cerino2000

Well, someone had to do it and I figured it might as well be me. So here we go. I bought these parts from Gene@FredBeans for $268ish delivered. Yep pretty pricey. I originally had on the PipeDreams specials at a whopping $10 but they kept falling off because of the fact that these are in fact heat extractors and heat and tape just didn't mix. Every couple of days one piece of the double sided would pop off and drive me nuts. I will be doing compares to the PD version throughout this walk through as I see it worthy. Each has pros and cons. I can tell you that this install was actually quite a PITA simply because the instructions sucked. It took about 4 hours to do but I am sure if someone had a thread like this before I started, I could have done it in half the time. The majority was learning the right way/order to do things. I only cussed a few times but I was surprised that I had to cuss at all. As you will see, these offer one very distinct advantage to the PD versions, that is that these cant fall out. P.S. -- Yes I know my car is dirty...I'll get to it... :-)

Here we go:

First, here are the tools needed for the job:



Two flat tipped screwdrivers to pop out the fender well fasteners, a trim piece removal tool to convince the stubborn fasteners to come out, a razor based scraper, a 10 mm socket and a 7 mm wrench.

Here is a pic of the kit from GM:



You get a left and right screen, 4 clips, 2 alcohol wipes, and 4 pieces of double sided tape.

I removed the wheels to make sure I had a lot of room. There are 6 fasteners that hold the wheel well in from the front face and then underneath the car there are two 10 mm headed bolts and a 7 mm headed screw. This pic shows the 6 retainers on the front face. Note that the two holes with a green tint are used to support the back of the new screen units:



The fasteners have indents on each side at 180 degrees from each other. This allows you to use two flat headed screwdrives at the same time to pop them out. Put the screwdrivers in the slotted areas and twist them. This will force the button to pop out. Once you get it out as far as shown in the pic below, just grab and wiggle and out they come. Sometimes they will be stubborn and the button will pull out but the rest of the fastener will stay in. This is where you use the trim removal tool. Here is a pic of the button out to where you can grab it and pull it out of the fastener:



Once the fenderwell is out of the way, look inside and you will see a piece of trim that is double side taped to the inside of the fender well. Here is what it looks like inside that fender well. The arrows point to the double sided tape tabs:



This is where the instructions began to suck. They tell you to pull the trim pieces double sided tabs away from the fender, CLEAN THEM <--keywords and then put the new pieces of double sided tape back on once you have slid the new screens into place. They also tell you to use the provided clips to clip the new screens onto the trim pieces. The pic they give was a joke and there was no way in he11 you were going to be able to clean the double sided tape areas enough to apply the new pieces. Here is where the Rick instructions begin.

Pull the taped tabs away from the inside of the fender well. Then, open your door, you will see two screws in the door jam. Use the 7mm wrench to take these out. You should wrap the wrench in electrical tape to avoid scratching the paint on your car. Here is a pic of the two screws:



Once you have those two screws out and the tape seperated, the trim piece comes right out allowing you to clean the tape tabs and attach the new screens. Here is what the trim piece looks like out of the car. Note how filthy the tabs are with the old tape. If you are lucky, the tape will stay on the tabs of the trim piece. It is easier to clean it off of here rather than on the inside of the fender well. This was the longest part of the job was getting these clean. Use the razor scraper.



The instructions were pathetic for this but here is what the same piece looks like with the new double sided tape and the new screen held in place by the two clips:



After they are cleaned, assembled, and ready to go back in, slide them back in place. Get the two screws from the door jam started then while holding the pieces where you want them, tighten the screws back up. This either takes patience or a helper. Once these are tightened down, remove the other side of double sided tape and restick it to the inside of the fender well.

Next is where the cuss words were born. Put the inner fender well back on but be sure to do the bottom bolts last. This is because now that the new screens are using two of the holes as a rear support, the fasteners will want to fight you. You might need to get your arm up inside the fender well while putting these two fasteners in to provide a backing as you push like he11 on the fasteners. Once you have those two in, feel free to put in the other 4, the two bolts from underneath and the 7mm headed screw from underneath. Put on the wheel and you are done.

Here is the drivers side done:



Here is the passenger side:



Here are my final notes and analysis. In comparison to the PD version, it depends on the type of person you are as to whether or not these are worth the bread and the aggravation. One thing dissappointing to me on these high dollar ones is that they do not fit snugly against the opening of the vent. (see post 37 below for pics) The $10 ones from PD did but I think that may have been the reason the one piece of tape was prone to pop off from the heat. Maybe they should not be snug against the opening. This is where the personal preference comes in. I liked them snug with no gap between the opening and the screen. I could do that with the PD version but they would pop off. You can't do this with the GM version. In addition, each side does not match the other. One side sits one way compared to the opening and the other sits another way. Mind you this is all because double sided tape isn't what holds them in place. It is the clips and the rear supports. That brings the biggest advantage, they cannot fall out. Being a perfectionist, I would much rather have both sides follow tight along the opening of the vent but I don't want to risk them falling out. Catch 22. I rate these a 6 out of 10 and the PD versions from before a 5. Install was a 5. These were harder to put in than putting on a cat back. There ya go.

P.S. - Would I drop the $268 on them again knowing what I know now? Probably not only because they don't sit snug against the openings like I personally want them to. If that doesn't bother you then they are probably ok. I suspect that these will grow on me and for the $$ I have in them, I will learn to live with how they sit. Whoever is cashing in on these is smiling all the way to the bank.

not08crmanymore

Good write up, Rick.I can't believe all the work involved to put these in.I can't bring myself to tear apart the car like that just yet.268 bucks is 1/3 of a new catback,anyway!

jweek

Thanks for the great write up and pics!!

SCModerator

Good job, Rick.

I put these on this weekend also -- and it sucked. I could do them a lot faster now.

Let me borrow two of your pictures, I have something to add:



A and B labeled on this have to have the button fasteners stuck into them when you put the splash guard back on.


From these two holes -- you have to make sure it stays in place while you get the fasteners through all three pieces of plastic -- the splash guard, the fender and then the back of the vent screen. I couldn't do this with my hands and I ended up making a little metal tab to crimp around all three to hold it all together. You have to make sure the fastener goes through all three, or it won't stay.

My comment to GM would be to give you two more clips so you don't have to make your own. But this is a sucky installation. It will fry your patience.

And absolutely, as Rick says, use that new tape. I made the mistake of re-using an old piece that came off neat. But the sticky isn't as strong.

Gregg.

shopdog

Hmmm, those screens look too coarse to keep out mosquitoes. I think I'll pass.

Guitarstar

I bypassed the head ache, Let the dealer install'em. If its not right- they have to fix it.

Pipedreams

Outstanding job

PS: is that all stone damage on the fender You should check out the splash guards on Ebay

cerino2000

[QUOTE=Pipedreams]Outstanding job

PS: is that all stone damage on the fender [QUOTE]

Actually, most of that is dirt. The flash on the camera illuminates everything.

As SC mentioned, the areas he has labeled A and B are the ones that generated the cussing. I forgot to mention that when putting the new screen assembley in place, put one of the fasteners in place to hold the back end up and it makes life much easier. Where he made clips while putting the fender well back in, I put my arm in from the bottom to provide a backing while inserting the fastners. I imagine that if and when I need to pull those two fasteners back out there is a good chance they will not come out without ruining them.

jazzlove

Wow, can't believe it's so involved. The screens are expensive, in fact that's why I didn't buy them when I made my purchase from Gene, but I may change my mind though. They look very nice.

Ginny C6

I bought those splash guards you are referring to... I have them for sale if anyone wants them. Kevin

Byrdguy

That is an excellent writeup. I was wondering what was involved with installing those screens. It looks fairly involved and the screens are expensive, but they look so good that I will probably go for it. Now, the chrome or black on my velocity yellow/ebony?? Hmmm.

VET4LES

Great job. They look good.

cerino2000

The only thing you have to worry about if the dealer does them is whether or not they actually spend the required amount of time to clean the old double sided tape. They likely will go by the instructions which don't mention anything about pulling the entire trim piece off. Unless you pull it out, there is no way you can clean the old tape in a reasonable amount of time. With time being money on a job that likely pays 1hr billable, I just don't see them spending the right amount of time. But, I could be wrong.

AMF

Not getting them but the write-up was excellent!

ltone72

Nice job. Looks great. GM should just put these on in the first place.

Dave S

Rick.....too bad you're not closer to NJ.....I'd invite you out for a steak dinner if you'd do the install for me....sounds like way too much work.

cerino2000

Dave, I would take you up on it too! It was only a drag because I went into it blind. As mentioned, it could probably be done in less than half the time if I had to do it again. I spent a fair amount of time on the second one experimenting with what can be done regarding putting it in a position where you want it to me. That's why it is mentioned above to hold it in place while tightening the screws in the door jam.

Now that I know that, it could be gone right through with out the experimenting.

ss409cid

Nice writeup, you will save others time and

Fred C. Dobbs

Good write-up. Thanks Rick. I think I will wait a while more before getting these. Perhaps a better unit(s) will be available.

SA HEAT

Good post...... now get out there and clean those fender wells!