So after a tank of having the grill block, I decided since I didn't see any gain, I moved it to the front of the grill. I forgot to take pics of it, but it looked sooooo ridiculous! So I decided to get some black cardboard from a friend of mine who works at a former employer of mine (I used to work at a frame shop... lots of cardboard in a frame shop! and I know he always has black available). Best part was that it was freeeee!
So I put on the black cardboard, cut it to fit, rather than flat and straight on, sticking too far down past the bottom of the bumper. About half-way through the tank, I realized I blocked too much, so I took the upper blocks off. I figured those "holes" are a TON smaller than the bottom, so the bottom is probably better to block in my case. I am thinking about re-blocking the top, just not as much as last time.
It's not the cleanest install, but the black looks waaaaaaaay better than the brown cardboard! Plus, being installed to fit, rather than just sitting over the top, it looks more like it's supposed to be there.
One thing I thought of while I was cruising down the highway is that even though the block is in front of the support bars, it is still set back quite a bit into the bumper.
The block inset varies between an inch and inch and a half, so what I was thinking about doing is putting some sort of insulation behind the cardboard, to push it up and bring it flush with the bumper. My friend/former neighbor is remodeling my old house, so when he comes up with some scrap insulation, I can take some of that and fix it up to be more flush. The hardest part is going to be getting it flush with the front of the bumper, since it is different depths.
I would appreciate any thoughts or ideas to make it better! Thanks!