05RedSS

I have shown my car to countless different people and the one's that are mechanics/ race car drivers/ car enthusiasts have all said one thing........ "I can't believe GM doesn't have anything protecting that radiator." One stone at one of the little horizontal running metal tubes on the radiator and that part is toast. NOW if this was to happen to me of course I would argue that this should be a warrenty issue and or poor design. I plan on getting some sort of mesh to protect my intercooler but haven't really started looking. Just curious on everyone elses opinions...

Tom

blownss

I agree. I havent seen this part on a cobalt yet but it's supposed to work.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...979357037&rd=1

Thoughts on this part anyone? Reading through the info part of the auction it says "Installation: Most of our grilles (unless otherwise noted) install directly over your existing grille with nylon tie straps, with no modification to your vehicle. The nylon tie straps we use have a tensile strength of 50 pounds each. The grilles weigh 2 to 6 pounds each. The nylon tie straps won’t rust or break. " Nylon straps? Then looking at the picture it looks like they blured the straps out with photoshop. Photoshop guys back me up on this - does it look like it to you?

CobaltSS313

Yah im definitley getting a guard cause i dont want a rock to smack my condesenser and then im screwed...I cant believe GM didnt but a grill guard on it already

Nightcrawler

Me too. I'll definitely be interested in one as well. It really does seem like poor design. They bothered to put some waffle mesh on the rear of the car.. why not the front which is more important?

jmonte345

I don't have an SS but I was worried about the same thing on my Red Line. Someone on the board over there got some baseball size damage.

I ordered a grill form customcargrills.com to help protect mine. He has a billet grill listed for the SS. Mine was a lot cheaper than that though, it is made out of the Diamond XXL Flat material. You could probably buy a sheet of the material and make your own grills. I made the 2 side grills and bought the center one premade.

Chevy4Life85

How did you attach it... when I put a mesh grill on y cavy it was tough... hopefully an easier way that IDK for when i get my SS

Duncan

The dealer I bought from wouldent sign the car over to me until they made a grill up for it.

player_1

I bought the Mr. grill from E-bay for my SS. I'm installing it to day I'll post pict's when i'm done.

I'll say one thing for sure is that it is real quality product, not a shitty peace of mesh, it's like a 1/4 of an inch thick, i wont be worried about any rock unless the there the size of a baseball

Nightcrawler

Stupid question, but when you get one of these grills, how does it actually fit into place and attack to the bumber?

Maven

iTrader: (1)

Heres another question how many of you actually worried about your radiator or a/c condenser in your other vehicles as much as you seem to care about your aftercooler rad???

zinner

I am not worried about either of them. Bugs have to worry though.

Chevy4Life85

I have to imagine there is a reason for not having one on there stock.... Honestly I'm also sure that it cant be too dangerous becuase they would never put themselves into that position to haev all of these cars busting the radiator.

I think it was for airflow

Think about it I know it sounds silly but your taking away A LOT of space where air used to flow free in, and covering it with the mesh.... It only makes sense that you will not get as much air as someone without

actually if the mesh is done in a certain angle the air will hit and flow right over the mesh and not much will make it past at all... I ahs this problem when I did it on my cavy, it runs abotu 5-10 degrees hotter now

Nightcrawler

Maybe.. but I doubt waffle grill really restricts much air.

On the flip side.. I for one get pelted by rocks too often on interstates here in NJ. I've had cracked windshields many times. One of those rocks goes in that hole and wack.. you just busted your intercooler or radiator. The chance seem fairly high to me. Someone should contact Chevy/GM and see what they have to say about it. If no harm can come from it, I would not hesitate to put one on. Rocks can STILL hit from bouncing up from underneath the car. Nothing you can do about that, but you can do something about the front.

codyss

Will the grille from a Cobalt sport fit in there?

I myself would like someting I could just install on highway trips.

JapEatr

iTrader: (9)

i want a shield for the bottom of the IC where the TIG welded lines come down

brianfcp

if anyone gets chicken wire, get it and paint it black. itll look so much better that way.

Maven

iTrader: (1)

Nightcrawler....you doubt it restricts air???How exactly could it not???look at all the metal the mesh is made of....its possible for a grill to restrict airflow as much as 50% or more....think about how much aircomes through an open window compared to awindow with a screen.....

and the NJ thing doesnt work either.....Ive lived in NJ all my life, have had numerous chipped paint jobs and windshields....but not ever a single rock(or other debris) perforated radiator.

Chevy4Life85

lol yeah I didnt think someone would actually argue with me that putting a piece of metal in the way wouldnt block air but hey maybe its make beleive grill, I really think chevy did it to get mroe air flowing in...

jmonte345

There are a 6-8 plastic posts the the center grill attach to and I zip tied the two side ones on.

Nightcrawler

Right.. I didn't quite mean it like that. What I meant was I doubt it will restrict the car from still getting the air it needs. But that's just speculation. I don't claim to be an expert, so I accept the fact that I can be dead wrong here.

I haven't had a radiator actually break from a rock either yet, but the openings on my previous vehicles wouldn't allow for such HUGE objects to get in there. Maybe the chances are not as high as I made them out to be, but I still feel they are higher than they should be.

Maven

iTrader: (1)

I understand Crawler.....and in your defense, a mesh grille probably wouldnt effect driveability at all, but it would surely have a measureable effect on performance(measureable not necessarily noticeable.)

Maven

iTrader: (1)

Also....everyone is forgetting the single biggest thing......the aftercooler radiator IS NOT WHAT YOU SEE THROUGH THE FASCIA.......thats the a/c condenser core....


the aftercooler rad is in between the engine rad. and the a/c condenser.
'nuff said.

BlackSS05

I brought the grill from Mr Grill. It was very easy to install. It also looks really nice and to add to what the orignal poster said I called up GM and complained about the car not having a grill and they said the only thing they can do for me is send me a way to contact the Better Business Beauru. I sent them the problem that the car has and I am hoping to be recompensated for the amount of the girll. Will let you know how it goes. Maybe if more people contacted GM they would send all of the SS owners a girll.

05RedSS

Don't count on that happening. I hope people don't call the better business beauru cause I think thats a little harsh. You know whats cool is having a brother as a parts manager at a chevy dealer. He would most likely warrenty it for me. It all depends on how you write it up he says.

Tom

BlackSS05

Weel hey i didnt count on it happening and it did. Spoke to them today and I am getting reimbursed for 50% of the purchase price. So hate on me all you want but I got the grill covered under warranty and got it for half price.