Very easy grill block
 

Hello,
In my first post I propose a very easy grill block made with a clear acrylic sheet you can cut with scissors and tie with 'cable tie plastic'.

In summer with 25-30ºC, perhaps I must eliminate it.

Bye

http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-co...omod-skoda.jpg

nicely done. reminds me of mcrews setup

i like.
i bought'd thicker lexan, thinking i;d make time to properly trim it so it would fill and recess (but stay flush) into the odd shape of my grill. plus i will need to leave an opening to access the hood release.

i;ve not made time to trim this for 2 months. i was using blue painter tape on my grill until a couple weeks ago.

There are a lot of grille blocks in this area. Cardboard and twist ties are not rare. The most popular type is plain stainless steel sheet with a few small slits, apparently robot-cut for many popular trucks. The older classic is the more universal, overall-coverage black, quilted type with a few flaps that can be tied up on warmer days. I've yet to see any stealthy blocks - running without one here is a bad maintenance, or laziness.

You should experiment with making the block smaller. Once you know how large it should be at what time of the year, you can make different blocks for summer and winter, or add an extra winter cover to the summer block.

Since you have a turbodiesel, it is probably quite efficient, so it takes a long time to warm up, and doesn't overheat too often (especially if you ecodrive). This should let you get away with at least a partial block for most of the year.

Have you blocked the lower grille, under the bumper? Start blocking from the sides and work your way towards the center. If you can, keep the upper grille blocked year round and experiment with the lower grille. You may also try an openable block, such as mine:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...6&d=1257169109

You can read about it here in my modding thread.

Thanks Piwoslaw,
I leaved open the lower grille because in the mediterranean coast (where I live) outside temperature is allways positive.
Now I will check engine temperature in warmer days and I'll consider your modd if needed.

And old version of 'adjustable' grill block.
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-co...aso-comet2.jpg
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-co...gaso-comet.jpg

Those openings are enormous.

Very clean looking modification. Added to the project library.

I like the clear look, makes it less noticable on the road and thus less stares. What kind of plastic did you use and where did you happen to purchase it?

spydyr -

+1. And the thickness. I always ask how thick the material is. Always.

CarloSW2

I'm finding this useful in the (too long) consideration of my grill block

http://www.fiat.co.uk/uploadedImages...a/multipla.jpg

The later Multipla (where FIAT got scared) has a 3/4 blocked upper grill from the factory.

For the Octavia I think most of the radiator is behind the lower grill.

This is a very nice stealth grill block. Using clear plastic is a good idea.

How about getting a car bra and adding little extra material to cover the grill opening. It doesn't get more stealth than that.

zman: see http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...k-bra-285.html

Hello,

I purchased it in a DIY supermarket (bauhaus). They have rolls of this plastic that they sell by meters.
I supose it's a PET plastic, but I don't care about it...its so cheap.

Two remarks after 20.000km of use the grille block:
-Last summer in the french coast at 35ºC in a trafic jump I checked that the engine temperature was stable without need of the electric fan.
And the fuel economy (that depends on speed) is between -0,2 and -0,3l/100km with the grill blocked. Now, I obtain averages of 5,2 to 5,6 liters/100km (45,23 to 42 MPG) with average speed 80 or 90km/h (50 or 56 m/h)
-And in cold wheather, the engine takes less time to reach the working temperature, that will increase engine's live (I supose).

Bye

prettiest oem grillblock i know is on the audi A1

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j5...3927701c23.jpg

it's in fact not really a grillblock as i believe it's an inspection hatch (the hood is not hinged, but detatches, but things like window washers can be accessed trough the hatch i've heared) no versions of the car had an this open, although later versions of the car had a horizontally ribbed panne in place although it was still a solid pannel.
it looked a bit like another grill block as seen on the citroen C2
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j5...0125123410.jpg

but it gives the car a visual "gille" without any aero damage, plus gloss black is very fashionable thanx to appels i-whatever so perhaps more carmakers should have a look at it

the car had a 0.25Cd btw

Audi A2, I'm sure you meant. The A1's grille is on the other end of the spectrum:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1290751081

the production A1 has a somewhat more conventional grille size, visually still huge but more conventional in size than it appears.

i imagine since the A1 is more of a high end city car is would need a somewhat bigger grill opening to stay cool at slow speed.

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j5...l/350974-3.jpg

still it looks like a grillblock might be welcome.

interestingly another early showcar for the A1 had a solution for this

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j5..._Sportback.jpg

The A2 bonnet was sealed by the factory so that the owner had to go to the stealer for servicing. It was an idea that, for obviously dumb reasons, didn't catch on.

I suspect that at some point Audi will take the stripped metal theme of their cars too far and you will need an Allen key (probably with something like 13 sides and only available from Audi) just to open the cup holder on the 2015 A4.

The holder itself will be floodlit with 20,000 micro LEDs. Car accessory shops will start selling Cup Holder illumination kits which will be fitted to 1998 Honda Civics the world over.

The holder itself will be floodlit with 20,000 micro LEDs. Car accessory shops will start selling Cup Holder illumination kits which will be fitted to 1998 Honda Civics the world over.

wow, we are in the pressance of a AMG (automotive marketing guru)
arragonis,
that was preceptive and funny!

They don't use Allen keys in cars anymore since everyone has a set at home. Torx keys were next, but those too are becoming easy to find, so now the fad is Torx with a hole/pin in the middle. My brother-in-law is a car mechanic and says that those are easy to break, and expensive to replace, as they're not very popular yet. Just perfect for automotive applications.

my dad who has to work on the new opel insignia, (new buick regal) said that the oil drain is located above some other componet, think from the subframe, so in order to change the oil you'll need a special gutter tool so that the oil does not drip all over that frame. on my car i recently had to change the lightbulbs and although i'd never done it it was a pretty straightfroward process. on some newer cars the only sensible wat to do it is to put the car on a lift, open a (mud splattered) hatch in the wheel well, and reach into the cavity sharp projection filled cavity and feel your way trough the process. My dad commented that on some models replacing a bulb is so fiddly and difficuly, not to mention painfull, that the quickest way is to just unbolt the bumper and the entire light units. unfortunately all this unavoidable work time also ends up on the bill.

I'm feelng guilty about helping hijack this thread, so I'll ask: Is there a about how car companies are trying to keep our hands off everything that the last few posts could be moved to? Or can they be moved to a new thread?

This is all very interesting, enough so to warrant its own thread, instead of being lost in the off-topic depths of another thread.

Nice work, but why dont you hide the plastic film under the grill?
It will work and look better.
Oh, and be careful, in those cars, sometimes the fan contol unit dies and no one knows it, you could blown your headgasket.

Ok Mario, no fantastic look, but I supose that under the grid can cause more turbulences, noise and the plastic can break cause the absence of the grid support.

Thanks, I have checked the fan trying to park in a steepy village.

Oh, i see the point, i have blocked part of my golf grill but i use abs plastic and it looks like stock, you cant detect any modifications unless you open the hood.
I really love the winter grill you post on the other topic, looks really nice and clean.
You can use vag-com to monitor your temperatures, you can see water temp, intake temp, fuel temp and oil temp, really useful.

Mario, please, can you post any picture?
I'm sure you have a very interesting grill block.

Thanks

I know this is a very old post (I'm reading through a lot of threads trying to learn) and it doesn't really matter as the A2 has been out of production for 10 years or so - but the misconception about the A2 bonnet bothers me - it was not sealed. In fact is was more open than almost any other car because the whole thing unclips easily - no hinges, you just lift it off, which is easy enough as it's aluminium and doesn't weigh much)

Welcome to the forum.

My grill block was made of gorilla transparant tape and has stood up to hail stones snow very heavy rain etc still waiting for summer. Vitrually undectable. Engine temp has never gone above 89c according to car computer.

Actually I agree having seen it done recently. It wasn't designed to be DIY friendly but it probably is the most - kind of like an old Spitfire GT6 bonnet is.