Hey guys! I did it! I got my aluminum-looking grills installed PLUS I decided to put in a mesh grill to prevent leaves and bigger debris from getting in. Let's see, it took me a total of over 5 hours to do. I was very careful and good news was, not a scratch on my bumper despite having to take the bumper off again because I forgot to re-attach an electrical line to the LED lights on the driver side. Uggghhhhhhh! I was sooooo pissed at myself. Luckily, taking the bumper off was a piece of cake the second time around! LOL. Anyway, here are the steps I took. With pics, of course!

First of, I was thankful to Ryan at Suncoast who included a "how-to" on removing the front apron of my C2S. Also, I want to thank "Justatoy" since he had posted an earlier "how-to" on removing the front apron as well. Justatoy posted good pics on his DIY on removing the front bumper on his car. I copied 2 photos from him for my DIY install here. I referenced both sources as I went along on this project today.

Ok, first off that I definitely had to do was remove both front wheels. IT'S A MUST! Otherwise, I wouldn't have accessed all 4 scres that secured the under carriage covers. One good idea is to get a couple of used hockey pucks to use as a pad between the jack and car.





Next, I removed the 3 plastic liner covers along the front and side of the trunk. They are velcrowed on.



There are 3 T30 torx screws that secure them onto the body.

Next up, I removed all torx screws from the bottom apron. There are 9 of them.



After I removed these, I went ahead and removed both side marker lights. I had to do this because there is a torx screw that is hidden which needed to be removed. It is located inside where the tab of the side marker goes into. It's a PAIN to put back in. Lots of trial and error. Once I took it off, it fell down the fender and I got worried. But, once I removed the wheel well cover, I was able to retrieve it again. There is also another torx screw that is located just at the edge of the fender where the bumper meets the body of the car. I couldn't miss it once the side marker lights were taken off.

DID YOU GUYS KNOW THAT THERE IS AN ACCESS HOLE WITH A RUBBER STOPPER JUST AT THE CORNER UNDER THE WHEEL WELL FOR A SCREW DRIVER TO BE INSERTED IN SO THAT YOU CAN EASILY POP THE SIDE MARKERS OUT? Some recommend just pulling it out. BUT, I learned that if you do, you may be successful at getting it out, and if you are not lucky, you may ruin your side marker retaining tabs! Those access holes are covered with a rubber stopper cover. Very small. I lost my passenger side one. Dunno where it went .

Then, I removed all four wheel well torx screws. I then peeled off the cover on the driver's side to expose the headlight washer line which I disconnected once the tab was removed. CAUTION: If you have a full washer reservoir, it'll pour out of the line! Get ready to have a soda container handy so you don't make a mess! LOL. There is also the LED connector line that needs to be disconnected.

Below is a pic which from Justatoy. The retaining clip is BLUE on my 2009, not black.



On the passenger side, there is only the LED light connector that needs to be disconnected as well.

Finally, there are 2 metal clips that hold the bumper onto the car that needs to be pulled out. For this, I bought a metal pry hook from NAPA today which worked great! Below is Justatoy's pic of the clip. You have to pull it all the way out. It's about 4 inches long. NOTE: WHEN PUTTING THE BUMPER BACK ON, MAKE SURE YOU PAD YOURSELF AND THE BUMPER WITH A MICROFIBER TOWEL OR SOME PROTECTION FOR ANY SCUFF MARKS, BECAUSE YOU WILL NEED TO EXERT SOME PRESSURE FOR THOSE TABS TO GO IN FOR THE CLIPS TO ENGAGE! APPLYING SOME DW40 ON THE CLIPS MADE IT EASIER TO PUT BACK IN!



Once I got them both off, the bumper went off after some gentle tugging.



NOTE: I didn't have to remove both LED light assemblies for this mod. In fact, I tried removing the lights with the credit card thingy majigy that came with my car to no avail. Thank goodness I didn't try to force it out! I found out that the LED/turn signal assembly is SCREWED securely to the bumper! THERE WAS NO WAY THAT THE LIGHT WAS COMING OUT THE FRONT! THE LIGHT BULBS FOR THE TURN SIGNAL IS REPLACED FROM WITHIN THE BUMPER ITSELF.

I examined the assembly carefully, thinking that I might have just been wrong in my assumption, but there was no way that they front lens housing was coming off. In fact, there was an access lid from the back of the assembly to access the turn signal bulbs.

Does this mean I have to remove the bumper if my turn signal bulb konks out? Ugggghhhhh!

Here is the LED/Washer assembly



There are 4 torx screws that secure this assembly to the bumper. Also, the dome looking thing is the access lid to the bulb:



Here is the lid removed. See the turn signal bulb?



Next, I needed to remove the washer unit. It came off easily.



Once the screws were removed, the LED housing came off next



Taking off the old grill was easy. It was secured by tabs.



Here's the NEW grill



Putting the new grill on was the reverse. Very easy to pop back in



I then proceeded to cut my grill mesh to size. I bought a screen door mesh guard screen from Home Depot. I went with the Grey finish





I secured it onto the grill with 3 plastic ties. I secured them to the black plastic stalk of the center grill. Hardly noticeable since both ties and center stalk of the grill were black.



Finally, I decided to customize a mesh on both of the front scoops. I decided to do this to further prevent things from getting scooped in from the front of the car



I drilled a tiny hole on one corner to help secure the mesh in place





Putting back everything else was the reverse of removal. I was pretty happy with the results!






Vince.

 

can we get a wider angle so we can see the whole front end?

 

I will post one when I get home from work.

Vince

 

Vince, you're still going to get pebbles and snad/dirt and small bugs down in the radiators on the sides....so can your easily remove the side mess to stick the vaccum cleaner hose down there and suck the debris out?

Nice job and write up...thanks!

 

Here ya go...



Vince

 

I debated on making the middle scoop mesh hinge in for that purpose, but it was just going to be too much work. I decided not to do it since I am not worried about the small bugs getting through past the mesh. As far as pebbles, I don't drive the car on dirt roads, nor do I drive it right after Winter. I usually wait like all the motorcyclists do around this area of the White Mountains, till after DOT cleans the highways. NH is pretty good at making sure the highways are clear of debris after Winter.

Vince.

 

Great write-up. Rep points to you!

 

awesome! well done.

 

id go with a finer mesh and in black... that mesh wont do anything besides look cheap..

they make finer mesh you can guy elsewhere... that just looks like chicken coop mesh. :-(

 

Although I do appreciate your effort, and the time it took to detail your project in text and photos, I think I'd rather have something a bit less intrusive, and a lot less visible. Like the poster above says, I'd prefer a finer mess in black - I'd rather 'hide' the screen, not amplify its presence.

It's sad that Porsche doesn't offer something through their accessory store to protect the rads.. but I suppose if they did that they'd be admitting they're susceptible to damage - and then you'd get into warranty and liability issues. I get it ...

But, that's not to say what you've done isn't good work - it is. It's just not my cup o' tea.

 

I put them on my 996 Turbo both for looks and to protect the radiators from rocks. I went with a smaller mesh though since here in the mountains there's tons of small pebbles that would go right through that big mesh.

I like the look of the silver grills with the black car. I think it's a nice complement to the silver wheels. If I go with black wheels at some point, I'll likely paint them black too.

 

I beg to differ with you. It actually looks pretty good as i've already gotten compliments from several people here in town. And no, they don't live in FARMS so they won't be biased towards the chicken wire look.

Hey, everyone's entitled to their opinion. I welcome criticisms. Bring it! LOL

Vince.

 

very nice work.

i still worry about mdrums' concerns but i'm sure i'll figure something out.