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Useful VZ upgrade - lower grille

routier1642

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2005 Adventra LX6
***SORRY - title should be USEFUL VZ ADVENTRA UPGRADE - but I can't change it?

I recently fitted a trans cooler to my VZ Adventra, and OZnick (who had done the same previously) raised the desirability of putting some mesh in the lower opening.
There's no protection there, and other exposed items include the A/C condenser and the cooling loop for the power steering.
Now I had a trans cooler there as well. One decent hole & I could be losing transmission fluid all over the road. Not good.

Last week, as part of another job, I inspected the trans cooler. Although it had only been there for a few weeks & I hadn't been on any gravel or dirt, it showed definite signs of impact damage.
So in process of doing the other job (a thermo fan to supplement the effective but quirky Holden ones), with the help of a mate, I fitted the mesh.

The mesh was $29.95 from SupaCheap Auto. I chose black just in case I had to use screws or bolts; if I did I didn't want them to be obvious. I spent a while deciding if the mesh would be better at the front or rear of the opening.
In the end, we cut, shaped & bent it around the inside mouth of the lower opening. Since this slots pretty tightly into a duct fitting further in, the mesh would be held firmly in place without need for bolts or screws.
We added some fibreglass tape on the inside just in case. The whole process didn't take long & was surprisingly easy.

I had some mesh left over, a square almost exactly the size of the trans cooler, and remembering that the trans cooler was my main concern, quickly attached a second line of defense to the front of the cooler in the form of a second mesh barrier. Cable ties were perfectly adequate & safe for this simple job.

Attached find photos of the finished product. In the closeup, you can just make out the second mesh screen (black) on the trans cooler (silver).

The end result makes me feel a lot better about having vulnerable parts up front, and looks a lot better, too, covering up the silver trans cooler for one, and that ugly hole for another.

<a href="http://s1284.photobucket.com/user/routier1642/media/Adventra/20150710_115942_zps2ccclnrq.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/a565/routier1642/Adventra/20150710_115942_zps2ccclnrq.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20150710_115942_zps2ccclnrq.jpg"/></a>


<a href="http://s1284.photobucket.com/user/routier1642/media/20150710_120006_zpsmdi2hmla.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/a565/routier1642/20150710_120006_zpsmdi2hmla.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20150710_120006_zpsmdi2hmla.jpg"/></a>
 

ozNick

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VL Berlina 3.0 Auto
Thanks for your write up.
I just got back from my tour of the Sout East of Australia and it is on my list of things to do before I head to Queemsland in October with the Adventra.
The lip idea was what I was thinking so thanks for thinking of it as well and confirming it works.
The trans cooler secondary line of defence sounds great, so I'll probably do the same.
 
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