Hey guys I didn't see any info on this so I decided to make a "how to" for you. I didn't like how bugs kept dirtying the intercooler and other front end components, especially here in the Florida bug/mosquito season climate. Seeing the front mount intercooler's fins bent due to bugs made me cringe. So I looked around for some sort of screen to protect it and came up with using some the mesh screen used around swimming pools.

This is a charcoal fiberglass screen wire that can be bought from either Walmart, HomeDepot, or Lowes. I spent $8 at Walmart but you can also buy aluminum screening but that's a little bit more expensive. I remember that being around $14. I used the fiberglass mesh screen over the aluminum one because it will last a while compared to aluminum which has a chance to rust.

Once you have the desired screen you want. You are going to have to remove the front bumper. Check out this video for details and tools required to remove the front bumper:


Here are some pics of my car with the bumper removed:





From here you want to lay out an estimated size of the screen you want to use and lay it over the opening of the front bumper. Screws (circled in green) will need to be taken off and screwed into the mesh screen as shown below.



Cut any excess mesh screen off with scissors and screw down the screws with the black plastic shroud as well.






Now its time to do the oil cooler and tranny cooler sides with a mesh screen. Just like before, lay out a piece of the screen, screw it on and cut the excess





Now do this for the top opening of the bumper that feeds air to the radiator.



The wiring harness for the lights are in the way and need to be moved aside to install the screen. Once out of the way, put the screen on and move the harness back and screw things back in place. The screen can be put in either the front or back side of the stock metal screen. It's up to you and your preference. Be careful this metal screen is sharp and pointy at the ends.



You can also put a mesh screen on the two holes here circled in green. The same concept applies: Apply mesh, screw in, cut excess material.



When finished it should look like this:





Reinstall everything back to the way it was and enjoy the bug free intercooler/radiator/oil and tranny coolers.



As a proof of this actually working, I went on a 2hr highway road trip at night and the next morning I took some pics of the front bumper damage from all the bugs:









All I did was wash the bugs away with a hose and it turned out clean as it did before the drive. Overall the install from start to finish took 3 hours. This included a few small breaks. If I had power tools and a lift this might have been done in about 2.5 hours.

I hope this helps......

 

Very nice!

 

wow that looks like it works great! In orlando, those love bugs get out of control

 

very nice! very clean, almost not even noticeable

 

This is awesome, havn't thought of it before. I will try it out! Thanks for sharing!

 

This was tested on the 8/9's years ago. While it worked to keep things a little cleaner, it proved to have a negative impact on the intercoolers ability to do its job.

 

Yep, keeps the bugs out but reduces the efficiency of the parts due to reduced air flow.

 

From what I read it will decrease hp by like 5hp. People need to weigh the pros and cons of having a screen on. To me 5hp is something I'm willing to give up for a clean intercooler. Plus the Buscher Racing shootout is coming up next week and Im driving from Florida so I need that screen.