Rob Kuhn
11-18-2005, 11:55 AM
One of the things I noticed when I got my 2001 Accord was the HUGE opening located in the lower section of the front bumper. OK, maybe not HUGE but it still looked like there should've been a screen or grill there just the same. :)
I looked around for a grill/screen insert but no one made one specifically for my car.
So... I made one :D
At that time, I was also wanting to install a set of driving lamps that I had purchased. The original idea was to sink them into the bumper cover so they appeared to be stock. I veto that thought because I felt it wouldn't look right.
But I still wanted to mount the lights and once I found the location on the bumper cover, I decided that I would add a screen mesh for looks and to help prevent objects from striking the AC condensor.
I didn't have an actual plan when I started - sort of played it by ear since it was a pretty simple and straight forward mod.
Materials
Screen/Mesh (aka; chicken wire)
Mounting hardware
Tin snips (didn't have any and I wasn't going to use my wire cutters...)
Duct tape
LocTite
Black touch up paint
Black spray paint
Time to go shopping
Trip to the local hardware store, in this case Home Depot, to get the materials I needed. I found the screen mesh in the building materials section. There was actually a lot of different styles to select.
I didn't want it to look like a screen door type mesh but I also didn't want it to look like your typical chick wire mesh. I found a style that I liked and it was made of stainless steel (which is somethiing I didn't consider - rusting) so it had a sort of shiny appearance to it.
Bought 6 feet of it. They had it in 18, 24 and 36 inch widths. They were out of 18 inch so I had to get the 24 inch. I believe it was just under $1.00 a linear foot and with 6 feet of this stuff, I figure I had enough material to make three (so I had three chances to get it right).
Screen mesh cost: $6.00
Mounting hardware was next. The screen mesh on the Wings West RS body kit which I have on my CRX was actually held in place with what looks like a lot of JB Weld. Whatever it is, it's pretty sturdy.
I first looked at adhesives but felt that the best way would be the use of actual nuts and bolts to secure it. So in the hardware section I found a pack of black machine bolts which were about 1/8 inch in diameter and 1 1/2 inch long. The pack also included nuts. Found some flat washers which is what I would be using to hold the screen in place.
Hardware cost: $5.00
To cut the screen would require snips so I picked up some tin snips from the tool section.
Tin snips: $5.00
The other items on my list I had at home. So I spent under $20 for the materials I got from Home Depot.
Let's rock!
As mentioned, I had no real formal plan. In fact, in my head this is how it went:
Remove front bumper cover
From the back side of the bumper, cut the screen mesh to be 2 or so inches wider than the opening
Secure the mesh using the nuts, bolts and flat washers
Drill the holes for the mounting hardware (above)
Install driving lamps
Put bumper back on car
For the most part, it did go as listed above. Once I got the bumper cover off, I cut out a section of the screen mesh that was a couple of inches wider than the opening.
Then by hand, I molded the screen from the backside. Using duct tape to hold it in place, I determined where I was going to drill the holes for the bolts. I used a total of 8 bolts.
Once I got the holes drilled, the bolts were inserted and the flat washer was used to hold the screen. Applying a dab of LocTite to the threads help ensure that they hold strong.
The black touch up paint was to be used on the bolt head to cover up any blemish (I didn't want the bolt heads to be seen unless you looked for them).
The black spray paint was in the event the screen mesh was too loud and I had to paint it. As mentioned, it was made of stainless steel and so it had a sort of chrome look to it. But as luck would have it, because it did have that shiney exterior it reflected the black of the bumper cover so it only appeared if it was hit with direct light.
Let there be light
Rigging up the driving lights was next and I ran the wires along the backside of the bumper cover and did a good job of hiding them as well. I also used a molex type connector for the wiring so that if I had to take the bumper cover off for any reason I could easily disconnect it.
Because the driving lamps were small and had a black housing, they blended into the bumper cover nicely - so it sort of has that "sunk in" look I was wanting, it's subtle yet noticable. So it has a sort of stock look to it. Click here to see the driving lights... (http://vader.hooligan.cc/image/exterior/IM001183.JPG)
In conclusion
Total time just to do the screen: 2 hours (which includes removal of the bumper cover and putting it all back together).
Difficulty rating (1 = Hard, 10 = Easy): 8
It is very straight forward and the reason I don't give it a 9 or 10 is that you do need to shape/mold the screen in which is what took the most time for me. The backside is not as flat as I thought, it's curved and angled.
I do regret that I didn't document this with pictures when I did it.
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask. :wave:
I looked around for a grill/screen insert but no one made one specifically for my car.
So... I made one :D
At that time, I was also wanting to install a set of driving lamps that I had purchased. The original idea was to sink them into the bumper cover so they appeared to be stock. I veto that thought because I felt it wouldn't look right.
But I still wanted to mount the lights and once I found the location on the bumper cover, I decided that I would add a screen mesh for looks and to help prevent objects from striking the AC condensor.
I didn't have an actual plan when I started - sort of played it by ear since it was a pretty simple and straight forward mod.
Materials
Screen/Mesh (aka; chicken wire)
Mounting hardware
Tin snips (didn't have any and I wasn't going to use my wire cutters...)
Duct tape
LocTite
Black touch up paint
Black spray paint
Time to go shopping
Trip to the local hardware store, in this case Home Depot, to get the materials I needed. I found the screen mesh in the building materials section. There was actually a lot of different styles to select.
I didn't want it to look like a screen door type mesh but I also didn't want it to look like your typical chick wire mesh. I found a style that I liked and it was made of stainless steel (which is somethiing I didn't consider - rusting) so it had a sort of shiny appearance to it.
Bought 6 feet of it. They had it in 18, 24 and 36 inch widths. They were out of 18 inch so I had to get the 24 inch. I believe it was just under $1.00 a linear foot and with 6 feet of this stuff, I figure I had enough material to make three (so I had three chances to get it right).
Screen mesh cost: $6.00
Mounting hardware was next. The screen mesh on the Wings West RS body kit which I have on my CRX was actually held in place with what looks like a lot of JB Weld. Whatever it is, it's pretty sturdy.
I first looked at adhesives but felt that the best way would be the use of actual nuts and bolts to secure it. So in the hardware section I found a pack of black machine bolts which were about 1/8 inch in diameter and 1 1/2 inch long. The pack also included nuts. Found some flat washers which is what I would be using to hold the screen in place.
Hardware cost: $5.00
To cut the screen would require snips so I picked up some tin snips from the tool section.
Tin snips: $5.00
The other items on my list I had at home. So I spent under $20 for the materials I got from Home Depot.
Let's rock!
As mentioned, I had no real formal plan. In fact, in my head this is how it went:
Remove front bumper cover
From the back side of the bumper, cut the screen mesh to be 2 or so inches wider than the opening
Secure the mesh using the nuts, bolts and flat washers
Drill the holes for the mounting hardware (above)
Install driving lamps
Put bumper back on car
For the most part, it did go as listed above. Once I got the bumper cover off, I cut out a section of the screen mesh that was a couple of inches wider than the opening.
Then by hand, I molded the screen from the backside. Using duct tape to hold it in place, I determined where I was going to drill the holes for the bolts. I used a total of 8 bolts.
Once I got the holes drilled, the bolts were inserted and the flat washer was used to hold the screen. Applying a dab of LocTite to the threads help ensure that they hold strong.
The black touch up paint was to be used on the bolt head to cover up any blemish (I didn't want the bolt heads to be seen unless you looked for them).
The black spray paint was in the event the screen mesh was too loud and I had to paint it. As mentioned, it was made of stainless steel and so it had a sort of chrome look to it. But as luck would have it, because it did have that shiney exterior it reflected the black of the bumper cover so it only appeared if it was hit with direct light.
Let there be light
Rigging up the driving lights was next and I ran the wires along the backside of the bumper cover and did a good job of hiding them as well. I also used a molex type connector for the wiring so that if I had to take the bumper cover off for any reason I could easily disconnect it.
Because the driving lamps were small and had a black housing, they blended into the bumper cover nicely - so it sort of has that "sunk in" look I was wanting, it's subtle yet noticable. So it has a sort of stock look to it. Click here to see the driving lights... (http://vader.hooligan.cc/image/exterior/IM001183.JPG)
In conclusion
Total time just to do the screen: 2 hours (which includes removal of the bumper cover and putting it all back together).
Difficulty rating (1 = Hard, 10 = Easy): 8
It is very straight forward and the reason I don't give it a 9 or 10 is that you do need to shape/mold the screen in which is what took the most time for me. The backside is not as flat as I thought, it's curved and angled.
I do regret that I didn't document this with pictures when I did it.
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask. :wave: