# Grill(s) deletes



## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

i just went thru the day deleting both of my upper and lower grills and then making a new grill for the upper after i decided i didn't like it without any. the OEM ones were fine but the air flow thru them is a fraction of the area of the grills because they have such wide dividers for the honeycomb and they're so thick. the lower grill has black, painted hardware cloth back by the condenser for protection and the upper grills directly feed my SS OTRCAI thru an enclosed box.





























dirty car


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## Mongoose (Jun 17, 2009)

Great Idea just dosen't look finished to me


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## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

Mongoose said:


> Great Idea just dosen't look finished to me


i appreciate the comment. i donno. some of it is you end up liking what you're used to. other than the mesh style my black '05 Grand Prix looks very similar with the silver grill and open lower so it may just be familiarity. i do think (having seen both) that it looks better in person than in pictures and in functionality it rocks..


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## Mongoose (Jun 17, 2009)

I'd have to agree the functionality looks like it would be great.


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## Poncho Dan (Jun 30, 2009)

Looks good, but its unfortunate the ducts in the front clip are smaller than the actual openings. Maybe there's a way to open them up without butchering them?


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## GTOJer (Oct 20, 2006)

has this effected your engine coolant temps at all?


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## FastFrank (Jun 12, 2009)

I like the upper portion, makes it look mean. The only problem I would have is the lower grill would catch birds where I live, and I'd be spending a lot of time cleaning bird parts out of my radiator. At least with the stock grill in there it catches the big parts.:lol:


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## chilliwhiggerE (Mar 10, 2009)

I would paint that mesh black IMO


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## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

Poncho Dan said:


> Looks good, but its unfortunate the ducts in the front clip are smaller than the actual openings. Maybe there's a way to open them up without butchering them?


the duct openings on the back side are (2) 5" x 10" so they're pretty big. this intake setup also gets air from the gap in the hood (where most of the stock intake gets its air) and that gap is 1/2" x 30+" so that's over 115 sq in feeding less than an 8 sq in TB so it's getting plenty of air :gr_jest:. it's also in the highest pressure area on the car, higher than any normal hood scoop would be (look how tiny the LS2 scoops are and sitting really low). i haven't gotten it cranked up to high speed and logged MAPs yet but IATs are the best if ever seen and very quick to respond.



GTOJer said:


> has this effected your engine coolant temps at all?


no, not under any normal driving. i've been told and i don't doubt it that auto-x would kill. that's a lot of WOT driving without a rest. i'll have to reconsider running from the law . for street blasts and the drag strip this should rock. normal driving logs see 192* coolant temps with the stock stat which was normal for me. if you've ever looked closely at the stock grills they don't look like they let in much air. just about all of the cooling air is from below. the intake (which is much larger than my normal one) is a prototype and it "blocks" some of the radiator but regardless because of the way the radiator is constructed some air can go up behind no matter how much the front is blocked.



FastFrank said:


> I like the upper portion, makes it look mean. The only problem I would have is the lower grill would catch birds where I live, and I'd be spending a lot of time cleaning bird parts out of my radiator. At least with the stock grill in there it catches the big parts.:lol:


if you look at the picture with the bumper removed you can see i installed black painted hardware cloth back in past the lower "scoop" so nothing can get past that. in that way it's even better than the stock louvers.





chilliwhiggerE said:


> I would paint that mesh black IMO


noted. i considered that but black on black on black i thought might be too much black for me. i for one can't stand black wheels. the jury's still out on that one tho. 3 out of 4 people that have seen it in person voted silver. the online community is about the same for black. i think it does look a little different in person as at "normal" view points it is recessed back far enough that it doesn't really stand out. i guess i got a "mercy" donation coming too of 1/2" honeycomb grating so it may get switched out to that soon. now that i've broken the front clips it will be a breeze taking the bumper off again


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## Poncho Dan (Jun 30, 2009)

I was thinking more from a visual standpoint, but if it gets the job done, whatever. Don't broke what ain't fixed, as they say.


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## crustysack (Oct 5, 2008)

I think that looks sharp and 1 of a kind -nice job


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## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

Poncho Dan said:


> I was thinking more from a visual standpoint, but if it gets the job done, whatever. Don't broke what ain't fixed, as they say.


i see what you mean. you're taking about how the "tunnel" isn't as large or shaped the same as the OEM grill. the SAP units taper the front shape into the same tunnel and put the mesh in the back but the taper kind of retains the look of the original shape. i have some 1/2" hole honeycomb meshing coming that i'm probably going to change out to that altho not changing the shape will give back a little of that "Pontiac" look.



crustysack said:


> I think that looks sharp and 1 of a kind -nice job


thanks. yesterday i went on a little cruise with 2 other guys from Grand Rapids up to Muskegon by Lake Michigan where we did a little photo shoot. we got some props from passers by and one kid with a GTP stopped and talked to us a little. he noticed my grilling was different and after i told him what i had done to change it he said that he liked the ones on my car better because it made it look "meaner" :lol:


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## Aramz06 (Mar 2, 2008)

Looks really good. I would debate going with black grilles but there wouldn't be enough contrast. This is probably best.


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## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

OK, i got a lot of grief about the silver grilles. SpencerW from GTOgrilles.com must have taken some pity on me and he sent me a couple of pieces of really nice hexagon mesh screening. i painted them satin black and attached them the same way. i'll have to admit i like this setup better...

Held in with wire ties and an OEM clip...










Detail showing how it will feed the intake as was the intent...










Black on black. They are a little hard to see...










Reverse view...










Still looks like a GTO... 










Love those reflection shots and it has nothing to do with the grilles...










Oh, and i have a "GTO" badge coming for the driver's side grille


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## usmonaro (Apr 9, 2009)

Got a question.... How does your MAF work? I looked at the custom intake and see it nowhere. ??? what gives?


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## FastFrank (Jun 12, 2009)

usmonaro said:


> Got a question.... How does your MAF work? I looked at the custom intake and see it nowhere. ??? what gives?


Good question, I was wondering the same thing.


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## GTOJer (Oct 20, 2006)

He runs SD. (Speed Density)


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