Grille blocking suggestions? (Photos embedded)

[ophidia31]

i think those both look pretty sick.

[theholycow]

Yeah, I think the type who like custom cars would really like it...I just want to blend in.

[theholycow]

Ok, my already bad image editing is getting worse, but the ideas are looking better...I think these are all fantasy because I'll never be capable of doing them, but here's a couple more views...

First, revisiting the original idea, from a different angle. It still looks way too conspicuous to me:


And, another combination, this one looks GREAT! I filled in the center grille, but I left it a little indented. That wasn't what I was trying to do but I suck at photo editing and that's how it came out, and it looks awesome.


Edit: And here it is if it doesn't look indented. Looks somewhat bad, still has that snowplow look that I don't like about the ones where it's completely done.

[ophidia31]

Originally Posted by theholycow

Yeah, I think the type who like custom cars would really like it...I just want to blend in.

yep, thats me. only if it is well done though. not like some of the imports you see running around with body kits halfway hanging off. lol but the full cover makes it look like a salt lake racer. thats probably why i think it looks cool.

but i think if you do the upper grill blocks and lower foglight indention blocks, youll get the look youre looking for.

if i lived closer to you id be willing to help make something for you. i love doing wierd stuff and im VERY picky so it will look like it was meant to be there.

[theholycow]

Thanks, I appreciate all the input and the hypothetical help.

Any suggestions how an artistically declined person with bad fine motor skills could make it look good? I think with the right material I could match the curve...

I'd love to find a way to get matching paint. I got some metallic Krylon that's kinda close and I think I can make it work by layering it with another color.

[ShadowWorks]

I like the smooth bumper, very unique and it does look slippery.

[Steve Peters]

[QUOTE=theholycow;105001](re installing fan light)

You'll notice that, without grill blocking, the light you'll install will glow dimly when the fan is not switched-on - but rather pushed backwards by the incoming air.
Which poses the question as to whether fan blades themselves are another aerodynamic culprit. (Bear in mind that, depending on your circuitry, the current just might be charging your battery ever so slightly! )

[theholycow]

Good point about that. I'll have to use a diode (or use a LED for my light) to make sure it only lights when the current flows in one direction.

[theholycow]

Well, in another thread recently someone mentioned using a temporary grille block to see how much blocking it can handle without putting in a lot of effort to make it pretty, and I thought it was a good idea. I just did full grille blocks on both vehicles.

I started by painting some coroplast and cardboard flat black.

In the truck, it was excessively easy, as if the truck was designed for it. I took a plastic cover off above the radiator, exposing the area between it and the grille. The A/C radiator is as big as the engine radiator, and has a triangular structural member a quarter inch in front of it running up the center. There's a lip near the bottom edge and lip-like items near each side. The transmission cooler is a couple inches in front of that structural member.

So, I slipped a piece of coroplast in, and it fit like a glove. I slipped in another one, leaving just a small portion uncovered; I used a piece of cardboard for that portion. One zip tie near the top corner of one piece of coroplast, and one zip tie in the cardboard, and everything is locked in place!

Edit: Ok, that wasn't very clear...the engine radiator is a couple inches behind the A/C radiator, so by blocking the entire A/C radiator I've blocked the entire engine radiator, but left a couple inches of air in-between. Also, this has not blocked the transmission cooler at all, nor a rusty tall narrow radiator that I can't identify.

Now, on to the VW. This was more difficult, and when I finished I realized that it was probably going to be a big failure. I cut a piece of cardboard big enough to fit everything.

It could not be accessed from the top, so I unscrewed 8 or 10 T25 screws that hold the bottom lip on. Then, with some experimentation, I found that I just had to pull it straight forward from the car to get it removed. I inserted the cardboard, and found that it fit snugly in front of the grille-exposed portion of radiator (but left some radiator exposed behind the bumper), and dropped it down into another convenient lip. Two zip ties in the bottom corners don't leave it completely immobile, the top could flap, but it should generally stay in place.

After doing it, I worried that I've overdone it and the car will overheat, but I just realized...I can very easily remove and reinstall the upper grille block pieces that I did in the spring. I'll expose some radiator there, and that will also allow flow into the area behind the bumper, which totals probably half the radiator's area. This could be ok.

Edit: The end result for both vehicles is a completely invisible grille block. In the car I can (hopefully) reach through the grille and tear the cardboard into bits to remove it. In the truck, I can remove it by popping a couple fasteners, cutting a single zip tie (or two), and pulling everything out -- it's so easy I could do it roadside in two minutes or less.

[GasSavers_BEEF]

in extreme cases of overheating (ones where you can't easily stop and fix it) you could just turn the heat on full blast.

I covered the bottom opening in my car once and the thing overheated almost instantly. I wasn't in a place where I could easily take it off and the full blast heat worked good.

I took a more radical approach to grill blocking, there again, my car is 12 years old and it is collage of different parts that are put together the look like a car (thus the name frankencav). I definitely wouldn't have done the same to a new car and especially one that I may be turning in within a few years.

good luck to your grill blocking experiments. honestly, I looked at the VWs when the new rabbit came out and discredited it because of the large engine and figured you'd never get good FE out of it. you have made me truely eat my words since I have been on here.