Adding mesh grille to front radiator intakes

I was out today and just walked out of a shop to see a woman in a corsa reverse into my Targa's front bumper I shouted, hey, and got a mouth full of abuse from her saying I had parked too close, I then pointed out that she had reversed 8ft to hit my car, more abuse then she just drove off. Anyway I got her reg and went to the body shop and they informed me that they would put a company onto it and claim from her insurance . So, I am needing a new bumper and was wondering about getting the repairer to fit some grilles when the fit the bumper to protect the radiators. Has anyone done this and is it straight forward???????????

I know they do ready made ones for the GT3 bumper, but before I moved out to Saudi I saw a kit in Halfords that you cut to size, it wasn't expensive, and a good body repairer would have no trouble making it look like an original bit. Max

Not personally but many people on here have. I intend to. Just get something like B&Q mesh, paint, use something to hold it in place. I'm a fan of Sika products and have bought some Sikaflex to do mine with. It's a flexible adhesive so I will bend it around the area then ooze sikaflex onto the bumber and mesh and let dry. It's much like super sticky silicone. Basically you just need a flexible glue. Get the panel shop to do it for you.

Not sure about the grill but I would inform the Police of a hit and run :evil:

Mesh grilles wont the mesh restrict the airflow to the radiators?Its such an obvious thing to do that you would have thought the Porsche engineers would have done it by now if there wasnt a downside.Mesh does a very good job of stopping the wind in a cabrio with the wind deflector behind the seats!!

Agreed, maybe she'll think twice about doing it next time :hand:

I dont believe you havent informed the police yet! On the mesh, you can get some off the net for about 20 quid. Type in meshx in to google and bob's your uncle. I plan on doing this to my car this weekend (famous last words etc etc) but wasnt sure of what adhesive to go for and what drying times are like though. Will be using a silicon based glue of some description, just not sure which one to use.

Any mesh will reduce likelihood of rad impact causing damage however having tinkered with mine the other night I was shocked at the level of debris that had built up, leaves bits of plastic etc....... It is this that retains moisture and salt residue and rots the bottom rail of the rad. What I don't like is the fact that the design of the bumper and surrounding plastic doesn't allow for the debris to fall out or be cleaned out with ease. :shock: Its a poo design and I would have expected better.

I only have a 996 C2, so dont have the larger holes that some of you have with the C4S bumper. Is it still a recommended mod for us boys with small holes, so to speak?

Here a step-by-step guide featured on another Porsche enthusiast website: http://euroautoforums.com/forums/index.php?s=c3529e50bc6d2813890e6644658174b9&showtopic=1371 End Product: I think it looks really good IMO and stops the build-up of large amount (or size) of debris blocking or hitting the radiator. ...Will it tempt you do go ahead and do it? :thumb:

Sorry to hear about the hit & run... I used AC Ryan MeshxPanelâ„¢ HEXX 500x500mm Alu Black (XP00618) from www.specialtech.co.uk Apparently the air flow is better than expanded diamond shape mesh. It's a fairly straight forward DIY once you get the front bumper off. Also Gert at Carnewal sells the rad grills for the GT3 bumper if you want to go that route...

Here's a picture of the hex mesh as fitted to a GT3 This also shows the extended lip of the GT3 splitter, in this case the splitter has a few layers of duct-tape whilst the double sided tape properly adheres and also to stop it getting ripped off at high speed.

As others have said - you MUST inform the police... If people know they can get away with this it will just proliferate. I have a nasty dent above my front wheelarch from some arsehole of a truck driver, who I think must have opened his door onto it. If I had his reg number I would deffo be onto the police / DVLA / his employer and everyone!

I have got the reg and there is a company called Accident Exchange Ltd traking the owner and putting a claim in on her insurance which is also going to cost them a like for like courtesy car for me while mine is being repaiared, apparently that is how this company covers its cost of this service. This was all organised through the official porsche body repairer Bill Heaney in Newcastle.

She could easily deny it. You didn't inform the police and you will have made an insurance claim not her. Could get tricky. You MUST ALWAYS inform the police no matter how minor. A sad but true indictment of today's insurance world.