Recessed Grill

[Chemist]

In three words: I want these.

[SOLster]

Originally Posted by Lithium Lotus Solster, I have a really good close-up picture of the turnsignal vents from the Club Racer and GXP-R concept cars. It seems that GM just removed the honeycomb grills altogether and just used the outer frame. I can send it to you if you would like it for reference.

Yeah, I've got some shots of close up shots already that I used for reference, thank you. These are the preliminary design renderings that I've already submitted my CAD file to my source who said that he's going to try to get the set back to me within a couple of weeks or so. Again, I'll post pics once I get them in hand and installed. I'm speculating that the fascia will need to be trimmed on the upper half of the tunnel area to clear the thru-hole tunnel. Note, that I made the intake tunnel a little longer to allow me to trim off whatever necessary to clear the metal crash bar partially covers the upper half of the vent tunnel.

[SOLster]

Originally Posted by Night Hawk Rudy, Some additional thoughts. Yes,the fascia may be out of spec, but an 1/8" seems excessive. Did you check your SLA prototype for dimensional accuracy? If not, check the vertical "width" of each tab, the fillet radius at their base as it transitions into the frame, and also the spacing between the two tabs. You may have a slight interference fit that is causing the "bow" if the grill and its insert are not hitting the metal crossbar. The inner tabs may be out of true position or too close relative to each other on the SLA prototype such that they pinching the fasica in the middle and causing the grill frame to ride up or "bow". This may be a cause especially if the frame snapped into the fascia hard or tight in the inner side when you assembled it. Also when you take the fascia off, look at the outer tabs surfaces, they too might be too tight with the mounting hole with the fascia. If they appear very tight, try filing them down with small motor tool and grinding wheel, and reassemble without the insert. This will be trial and error as you well know. Lastly, check the curvature of the SLA prototype in the affected area against a "stock" grill. The curvature should be the same if the SLA model is correct. You probably already did this, but I'll hlighlight anyway.

hi Night Hawk...

I'll take some of your suggestions and check what I can find out. I've taken some more daylight shots of the vehicle with both the grill and skirts out in a different environment and to tell you the truth, the small imperfection is really not that noticeable until you actually look at it really close up. As someone mentioned earlier, it can be lived with. But, I'll look into seeing if there are any binding or interference issues nonetheless. I'll post the pics later tonight when I get home from work. Thanks again for the helpful tips though.

rudy

[GMO]

Rudy,
I will buy the prototype the way they are if you will sell them.

[Night Hawk]

Rudy,

Take a close look at the two inner tabs and their fit up with the fascia. If you can pop out the insert and leave the frame assembled to the fascia, you may be able to see the area with mirror and a strong light. While your at it, also check the depth of the tab from the back surface of the frame to the flat engagement surface of the tab. If that dimension is too long, it also could result in the frame protruding beyond the fascia.

Some engineering advice to you for what's it worth. Although some people may say its good enough to have the bow, you may run into mold problems during the manufacturing process later on that could enhance the issue and "good enough" might turn out to be unacceptable to many people. You do not want this situation. The purpose of a prototype is to test it out and work out the bugs before committing to the end product. If you can and are willing to, examine the prototype until you understand what is going on, then modify it incrementally until the issue is resolved. In the end, you'll have a WOW product and many many happy customers. You spent the good part of a year working on this, so now is not the time to rush to the end game. Your other products are home runs, and we ( I'm sure many folks on the forum also) want these grills to be too.

If you can snap a bunch of photos of the frame assembled to the fascia from the back side, I'll gladly look at them and send you comments.

Tony

[spiky3480]

I want them when they are all fixed and fit nicely. Any cost approximations yet?

[Deep-GXP]

Originally Posted by spiky3480 I want them when they are all fixed and fit nicely. Any cost approximations yet?

Same as above !

[BellaVerde]

Good job, SOLster! They look great and I am impressed with the work you have put in. I agree that the last 10% of effort is the most aggravating, but think it will be worth it. I'm in for a set when you get them done.

[SOLster]

Originally Posted by Night Hawk Rudy, Take a close look at the two inner tabs and their fit up with the fascia. If you can pop out the insert and leave the frame assembled to the fascia, you may be able to see the area with mirror and a strong light. While your at it, also check the depth of the tab from the back surface of the frame to the flat engagement surface of the tab. If that dimension is too long, it also could result in the frame protruding beyond the fascia. Some engineering advice to you for what's it worth. Although some people may say its good enough to have the bow, you may run into mold problems during the manufacturing process later on that could enhance the issue and "good enough" might turn out to be unacceptable to many people. You do not want this situation. The purpose of a prototype is to test it out and work out the bugs before committing to the end product. If you can and are willing to, examine the prototype until you understand what is going on, then modify it incrementally until the issue is resolved. In the end, you'll have a WOW product and many many happy customers. You spent the good part of a year working on this, so now is not the time to rush to the end game. Your other products are home runs, and we ( I'm sure many folks on the forum also) want these grills to be too. If you can snap a bunch of photos of the frame assembled to the fascia from the back side, I'll gladly look at them and send you comments. Tony

Thanks again Tony for the insight and knowledge. It's much appreciated. I will check on all the key points you had suggested and take some pics of the back side of the frame without the insert installed as per suggestion.

I took a quick look at the CAD file and saw that the bowing edge wasn't really bowing in the CAD file. Instead, it was hard edged as the prototype and thus a cornered edge protruding somewhat past the radiused edge of the fascia. I was meaning to radius the outter frames edge as well to match but never got around to end as I rushed it into SLA so I can verify fitment. I believe radius-ing the edge will take off the protrusion of the edge a bit and it wouldn't be as apparent. But, I want to make sure and recheck all the fittings with the tabs and any interference issues that might be hidden from the front.

BTW, I took a couple of daylight shots of the car with both the grills and skirts in a different background and lighting than my driveway the other day. I indicated on the close up shot with red arrows where the highest point of the bowing was on the outter frame's edge. Everything else remained flushed with the fascia.

[SOLster]

Originally Posted by spiky3480 I want them when they are all fixed and fit nicely. Any cost approximations yet?

No costs available yet Spikey. I want to nail this issue down first, if I can, before I start searching for manufacturing vendors. I'll keep everyone updated when I start going into production with these parts. Thanks again for your enthusiasm and interest.

rudy

[66cat389]

So how would a person go about buying stock in your company?

I've got a feeling you've got a hit on your hands. This is how the car should have looked to begin with!!!

[2KWK4U]

I think radiusing those edges would be a nice touch anyway, and lessen the obviousness of any fit/tolerence problems anyway - not to really imply that there are any. Speaking of which, though, is there anyone else around you that would be willing to let you test fit these on another Solstice? It might be that the bumper cover on your car is a little flatter than typical in that area.

Thanks for posting more pics. I'm anxious to see these hit the market (as I'm sure YOU are!)

[JLW]

Looks great Rudy. Can't wait to see the Fog lamp grills on the car.

[mrk]

I'll order a set,, fixed or as is.
They look really good

[bradsol]

Zoweee!
Very impressive workmanship.