Rear bumper grille

[Snakehips]

Good evening everybody hope everyone is enjoying the weather and going topless.
I am thinking about removing my rear bumper grille and replacing it with stainless steel mesh to try and reduce the heat in the engine bay has anyone done this before and is it difficult to remove. Any help gratefully received. Thanks snakehips

[Call the midlife!]

Which bit do you mean by grille? If it's the small, top part then you might be able to pick up a Zunnsport one off ebay, the problem being you'll have to leave some of the plastic one in to mount it on.
If you mean the number plate surround then a few people have done it with plastic mesh or steel but it's more for the aesthetics, you're not opening it up that much due to the crash bar and heat shielding.

[Joesson]

Good evening everybody hope everyone is enjoying the weather and going topless.
I am thinking about removing my rear bumper grille and replacing it with stainless steel mesh to try and reduce the heat in the engine bay has anyone done this before and is it difficult to remove. Any help gratefully received. Thanks snakehips

There was an after market product, shaped to fit in bright / option black stainless steel mesh that could used to replace the front and rear grills. My understanding is that this was intended for aesthetic rather than practical/ temperature reducing qualities.
Most recent buyer on here I believe  was @TheTigerUK UK who may have up to date info on the current supply situation.

[Call the midlife!]

But none of it is difficult to remove, mainly plastic clips that can be easy to break if they're cold and brittle...😅

[Topdownman]

The rear grilles are all just clipped in so easy to remove. A bit of wd40 will probably help them come off.

The harder bit will be deciding how to attach the new grilles.

Bear in mind that the crash bar covers the lower part of the lower grilles (hence the solid plastic bits on the facelift covers) so that will limit the actual airflow.

I would say like the others above,  this mod is one to do for the looks rather than the performance (still a valid reason though!).

[Ardent]

@Snakehips

What gives cause for concern there is too much heat in the engine bay?

[1979scotte]

If you've got a stock motor the engine bay doesn't get that hot anyways tbh.
Don't forget there is no radiator in there which helps.
And if you have the stock air intake you're getting nice cool air anyway.

[Dev]

As others have mentioned the cars engine runs cool even in climates that are hotter than most. It might not appear that way because the exhaust bits are furthest rear and it is the hottest part of the engine bay where on other cars it is by the fire wall and shielded.
The car is water cooled with excellent temperature regulation with fans to keep temps stable. If there is a problem you will know because the temp gauge will move to show an over heat condition and even if it does improving ventilation will not help bring it down. 

There are some cars that do have temp issues but ours is a Toyota that was well designed and there is more than enough cooling that is better than other cars where the same engine is used in the front.

[Petrus]

@Snakehips
I live on the inland side of the andalucian mountains and flóg the car.
There is no worry about overheating.
There ís heat soak when stuck in traffic on scorching hhhhót tarmac but still no overheating.

That observed I have improved air flow through the engine bay as it was an easy thing to do when adding lightness.

There are a few major components:
- the drip tray in the lid which in effect basically blocks all flow through the louvres and as long as you keep the plastic covering the coils/plugs you can simply remove it without any down side
- the OEM battery blocks a lót of the air flowing in at that side and it also sits in the way of the intake air flowing in the hole under the fuse box on the side panel; the flow benefits greatly from a smaller/lighte LiFe battery
- the under engine panels are mainly (probably only) fitted to reduce engine noise reflecting off the road surface and removing them will improve air flow from under the car along the engine. I hád to take the rear ´nappy´ of because of fire hazzard; the cat burned any plant matter collected between the cover and the metal. The effect had me ponder about and remove the one under the engine too.

- the main ´culprits´ for the heat are the cat and the muffler:
  - the cat is basically a given so will not go there
  - the OEM muffler is a top notch quality product but it is a lót of metal and thus soaks a lót of heat hence the black heat shield between it and the rear bumper skirt. Unless you fit a better flowing muffler you cannot remove the shield. Unless you remove the shield the rear will not flow any more air whatever you do.
- removing the rear inserts has véry little to no effect unless you jig saw the rear crash bar. The only small gain is to be found in reducing the number plate holder size and that only if you removed the heat shield mentioned above

Here is the rear of mine and yes the heat soak is só much less despite having the cat fitted. You can easily imagine that the vent in the top part of the bumper skirt now flows a lót more air.





Ergo: unless you fit a free flow muffler, the other things I mentioned are your options to improve flow, changing the inserts is just for looks.
And I do want to repeat that there is no overheating NEED to address the flow even here.


p.s. I got caught up in a traffic jam up the southern mountain pass up from Málaga. About an hour of stop/move a bit on an 8% sloping plate of black tarmac under the southern mid day sun and 40 degrees ambient temp in the shade.
I got out and opened the rear lid. Left it open till the four lanes had merged into one near the pile up. Not because I was afraid the engine would overheat but because there is a lot of plastic at the rear which does not get any better in that much heat.

[Snakehips]

Thanks for all your replies. I have a completely original roadster on a 54 plate temperature gauge shows normal and doesn't move from there but the engine bay seems to hotter than you would expect. It might just be me worrying it's the first mid engine car I have had. Thanks again everyone

[Petrus]

Thanks for all your replies. I have a completely original roadster on a 54 plate temperature gauge shows normal and doesn't move from there but the engine bay seems to hotter than you would expect. It might just be me worrying it's the first mid engine car I have had. Thanks again everyone

When you open the rear lid you don´t feel the engine bay temp; you get hit by a wafft of hot air from the cat & muffler stacked on top of eachother. That is nót representative. If you worry about it, just take the drip tray out and forget about the issue.

[1979scotte]

As @Petrus says its just because you've got the exhaust right there infront of you.
Don't loose sleep over it.