Replacement of 308 rear deck lid expanded metal grating

Greetings to all. The existing OEM expanded metal wire mesh material which is mounted to the underside of my 308's rear engine hatch is in poor condition and needs to be replaced. This mesh does not appear to be a very strong material, and it has become torn at many of the perimeter edges where it was originally riveted to the hatch lid back when it was made. This seems to me to be a poor way to secure the mesh.

I am already aware that this wire mesh is a common material, readily available at home improvement stores as sold as a reinforcement material for such applications as grout for ceramic floor tiles. But, to replace this weak material with more of the same item, only newer, does not seem to me to address future problems.

I'm considering the idea of replacing this with a stronger material, perhaps something like a perforated sheet metal, which would then be powder coated black. But the resulting change of appearance is a mild concern, as I've never seen this done before and am concerned that the resulting change of appearance might be a bit odd looking. Or, as another idea I could simply leave it off altogether, but this might then allow small debris (leaves and such) to get through the louvers and then into the engine bay.

So, the question: Has anyone ever replaced this OEM mesh with something "better"? If so, what did you use, how do you now like it, and would you recommend doing the same again?

Thanks and Cheers - DM

 

Thanks to all who have replied on this one thus far. I know that I can always count on a wide variety of well-reasoned opinions with you all!

As we all know, the OEM means of attachment of the original grille mesh to the deck lid underside is via a series of small pop rivets, spaced around the perimeter at various locations. Since the mesh holding area of these rivets is small, and also since the wire mesh itself is of relatively thin gauge thickness, my old mesh has torn, one strand at a time, at nearly all of the rivet locations. I suspect that this is due to a combination of years of deck lid slamming, rattling vibration, and simple metal fatigue.

Here's a shot of my current "mesh-less" look. Part of me does like the resulting open appearance, and since no other louvres on the car have a similar backing mesh, it does in one aspect seem appropriate to the car. But, then again, it also strikes me as a trifle "exposed", so I am examining my various options for something better.

I'm not an OEM concours fanatic, so the idea of using a higher strength perforated sheet metal with a sufficient percentage open area is about the best "upgrade" idea which I had come to thus far. But I do like the general concept of simply using a heavier gauge wire mesh if I can locate something appropriate ... thus my posting in the first place in hopes of soliciting "Been There Done That" stories!

Thanks and Cheers - DM

P.S. (and off-topic) - Scott, I've since had a large number of folks look at my newly swapped VDO gauges, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive! Great minds do tend to think alike, eh?

P.P.S. (and wandering even further off-topic) - I was able to drive this car today for the first time in about three (3) weeks, and was reminded once again just how much outright -- fun -- this car is to drive! I've now owned this car for over two (2) years, and it seems just like yesterday when I bought it. I now sincerely regret that I did not purchase one of these far earlier in my life, as I've now lost out on years of potential enjoyment with this car that I might have once had! ( ... but, then, I suppose that I'm preaching to the choir here, right?)
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Here's a scan of a local steel fabricator's offering in flattened expanded metal. (I've never tried to post a .pdf file here, so I simply photographed the pair of relevant pages with a digital camera ... hope it is clear enough for you all to read). You can see that there's a bit of a variety of this kind of stuff out there and readily available.

No, I have not yet measured the OEM metal mesh that we all have so to see where it would fit into this table, but that's obviously the next step for me to do this upcoming weekend.

I can report back accordingly, if there is still sufficient interest expressed in keeping this thread alive.

Enjoy! - DM
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