Mesh fitted to lower Grille

[bahnstormer vrs]

I know the problem from my Octavia and used some galvanised 5mm square mesh wire, painted black, from the local DIY store to cover the original open grille, see here;-

I'm planning to do a similar thing to Kevin and from post #5 in this thread http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/188760-how-do-i-get-this-off/ feel that it should be an easy job to remove the 'bumper cover' place a piece of mesh, cut slightly larger than the grille opening, on the bumper and then clamp it in place by refitting the 'bumper cover'.

Only thing stopping me at the moment is that it is a bit too chilly to be working outside on the car!

Well its definitely been warmer this weekend so I took the opportunity to see what is what with the 'bumper cover'.

Turned out to be a fairly simple job to remove the cover, no screws involved, just a number of barbed tabs along the lower edge, prised out with a flat blade screwdriver and then a variety of other barbed tabs that, with a steady pull, all popped out undamaged.

This is what the bumper cover looks like once removed (its quite flexible as it happens);-

and this is the bare lower bumper with the slots for the barbed tabs clearly visible;-

I got my painted galvanised mesh (couldn't buy any 5mm mesh this time, so got a sheet of 13mm and doubled it up offset to give 6mm holes), all cut to fit with the edges overlapping the lower bumper;-

I then loosely held the mesh in place with some wire and gently positioned the bumper cover over it;-

Having pushed the main part of the cover back in place, making sure the barbed tabs 'took' I then went underneath to relocate the lower edge back in position as well;-

all tabs prised and pushed neatly home; Voilà, the finished project;-

Overall, quite a neat and unobtrusive job (if I say so myself) and there won't be anything that will cause any notable damage getting through the 6mm holes.

One thing that this has got me thinking of is that, with the (relative) ease with which the bumper cover was able to be removed and refitted and that it is 'silver' plastic i.e. not grey/black and painted silver is, why not buy a spare cover, paint it to my preference (I'm thinking 'Piano Black' to match the screen pillars) and fit that instead. Hmm.

[My_Yeti]

Well its definitely been warmer this weekend so I took the opportunity to see what is what with the 'bumper cover'.

Turned out to be a fairly simple job to remove the cover, no screws involved, just a number of barbed tabs along the lower edge, prised out with a flat blade screwdriver and then a variety of other barbed tabs that, with a steady pull, all popped out undamaged.

This is what the bumper cover looks like once removed (its quite flexible as it happens);-

and this is the bare lower bumper with the slots for the barbed tabs clearly visible;-

I got my painted galvanised mesh (couldn't buy any 5mm mesh this time, so got a sheet of 13mm and doubled it up offset to give 6mm holes), all cut to fit with the edges overlapping the lower bumper;-

I then loosely held the mesh in place with some wire and gently positioned the bumper cover over it;-

Having pushed the main part of the cover back in place, making sure the barbed tabs 'took' I then went underneath to relocate the lower edge back in position as well;-

all tabs prised and pushed neatly home; Voilà, the finished project;-

Overall, quite a neat and unobtrusive job (if I say so myself) and there won't be anything that will cause any notable damage getting through the 6mm holes.

One thing that this has got me thinking of is that, with the (relative) ease with which the bumper cover was able to be removed and refitted and that it is 'silver' plastic i.e. not grey/black and painted silver is, why not buy a spare cover, paint it to my preference (I'm thinking 'Piano Black' to match the screen pillars) and fit that instead. Hmm.

Looks great! I tried removing the silver plastic trim but gave up after an hour!

With regards to that trim, I saw one on ebay not so long ago for 20 quid, definitely worth doing. I was actually tempted, but realised I will never ever paint it as everything I painted in the past looks awful!

[Merlinman]

I bought the Ebay one.....

[bahnstormer vrs]

I bought the Ebay one.....

..... so once painted; you now know how to fit it!

[Merlinman]

Bought as a spare as it's a stone chip magnet - not decided how I'll use it yet, but your mesh mod is impressive

[rockhopper]

your mesh mod is impressive

most impressed with that Bahnstomer.

[Millstone]

These people do a nice range of aluminium and stainless steel mesh for grills http://www.cbsonline.co.uk/

[My_Yeti]

Found this whilst browsing the Russian Yeti forum someone mentioned on the logo page.

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.club-yeti.com%2Fviewtopic.php%3Ff%3D12%26t%3D100%2520club-yeti.com%2Fviewtopic.php%3Ff%3D12%26t%3D100

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=ru&tl=en&twu=1&u=http://www.club-yeti.ru/forum/showthread.php%3Ft%3D461&usg=ALkJrhgx_CbMOM-TITpdSETJnun-OH_qAw

[rockhopper]

paint it to my preference (I'm thinking 'Piano Black' to match the screen pillars) and fit that instead. Hmm.

And what about the rear of the car...............

[bahnstormer vrs]

And what about the rear of the car...............

Having seen a red Yeti with piano black lower front trim (elsewhere on the forum) I have gone off the idea. I've decided to keep the styling as intended.

[suzuki1200]

I too like the finished result so shot out and brought some mesh.Bright ally so need to paint it first,not a problem.What is a problem however,is, how did you get the blasted silver cover off.I really have tried but cant get it to shift in any way,not without risking damage anyhow.Only had the motor for three months and already got a fairly unpleasent dent to the rad so look's like a bumper off jobby and take it apart from the inside.Any advice or hint on removal would be very much appreciated before bumper removal.

[mullcott]

Impressed with the finished result. I fitted the heko lower vent cover for the winter which has performed as required but I will not be leaving it on throughout the summer. I replaced the grills on my wife's Suzuki Cappuccino last year as they were corroding and looking shoddy. I got a rigid black plastic diamond pattern grill off eBay which looked just as good and will not corrode. They do various patterns of mesh so will be investigating a suitable pattern for the lower vent.

[Llanigraham]

I too like the finished result so shot out and brought some mesh.Bright ally so need to paint it first,not a problem.What is a problem however,is, how did you get the blasted silver cover off.I really have tried but cant get it to shift in any way,not without risking damage anyhow.Only had the motor for three months and already got a fairly unpleasent dent to the rad so look's like a bumper off jobby and take it apart from the inside.Any advice or hint on removal would be very much appreciated before bumper removal.

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/265647-lower-silver-bumper-panel/

[ejstubbs]

You've just replied to the same poster who started the thread you've just linked to! He/she has basically just asked the same question on this thread. I believe the answer they need is further up this thread, but if that isn't doing it for them then I'm at a loss...

[bargee1759]

Great mod Barstormer vRS! Sorry to wander off, but does my beady eye spot Vrederstein Ultrac Sessantas on those wheels? Have you gone down to 225/45/17s then?

[bahnstormer vrs]

Great mod Barstormer vRS! Sorry to wander off, but does my beady eye spot Vrederstein Ultrac Sessantas on those wheels? Have you gone down to 225/45/17s then?

Beady eye is correct. Hallowed Ultrac Sessantas. These are my summer wheels which are 18" Team Dynamics alloys wearing 225/45 18s.

I use my OEM 17" Spitzbergs with 225/50 17 Yokohama W.drive winter tyres.

[bargee1759]

Blimey, 18"s? Are you one of the 1/2% of the population with no fillings!? I bet the steering good with those on though!

Cheers for all the tips on this thread, it brought the intercooler damage to my attention & mines going the same way, so protective measures are in the pipeline! The front bumper's fairly straight forward to remove in it's entirety though. From memory, the row of clips top & bottom, the screws through the wheelarch liners & underneath, & the only slightly awkward bit is the 10mm bolts attaching the bumper to the wing flanges forward of the liners. There's also a loom or a pipe attached with spring clips along the front below the grille too if I remember, but I didn't need to disturb this as I only pulled it forward on one side enough to replace a headlight unit after it was assaulted & smashed be a pheasant! Even doing this would probably be enough to reach the bag of the lower grille area though.

[bahnstormer vrs]

Blimey, 18"s? Are you one of the 1/2% of the population with no fillings!? I bet the steering good with those on though!

18s do improve the steering response without much penalty. Ride etc. is IMHO quite comfortable still and certainly quite a lot smoother / softer than my Octavia vRS TDI with FSDs and uprated rear ARB was.

PS> I've got loads of fillings and several crowns, along with a 'bad back'. No issue in Yeti.

[bargee1759]

Ah the beloved FSDs! I had these Konis on my Alfa 156 with Eibach sports springs. The ride was better than in standard form even though the car was 25mm lower, & also better than the Yeti's around town, & yet it reduced the body roll to zero even on standard roll bars too. A fantastic improvement. So much so that I thought it might be a long term mod for the Yeti, but as it lists these as the same kit that's used on the Octavia, & if you reckon it's harder, then that's no good. Which springs did you use with them? I also don't want to lower the Yeti. I appreciate that the lowering was the springs, but I suspect so too was the improved round-town ride quality as they were more progressive than the standard set-up. But I haven't found any standard ride height Eibach springs for the Yeti! Dilemmas! Sorry to go off topic too folks!

Edited 27 February, 2013 by bargee1759

[Merlinman]

It's not a massive drop on the Eibachs - in fact you'd be hard pressed to pick it up from a casual view!

Mine dropped less than Eibach claimed - do a search it's on here somewhere.

[bahnstormer vrs]

I kept to OE springs on my Octy vRS with FSDs from new (in March '07). The initial set went soft and were replaced under warranty, with the replacement set being firmer / sportier.

I put eibachs on my Yeti a year ago which did a great job of tightening the handling and limiting roll, albeit with an imbalance in the spring / shock ratio that makes some speed humps awkward.

I went through a phase a couple of weeks ago where I considered fitting FSDs or Bilsteins with or without Eibachs or removing the eibachs and fitting stiffer arbs but, after some considered and spirited driving to test my setup, plus considering the cost and the 'what if its wrong?', I concluded that I should stay with my current setup.

The drop on eibachs IMHO is noticeable to the trained eye, but not perhaps the casual observer, and I find this useful as I do a lot of Motorway mileage at speed with the drop helping fuel consumption a la Greenline.

[Yety]

The front bumper's fairly straight forward to remove in it's entirety though, the only slightly awkward bit is the 10mm bolts attaching the bumper to the wing flanges forward of the liners.

Aha, someone who has actually removed the front bumper.

Is there only one 10mm bolt each side, do you have to access it/them via the front wheel arch liner, or do you have to reach below the headlight unit somehow?

As you say, the rest is easy

[bargee1759]

Yikes,the dreaded memory test!I think there's 2 on each side,both point down & go through the horizontal flange on the lower edge of the wing & into the bumper. I reached them from under the wheelarch by gently prizing the liner from behind the wheel arch lip & eased it out of the way. I'm not sure whether you could actually get to them from under the headlight or not tbh.

[Yety]

Yikes,the dreaded memory test!I think there's 2 on each side,both point down & go through the horizontal flange on the lower edge of the wing & into the bumper. I reached them from under the wheelarch by gently prizing the liner from behind the wheel arch lip & eased it out of the way. I'm not sure whether you could actually get to them from under the headlight or not tbh.

Thanks very much for confirming that.

The drawing shows two bolts each side into the wing flange, so it looks like a job for the warmer weather - meanwhile I'm changing the cam belt and tensioner on my MG out in the road and freezing cold

[bargee1759]

Ah the joys of motoring!Mm.mid-engine cambelt change,I think the 4 bolts on the Yeti is a much easier prospect!

Can anyone recommend a good source for a cd rom Yeti manual,the 1 I got for the Alfa was a bit of a joke with half the chapters not accessible.

Getting back onto topic.I think I'm going to do the lower grill thing by just removing the silver 'skid plate' so its sandwiched between that & the original latticework in the bumper.

Cheers for the info about the Eibachs & FSDs,certainly food for thought! & I saw a good 5% fuel economy gain when I fitted the kit to the Alfa, but was never sure whether it was because you could carry more speed through a corner so didnt need to accelerate as much out of the other side, or just because it was about an inch lowered helping to reduce drag. Probably a bit of both.

Edited 2 March, 2013 by bargee1759