myself or need to buy pre-cut etc?
Thanks for your help in advance!
Buy some black Ebay mesh, I believe the vendor is in Poland.
Remove bumper, create templates to fit, then cut the mesh. Retain in place using black cable ties attaching the mesh to the bumper grilles.
Invisible unless you are looking for them, and if you did not know, you would assume that they are factory fit. I don't actually "see" mine, so to speak.
Remove bumper, create templates to fit, then cut the mesh. Retain in place using black cable ties attaching the mesh to the bumper grilles.
Invisible unless you are looking for them, and if you did not know, you would assume that they are factory fit. I don't actually "see" mine, so to speak.
^^Just done this. Make sure you leave the space for the rubber air channels to slot back into the grilles (you'll understand when you take it off) - ask me how I know. I just used black mesh and black cable ties too. The crud at the back between the 2 rads was unbelievable, a veritable nest of corrosion.
Also, when taking your bumper off, ignore the what they say on you tube - much better to take off the wheel and undo the wheel arch liner properly to get to the screws holding the bumper on under the indicators, otherwise you are going to ruin the liner trying to get in there with the wheel still on. On my car they are torx bolts not plastic rivets in the wheel arch.
Elsewhere there are loads of torx bolts too so make sure you have these in your toolkit..
Also, when taking your bumper off, ignore the what they say on you tube - much better to take off the wheel and undo the wheel arch liner properly to get to the screws holding the bumper on under the indicators, otherwise you are going to ruin the liner trying to get in there with the wheel still on. On my car they are torx bolts not plastic rivets in the wheel arch.
Elsewhere there are loads of torx bolts too so make sure you have these in your toolkit..
Johnny G Pipe said:
- much better to take off the wheel and undo the wheel arch liner properly to get to the screws holding the bumper on under the indicators,
100%, first thing to do is jack up, remove wheels, remove liners. No biggie, the jacking up is probably the "worst" bit, but just in case, you jack up from the rear jacking point and the front comes up, then you place axle stands under the front jacking point.I have tried both the Zunsport grilles (in front of the louvres) and mesh behind the louvres. Whilst I preferred the appearance of the latter, I noticed that leaf mulch in the autumn would sit in front of the grille and then work its way down behind the bumper and could then fall back onto the radiators.
By contrast this did not happen with the Zunsport which are also easier to clean and take 5 minutes to fit. So, in this case, I took function over appearance and refitted the Zunsport grilles.
By contrast this did not happen with the Zunsport which are also easier to clean and take 5 minutes to fit. So, in this case, I took function over appearance and refitted the Zunsport grilles.
kronik said:
Hi, was cleaning the car on the weekend and noticed the build up of crud at the base of the radiators. Was recommended to me when I bought to fit some grills in behind the air intakes on the front bumper.
I've seen some on ebay that fit over the air intakes but don't much like the look, fairly pricey as well although happy to pay to get it right.
Does anyone have any advice on fitting some grills in behind, what would it take, could I do the job myself or is it a garage job, best materials, can I cut them myself or need to buy pre-cut etc?
Thanks for your help in advance!
My advice is do not fit the grills.I've seen some on ebay that fit over the air intakes but don't much like the look, fairly pricey as well although happy to pay to get it right.
Does anyone have any advice on fitting some grills in behind, what would it take, could I do the job myself or is it a garage job, best materials, can I cut them myself or need to buy pre-cut etc?
Thanks for your help in advance!
There are at least 2 things wrong with fitting these: One the grills reduce the area of the opening. There are web sites that you can find that with the grill wire diameter and pitch that can calculate the reduction in area. The reduction is not inconsequential.
The other thing wrong is the grills do not keep out the little stuff. This still gets through and collects. The grills give one a false sense of security because the fluffy stuff is not visible.
But the fluffy stuff is actually beneficial. It keeps the finer stuff from compacting so an occasional cleaning at service time -- or on your driveway -- can remove the trash thus eliminating the corrosion concern and with no need to remove the bumper cover.
Early on with my 02 Boxster I removed the bumper cover and cleaned the ducts then decided to ask the tech to clean these out with shop air whenever I had the car in for service. Now I drive quite a bit so the car is in for service maybe 3 times a year or more (every 5K miles at least for oil/filter services). For those that do not drive that much this cleaning could be done on one's driveway with shop air and an extension to the nozzle. I have managed to get 285K miles out of the original radiators in my Boxster by just having the radiator ducts cleaned out -- with shop air -- whenever I have the car in for service.
The same for the Turbo. After I bought the car used I had the tech remove the bumper cover and clean the ducts out. Then ever since when the car is in for service he just blows the trash out with shop air. I have a standing ok that if the tech believes it necessary to provide a more thorough cleaning to remove the bumper cover and clean the radiator ducts out but so far neither car has needed this bumper cover removal since the initial cleaning.
I fitted grilles to my 997.2 turbo using mesh from - of all places - Halfords after one of the aircon rads was holed and the system emptied.
To get the front off, it is helpful to remove the front wheels but as I have centre locks, I decided not to and was easily able to get at the liner with the car jacked up. It's a good idea to remove the headlights to get at the slide clamp holding the bumper cover to the seam between headlamp aperture and the luggage compartment.
I used thin black cable ties and self-tapping screws to hold the mesh in place.
Porsche will tell you that the mesh affects cooling performance which is a nonsense if you live in a temperate climate though I expect the thermostat set point will have changed a bit. Certainly, the temperature gauge hasn't moved. In hot climates, I can imagine there may be more of an issue.
As for stuff still getting in there, I suppose it may but my aircon rads still look pristine after 6 months. Once you've taken the bumper off and know the routine, it's probably no more than 30 minutes to do it again, so I plan to remove it before the car gets put to bed for the winter and clean things. Lots of low pressure water will help clear any sludge.
Telling incidentally that Porsche put grilles in in the GT3 but not the other cars.
To get the front off, it is helpful to remove the front wheels but as I have centre locks, I decided not to and was easily able to get at the liner with the car jacked up. It's a good idea to remove the headlights to get at the slide clamp holding the bumper cover to the seam between headlamp aperture and the luggage compartment.
I used thin black cable ties and self-tapping screws to hold the mesh in place.
Porsche will tell you that the mesh affects cooling performance which is a nonsense if you live in a temperate climate though I expect the thermostat set point will have changed a bit. Certainly, the temperature gauge hasn't moved. In hot climates, I can imagine there may be more of an issue.
As for stuff still getting in there, I suppose it may but my aircon rads still look pristine after 6 months. Once you've taken the bumper off and know the routine, it's probably no more than 30 minutes to do it again, so I plan to remove it before the car gets put to bed for the winter and clean things. Lots of low pressure water will help clear any sludge.
Telling incidentally that Porsche put grilles in in the GT3 but not the other cars.
I fitted mesh to my 997T after both rads failed at 11k miles. Got the mesh off ebay from Poland fixed it with self tappers and small black cable ties. Had no temp issues whatsoever . One thing to think about is yes the mesh stops all the big debris from entering the rad ducts but small road grime still gets through and now ith the mesh fitted it is not possible to get the vacuum in there and clean the area its still a bumper off job to do a thorough clean.
You did it 4 times it must be clean in there now 
Porsche designed this system with no real concern for the longevity of the rads. It gives the OPCs plenty of repeat business and its strange how just about every other manufacturer in the world tries to design-in protection for this vital component.
During a British spring and autumn it is possible to pick up enough debris to completely block airflow through the inlets. The mesh may fractionally reduce airflow, but nothing like as much as a few leaves. A second design fault is that there is no natural drain in the plastic ducting at the base of the radiator shroud. (also causes radiator frames to rust!)
Simple solution - cut a 20mm circular hole in the rearward bottom edge of the shroud on each side. (not rocket science!) It will now be possible to direct a hose through the mesh and wash all of the debris out via your new maintenance orifice!
Its worked well on my cars for many years. Simple, free, effective.
Porsche designed this system with no real concern for the longevity of the rads. It gives the OPCs plenty of repeat business and its strange how just about every other manufacturer in the world tries to design-in protection for this vital component.
During a British spring and autumn it is possible to pick up enough debris to completely block airflow through the inlets. The mesh may fractionally reduce airflow, but nothing like as much as a few leaves. A second design fault is that there is no natural drain in the plastic ducting at the base of the radiator shroud. (also causes radiator frames to rust!)
Simple solution - cut a 20mm circular hole in the rearward bottom edge of the shroud on each side. (not rocket science!) It will now be possible to direct a hose through the mesh and wash all of the debris out via your new maintenance orifice!
Its worked well on my cars for many years. Simple, free, effective.
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