Hood Screens

[nicholas8]

First time owner and super excited as I just took delivery of a 06 Viper. The previous owner put a Gen 4 hood on it. However there are no screens anywhere on the hood or front grill. Should I take the time and money to buy the screens or is ok to run it with no screens? My first inclination is to at least get screens for the grill and the center forward facing vent on the hood but any input/insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you! Estatic to finally be part of the community.

 

[Steve M]

Welcome!

The Gen 4 hood vent screens/grilles are not required. They serve no functional purpose other than to keep larger debris (e.g. leaves) out of the engine bay.

For racing applications, most prefer to run without the screens. If I recall correctly, the SRT engineers stated that it helped a bit with cooling (allows the hot air from the radiator fan to escape more quickly due to decreased flow restriction) and also reduced front end lift to some extent (same reason). I've run my car with and without the screens installed - you won't notice any of the previously mentioned benefits for street driven applications.

Appearance is personal preference - I prefer the looks of the Gen 4 hood with the screens installed. To me, the car looks a bit unrefined/unfinished with them removed. Some would argue that it looks more like a race car with them removed, which fits the Viper's character better. There is no wrong choice. If you can source the screens, they can be installed just as easily as they can be removed.

The hard part will be sourcing them as they are discontinued (like many other Viper parts)...I'm sure there are some out there, but you may have to do some digging. Starting with a Viper parts salvage yard (e.g. X2 Builders) would probably be a good idea - scouring Ebay on a regular basis can also pay off. Expect to pay a pretty penny regardless of where you source them.

There are six unique part numbers for each screen as they are all slightly different shapes front-to-back and mirror images side-to-side. The part numbers are shown here:

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If something ever happens to this picture, here is a list of the part numbers:

Right (passenger) side screens:
- Front: 5030954AA
- Middle: 5030956AA
- Back: 5030958AA

Left (driver) side screens:
- Front: 5030955AA
- Middle: 5030957AA
- Back: 5030959AA

The screens are held in place with a bunch of Christmas tree push pins - 7 per screen (42 total). Don't pay Chrysler/Mopar prices - the correct push pins (weather strip retainers for a Neon and likely many other Chrysler/Dodge products) can be sourced here:

Weatherstrip Retainers Chrysler Neon

Weatherstrip Retainers Chrysler Neon

www.clipsandfasteners.com

$5.99 for a pack of 50 is much more palatable than what a dealership parts department would charge (likely a couple bucks per push pin).

If you ever do remove the screens, do not reuse the push pins. Some folks have had their screens fly out while going down the road as a result of this mistake.

Here are a couple of pointers when/if removing them:
- Drive the car until the engine is nice and warmed up - this will soften the plastic a little, and make everything much easier to remove
- A plastic trim removal pry tool comes in very handy - this will keep you from damaging the paint
- Put a couple of large towels down that cover the engine bay - this will help catch any push pins that decide to go flying (and they will)
- Gently push down from the top while you pry from the bottom to remove the push pins - once the first push pin comes out, the rest will come out a bit more easily

That should about cover everything you need to know about those screens. I'm sure others will chime in if I've missed anything.

-Steve

 

[cothrelo]

I have an 05 that I was able to procure an 08 hood for. The grilles are out there. You can find them on ebay every once in a while the main viper parts suppliers have them as well. However they are not cheap oem you are looking $700-$900 for a set of 6. Since they mount from underneath with a lip I don't see how they could fly off like the ones on the Gen5's. They would have to loose all 8 fasteners and then would fall down into the engine bay. I have an extra set of the middle or top ones. The people I got mine from sent 2 sets of the same pair. Also all three sets are different. Here is mine I painted them red to accent the red calipers as well as the side vents.

 

[redtanrt10]

Nicolas, years ago I had an 06 and bought an 08 hood. The shop that does all my paint and body said let's just use a wire screen and paint them black. They found large mesh, similar to OEM size and attached with the push pins like above. They looked great and the whole set up cost less than $50.00 good luck!!!

 

[nicholas8]

Wow, Thank you Steve for the detailed reply and advice! It is all super helpful.

I will start the search and setup ebay notifications but not be in a rush or concerned if I don't get them right away. I really appreciate the diagram with part numbers. That is going to save me time.

Great tips on the push pins. I didn't think about them failing. I probably need to go and replace all the push pins on my wife's wrangler front grill which have been reused not sure how many times. $6 for the extra piece of mind.

Again, I really appreciate your help!

- Jason

 

[nicholas8]

I have an 05 that I was able to procure an 08 hood for. The grilles are out there. You can find them on ebay every once in a while the main viper parts suppliers have them as well. However they are not cheap oem you are looking $700-$900 for a set of 6. Since they mount from underneath with a lip I don't see how they could fly off like the ones on the Gen5's. They would have to loose all 8 fasteners and then would fall down into the engine bay. I have an extra set of the middle or top ones. The people I got mine from sent 2 sets of the same pair. Also all three sets are different. Here is mine I painted them red to accent the red calipers as well as the side vents.

I love the red color. That looks really good.

 

[nicholas8]

Nicolas, years ago I had an 06 and bought an 08 hood. The shop that does all my paint and body said let's just use a wire screen and paint them black. They found large mesh, similar to OEM size and attached with the push pins like above. They looked great and the whole set up cost less than $50.00 good luck!!!

That is a really good point. I can find similiar mesh and paint it or have someone powder coat them. I like the idea of $50 better than $900.

 

[SA HEAT]

I personally like the no screen look (it also supposedly benefits getting more heat out of the engine compartment and a little more downforce), but keep in mind if you leave your car parked in public out of your sight, someone can easily access your oil filler cap through one of the vents.

 

[nicholas8]

I personally like the no screen look (it also supposedly benefits getting more heat out of the engine compartment and a little more downforce), but keep in mind if you leave your car parked in public out of your sight, someone can easily access your oil filler cap through one of the vents.

I think that is my only concern. It is just a little bit easier for somebody to mess with if it does not have the vents on it. But I agree, I like the look of not having the vents. It is sort of sad that I think somebody may do something malicious to it. I try to park as close up front and in view as possible when going into a store. Not sure if that is smart or not. I thought it would be better than parking in the very back.