Grill screens: C5 aftermarket vs OEM Z06

[Greg C]

I have a 2000 C5 Roadster (Green). Want to add a "little" color to the exterior;
Have a caliper painting kit (yellow) and have been looking at getting one of the after market grill screen kits that are out there (front brake duct, side cove, rear bumper and front grill kits with the engine air flow frames....going to paint them yellow....I do not intend on adding the rear brake cooling ducts & screens that mount on the side of the car...I feel that is strictly for Z06's). I have seen in the ads for these products statements like the "Z06 OEM Look" but easy to install. My question is will the Z06 OEM parts fit in/on my C5 and are they hard to install. I assume here that the aftermarket grill kits just stick on with double sidded sticky tape. What are the Z06 EOM grill kits like and are they hard to install? I always try to go with OEM if at all possible...I have found that although they may cost more they work and usually look better..........

 

[Patrick]

Hi, Greg,
I'm going to go ahead and move this thread to the Z06 Forum, just to make sure you get some advice from Z06 owners on your question.

I've seen the type of kits you're refering to. In fact, I think Mid-America Direct has them. And there was a thread here a few months ago about someone who had actually cut holes in order to install an aftermarket rear brake duct to their 'vert to give it a Z06 look. (Results looked pretty good, too.) I did a search but couldn't find the thread...

I guess the only thing I would question is the wisdom of using double sticky tape.


-Patrick

 

['04 Torch Red]

I have a 2000 C5 Roadster (Green). Want to add a "little" color to the exterior;
Have a caliper painting kit (yellow) and have been looking at getting one of the after market grill screen kits that are out there (front brake duct, side cove, rear bumper and front grill kits with the engine air flow frames....going to paint them yellow....I do not intend on adding the rear brake cooling ducts & screens that mount on the side of the car...I feel that is strictly for Z06's). I have seen in the ads for these products statements like the "Z06 OEM Look" but easy to install. My question is will the Z06 OEM parts fit in/on my C5 and are they hard to install. I assume here that the aftermarket grill kits just stick on with double sidded sticky tape. What are the Z06 EOM grill kits like and are they hard to install? I always try to go with OEM if at all possible...I have found that although they may cost more they work and usually look better..........

=========================================================
Velcro, Velcro, Velcro...
A couple of the aftermarket versions I've seen use cheaper "chicken wire" screen material and don't look much like the stock woven mesh. LAPD and other forum vendors sell complete screen kits that are of OEM quality. Remember that only the fog light screens are actually OEM while the others are additions that are strictly aftermarket and never came on the Z06 from the factory. The brake duct, side cove and rear screens are the additional mods. Most vendors have pieces that use Velcro or double-sided tape to attach them. They are all pretty easy to install. I would recommend using Velcro on the main front fog light screens so they can be removed to access the fog lights for cleaning if you have them. Here's how I installed mine.

Use the "loop" (soft) side of the Velcro on the top and bottom edges of the screen bezels so as not to scratch the paint with the harder "hook" side. Use cardboard or wax paper between the "mates" to keep them from sticking together until you have them properly positioned and then pull them out to allow the mates to meet.

__________________

BTW...this is not my idea...I got this from someone on another tech section on another forum...it doesn't really matter where I found it...it works...

also, not mentioned here...slide a piece of thin cardboard between the pieces of velcro before putting the screens in... until you get the screens positioned then pull the cardboard out so the velcro will "mate"...same procedure for removing the screens...

 

['04 Torch Red]

Hi, Greg,
I'm going to go ahead and move this thread to the Z06 Forum, just to make sure you get some advice from Z06 owners on your question.

I've seen the type of kits you're refering to. In fact, I think Mid-America Direct has them. And there was a thread here a few months ago about someone who had actually cut holes in order to install an aftermarket rear brake duct to their 'vert to give it a Z06 look. (Results looked pretty good, too.) I did a search but couldn't find the thread...

I guess the only thing I would question is the wisdom of using double sticky tape.


-Patrick

Patrick, this shouldn't be in the Z06 section...Z06 owners do not install Z06 screens because they already come on a Z06......regular C5 owners would be installing Z06 screens as an after thought so the C5 tech section or the C5 general section would be the correct place for this info...Thanks...

Kenny

And BTW...people are having problems with screens from MA...they are plated and they rust...whereas GM's screens are stainless steel and do not rust....just FYI

 

[sleepyhead]

[QUOTE='04 Torch Red]

And BTW...people are having problems with screens from MA...they are plated and they rust...whereas GM's screens are stainless steel and do not rust....just FYI[/QUOTE]

Wow...good information. I'll have to let my buddy know. He's about to get a set of grills for his C5 and was thinking of going the aftermarket route. Seems if the aftermarket grills are not stainless steel it'd be much better to go with OEM.

-J.

 

[Bioscache2]

I got the OEM zo6 grills for my C5 and I used velco. They have never come off on me and they fit perfectly. I used the exact same way mentioned above to install them too.

 

[Greg C]

I ordered a set of OEM Z06 grill screens form Art's Corvette Parts and a set of the other duct screens (stainless) for the front brake ducts, side ducts and the rear end bumper slots.......these are supposed to match the EOM screens.....guess we will see....supposed to arrive today.........thanks for the info................Greg


Velcro, Velcro, Velcro...
A couple of the aftermarket versions I've seen use cheaper "chicken wire" screen material and don't look much like the stock woven mesh. LAPD and other forum vendors sell complete screen kits that are of OEM quality. Remember that only the fog light screens are actually OEM while the others are additions that are strictly aftermarket and never came on the Z06 from the factory. The brake duct, side cove and rear screens are the additional mods. Most vendors have pieces that use Velcro or double-sided tape to attach them. They are all pretty easy to install. I would recommend using Velcro on the main front fog light screens so they can be removed to access the fog lights for cleaning if you have them. Here's how I installed mine.

Use the "loop" (soft) side of the Velcro on the top and bottom edges of the screen bezels so as not to scratch the paint with the harder "hook" side. Use cardboard or wax paper between the "mates" to keep them from sticking together until you have them properly positioned and then pull them out to allow the mates to meet.

__________________

BTW...this is not my idea...I got this from someone on another tech section on another forum...it doesn't really matter where I found it...it works...

also, not mentioned here...slide a piece of thin cardboard between the pieces of velcro before putting the screens in... until you get the screens positioned then pull the cardboard out so the velcro will "mate"...same procedure for removing the screens...[/QUOTE]

 

[Greg C]

Got the Grill Screens...........

Well the Grill Screens arrived.....painted them yesterday......wanted to try and post a photo of them before I try and install them...............

 

[MsSchroder]

Greg,
Thanks for posting photos. Let us know (or better yet, show us) how the installation goes.

 

[MM-C5]

I purchased my screens from Eckler’s. They are stainless steel, but I painted them gloss black. That causes a small amount of occasional touch up maintenance with the fronts but not enough to worry about.

I included the side screens but not the rear louvers.

The rear brake ducts are fully functional. They are incredibly easy to rationalize, but not very easy to cost justify.
I was recently at a show where someone had spent a fortune on engine chrome, pinstripe paint, rear spoiler, drilled brake discs, and Z06 screens. The problem was that he used the stick on fakes for the brake ducts.

Lots of “Why?” comments on that one! Particularly when the incremental cost wouldn’t have been that much more in comparison to what he’d already spent. Maybe therein is the justification.

Tom

 

[Wyodude]

Just ordered the grills from Corvette Central. Getting the Z06 air intake grill and the aftermarket brake duct grills. The verbiage on the site says they're identical to the GM parts and are stainless. I think the air intakes are a "must have" for those using the VaraRam intake system.