Removable Stainless Steel Grill?

[superdavelotus]

Hi all,

I just completed some drawings for the Elise front grill and thought of an idea about redesigning the front grill for the V8 in either stainless steel mesh in a stainless steel frame or in anodoised aluminium (say black to match existing.

This upgrade would mean the new grill is screwed in and can be removed any time. This would be great if there is any work needed to be carried out on air-con, oil coolers or rads.

I haven't decided whether it's a good or bad idea yet so decided to ask you lot.

Here's what the Elise one looks like to give you an idea.

[leighton]

Dave..

Great idea .... I would be interested in a stainless one if not too expensive .

I was thinking of replacing the wheelarch grills in the near future , could these be designed

at the same time??

[Jonathan]

You got the same ideas as I have.

I'm working my way through remaking a lot of stuff in stainless and making bolt kits etc.

I'd love a stainless grill (was gonna make my own) apart from the fact it's all silvery so I was going to get mine chemically blackened (not too sure if stainless will go, although I have done silver steel before OK).

The V8 should be very similar to the earlier cars to 1993 as well so 1 should fit all

[Jukka]

Hi.

Great idea! I would be interested in a stainless one if it is not too expensive!

[th4neuk]

Yep,

I quite fancy one of those.

My front grill is well rusty and one of my winter projects is to try and paint it. Much rather replace it with stainless. Not sure if it should be black though???

Cheers

[superdavelotus]

Was thinking the same myself about black. I will start to take a few measurements and make a start of the drawings for costing. As soon as I have something I'll get back to you all.

It would bring the price down a lot if we could get say 10 people interested once we can all agree on finish and costs etc.

[mike_sekinger]

Yes - definitely interested. Would prefer black.

Great idea

[Dasar7]

I would be interested as well, probably in black also.

[lemoncurd]

Yeah, was thinking about this for mine...

Would probably be after one a bit shinier than black though...

[superdavelotus]

Right guys, just to point out, the V8 front bumper is slightly different to the S4 and GT3. The sides are definately different. I will try and make both but firstly will make one to fit mine.

[CarlC]

I'd buy the main front centre grill Dave in black. I'd already repaint the front grill silver on mine and black looks much better. So its black again now.

[ansellb]

Yes please - a black version for an S4, if you're doing one of those...

Thanks,

Ben

[jim65535]

I'm in if it comes off....dark colour or black for me too.

Jim

[glynherron]

Great idea Dave

Its a bit too late as I've just had delivered a brand new one from Lotus !!!

Glyn

V8 being painted this weekend - yipee

[superdavelotus]

hi all,

I have finished the drawings for the front grills, what do you think?

]My Webpage

If the link doesn;t work then have a look here at public shoebox

http://community.webshots.com/user/superdavelotus

I have yet to measure the side grills as these will be fixed differently.

I plan to have this made over the next few weeks. As soon as I have them made I will post pictures on here.

Dave Walters

Edited November 30, 2006 by superdavelotus

[Jonathan]

Have you looked at the S4 style bumper - sure that will fit.

Would like to see it fitted as well to see how it looks on the car.

Are you going to chemically black them ?

When i get my workshop finished I might be able to provide that service if it's not done from Dave's end.

[superdavelotus]

Iam trying to look into blacking stainless. I know you can get black chrome. Another option is black anodoised aluminium but I think people will want stainless for stiffness and durability (distortion)?

[Jonathan]

http://www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp?pro...0Blacking%20Kit

Not sure if it works on stainless but I wouldn't be suprised to see that it does, this would be ideal, 10x better than paint.

Aluminium is OK if you anodise it so it does not dull and 'furr' (aluminium does corrode slowly, even though some people say it doesn't) - you could have it any colour you wanted then !!

Problem with ali is strength so you'll have to make it of thicker gauge which will reduce air flow somewhat (if that's critical), harder to weld - you need AC welder and it tends to bend and break easier. It's cheaper though

Swings and roundabouts.

[superdavelotus]

Oh, I need someone to send me an S4/GT3 stencil of their front side vents. The V8's are wider. I think the centre grill is the same.

[Jonathan]

I would do but I haven't got my car atm

Also what about the SE or is that a step too far from the V8 ?

[superdavelotus]

Hi jonathon,

Yes I would do the SE depending how the V8 ones goes. It's all well and good coming up with these ideas but when it comes down to cost, IMO Esprit owners don't want to spend as much as other owners. I'll give you an example, the Elise one in the picture above is

[CarlC]

Hi Dave,

Looks great so far. As per my PM when I recently replaced the side grills on my S4 it was just mesh bent around the back of the intake rather than properly mounted with screw fixing as you show in your spec. I dont know if this is the case across the board or something that my car has perhaps had replaced at some point in the past.

Also does the towing eye cut out need to be that large ?

[superdavelotus]

Hi Carl,

The OEM grill is a bent piece of mesh as you stated. The towing eye is exactly how I measured on my car. I can reduce this if people want it but with towing eyes, if you get towed or hooked up, you run the risk of the rope or chain damaging the grill.

Can I have other people's input please? Do you want me to reduce the hole size of the towing eye and by how much?

I also plan to radius the corners of the towing eye too!

[Jonathan]

Yeah I do look at some of these 3rd party parts manufacturers and go "how have they got that bit to that price !?!?".

I do a lot of sheet metal work on the Esprits and the E-type and most of my stuff including bolts and fittings comes out to about

[jimc]

Hi Dave,

Think I would be interested in a grill for a v8.

My only comment is about the towing eye. If I was going to replace the grill, I think I would like to get rid of the standard eye, and replace it with a screw in arrangement. I think this is what the Elise has (if my memory is correct).

This would clean up the front of the car a bit.

In the end, I suggest you go with what you want for your car!

Jim