After seeing WeatherSpotter's DIY page
here I felt inspired and decided to go for it. Especially with cool weather coming in I don't have to worry about cooking my engine anytime soon. (I don't have a scantron to be sure)
I used cardboard to trace the outline of the upper grill. Then I transferred the tracing onto vinyl siding that had blown off a house from the hurricane. I cut the siding with a utility knife and some tin snips. This took a while to shape it to fit nicely into the grill area. The Toyota logo on the grill came off with a press to a pair of tabs on the backside.
Attaching the siding to the grill was a little tricky. I wanted something that will be fairly each to remove (if necessary) and won't mar the original car parts. I went with 1.5" stainless steel bolts with matching ss locknuts and washers. 1.5" was long enough to reach through the grill but short enough not to hit the radiator or horn behind the grill.
I anticipated using 4 bolts but after installing 2 the grill block felt very firm so I stopped. I got a chance to test out the block on a recent trip to western Virginia. After 6 hours of driving it has held up very well and I haven't had any problems. I thought it might flap or rattle at high speeds but this hasn't been the case. Nor has the car rejected the mod by throwing it off at high speeds.
My
mpg for the trip was in the realm of similar trips, so I can't provide exact A-B-A numbers. But the grill certainly hasn't hurt MPG. I will keep updating MPG for more 'standard' trips around town and such.
Overall I'm very happy with the mod. The siding wasn't a natural first choice, but it will hold up well to the water, salt, rocks, etc that are bound to come its way. The color is close to the silver of my car so in the words of my girlfriend it "doesn't look
that bad". For a very small investment I'm confident of a small bump in MPG.
Total mod cost= $5.
Time= couple of hours
Tools: tin snips, pencil, bolts/nuts/washers, extra siding
PS- I can still get to the hood release mechanism too.
