A- It depends on what you use as the "anti-rock screen" material. Not enough, or not big enough, holes will cut down on airflow. One poster's perforated metal sheet looked pretty good, but he got his free and had the tools to cut it at work. Macbuddy posted in my thread, linked above, about some expanded aluminum sheet from JC Whitney that looks absolutely perfect for a lot of reasons.

 

...you can check out my results on my blog (not trying to promote my blog in any way. i don't get paid for hits. it's just that i've already written about it once and didn't wanna copy it all over to here)...brian

http://2009hondafit.wordpress.com

 

:di just used 4 black zipties across the top and four across the middle verticle ribs. In stead of the plastic gutter screen i used the alumunim which is more rigid and allows great airflow...thunder...your opinions may vary:

 

Got my Home Depot special grille installed (car has a coat of Meguiars NTX 2.0 on it too)...

 

So you got the grille from Home Depot?

 

Yup... its just gutter guard cut to size and attached with zip ties. I thought about painting it black but decided to just install it as is.

 

Is it sturdy? and how durable is it? I am guessing you have to take off the front bumper to do this right.

 

I'm guessing if he put it on with zip ties he didn't take the bumper off!

I'm still hoping to hear from someone that ordered that JC Whitney stuff. I normally would persecute JC Whitney fans (like Walmart) but that stuff was nice!

 

You guessed right - I just took the top plastic piece off. I use about a dozen zip ties so its really secure.

The JC Whitney stuff doesn't look any different than my Home Depot gutter guard up close... only its probably electro-plated (one would hope) in the different colors. If not, a can of spray paint - and you get basically the same thing. The gutter guard is the honeycomb pattern that JC Whitney has only its not colored.

Note - this is not mesh that I used... look for gutter guard with hinges and snip off the hinges. It has a lot of rigidity unlike mesh... pain in the ass to snip to size, but the AC condenser is safe this way. No one can see the zip ties unless they looked close - and I'm more after the protection but it does look pretty slick installed.

 

Any drilling involved, besides the zipties?

 

No drilling - its all held by zipties - I used 8-inch ones so they weren't too thin/weak even though I didn't need the length, but that did make it easier to work with.

A lot of snipping to size though - I just used cutting pliers. Luckily I decided to buy a nice pair that made it a lot easier to snip. You also have to slowly weave the zipties so it comes close to flush with the black plastic ribbing and get the right curve right... takes a bit of time and patience as the gutter guard has tensile strength and needs to be pushed and reshaped to the new contours. Start from one side and work towards the other side to form the curve.

I also had to snip cutouts on the bottom of the gutter guard to match the contours of the plastic - there's two ribs sticking up in the back once on each side, you need to notch the gutter guard for those. For height, I took off two rows at the top (about 1/2 inch).

 

I was hoping, if I mess with it, then the finish would hold out for a while. I understand the spray paint concept and that would be consistent with JC Whitney but I'd hoped to do better. I'm also concerned about constricting airflow. I've owned several Honda products and was always amazed at how hot the engine compartment is when I open the hood. A great deal of the Honda "magic" is long term reliability! I'm unwilling to do ANYTHING that would compromise that!

 

This isn't like Nascar... the airflow isn't much more restricted than stock. Perforated aluminium would likely be much more restrictive than using gutter guard or the JC Whitney stuff. I have lost an AC condenser before on my RSX in the past and you just have to search around and you'll see how easily Honda condensers get killed this way.

They do make great engines, but they sure seem to be in cahoots with Denso so they could sell more condensers I'd swear.

The foglights are my next concern... they are prime targets for rocks to crack/break.

 

On my 08 the foglights are, to me, garnishes! They do nothing! I turn them on and off, NO DIFFERENCE! I admit I don't want them to break but that does not compare to long term engine life. I'd like to find a long term lower grill "ROCK" solution that does not constrict airflow too much.

 

Fog lights are not supposed to make you see things in front of you better. It's function is for OTHER drivers to see YOU since the fog lights are usually mounted lower than your headlights thereby "cutting" below the fog layer.

Driving lights seems to be what you're expecting. They are additional lights for you to see better.

 

Another satisfied metal gutter guard installation. Same method as others. Twist ties to keep in place. I also used 12. Six along top and six along bottom. The guards came 6 or 7 to a pack. I tried painting them black. One with spray the other with canned. Both Rust-o-leum. I cleaned the metal first and applied per instructions, but both times the cured paint would scratch off easily with my finger nail. So I ended up using an unpainted one, which looks just fine. Hard to see unless your laying on the road anyway. Did my usual piece of paper pattern to get the right size. Changed out the horn at the same time. 2009 Accord low.

Thanks and reps to BLACKTHUNDER and Neteng101
An inside look:


Finished, (Fogs are being Lamin-xed)

 

Wow looks good!!

 

Looks great guys!! Cheap, easy, effective mod!

 

How much did it cost? I've investigated around here and they seem to be about $16 each piece. Is that within the ballpark?

 

I bought them in Lowe's in NY. They came in a 5 pack. 6" x 36". Called "Premium Hinged Gutter Guards" by Amerimax. $7.46 for the five. Some day I may find use for the other four.