Keeping Woodland Creatures Out

That's a big sheet of mesh.

That’s a big sheet of mesh.

When Sharka got painted, I had the original mesh removed from my Garage Vary hood. It was pretty low quality stuff held in by blobs of… something. Losing it was not really a bad thing. Let me see if I can dig up a photo.

Chicken mesh. Not very efficient. Not very pretty. Like I said, losing it wasn’t much of a loss. But the bare hole that was left seemed a little unfinished.

Mcmaster to the rescue.

Mcmaster to the rescue.

I got this honeycomb mesh from Mcmaster-Carr. 79% open area is the most efficient they had. It basically feels like holding nothing. No weight. Super easy to cut. Like 79% of the material is somehow missing. ha!

The creature passage.

The creature passage.

Open.

Open.

It doesn’t look bad at all with the extractor opening. It just looks a bit unfinished. Like I forgot something.

We can fix that.

Professional template made.

Professional template made.

... out of paper towel.

… out of paper towel.

I wanted to make up a quick template to transfer over to the mesh. With the odd shape of the hole it seemed easier to do a template and modify it bit by bit instead of measuring things many times. I looked around the garage. The paper towel roll nearby looked back at me.

Perfect!

Make fun, but paper towel worked GREAT as a template. Easy to cut, easy to fold, and easy on the paint surrounding the extractor vent.

Template transferred over to the mesh.

Template transferred over to the mesh.

Mesh in place.

Mesh in place.

I can’t emphasize how easy the mesh is to cut. I think scissors could do it. I used tin snips just the same, but… yeah. Easy.

Once I got the shape cut, I carefully massaged it into place over the extractor vent. Roughly 15 minutes of careful bending got a shape that I liked. I used aluminum tape to hold the mesh in place strongly while the JB Weld setup and hardened.

Hole filled!

Hole filled!

Now with 100% less woodland creatures inside.

Now with 100% less woodland creatures inside.

Ta-da!

I really like how this looks. Simple, but more stylish and functional than the original GV coarse mesh. It picks up stripe reflections, so the center mesh always looks more shiny than the outer edges.

A simple mod, but worth doing.

Looking pretty.

Looking pretty.

Did I mention the fresh paint?

Did I mention the fresh paint?

I’ve not had any recent body shots of Sharka on here for a while. It’s been nearly a year and I’m still in love with the fresh paint. I really should have done it sooner.

I also really need to blog about that garage flooring I put in last year…

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  • Brad says:

    Well done Adam. Have been doing a bit of fabrication myself as of late. Needed a means of putting some sort of mesh or cover to keep prying hands out of a couple parts of my car, and this gives me an idea, thanks!

  • Brian says:

    So good, and simple too! Thanks for sharing this idea. Looks like I’ll order from McA for some new mesh for Jazz’ RSA bumper!

  • Harrison says:

    Your car is so perfect, greatest Miata I have ever seen, hope one day mine can be so well done, so finished, and so customized to me, like yours is to you!

  • phil trenholme says:

    thanks for speedo fix – will try it tomorrow also grill idea which i hope will stop squirrel or rat storing nuts on valve cover

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