This is not meant to criticize, I'm just curious. I thought that the laser shifters generally were placed center-of-mass to the most reflective parts of the car, in the Genesis' case that would be in the grille (probably 2nd row down) as close to the headlights as possible. Is there a reason you put them so far down? I'm thinking of doing a 9500ci at some point, so I'm just wondering.
Yes, you are correct, that location area is optimal.
I initially installed the right shifter with a fabricated mount, behind the grill, second slot from the top, and that did allow for the face plate clearance/view through the grill. It was a good/best location - out of sight. The left side was a no go for that area for a few reasons. Here are some of the discoveries I made during this install.
1. The OEM mounting brackets are too tall to allow for mounting the shifters 'in' the grill - so a fabricated mount is needed, or a different grill, perhaps.
2. For both side shifters, the grill on each far side edges has a slight curve and so the shifters have to be mounted (via a fabricated mount - fully behind the grill and) a bit closer to the center line to avoid the curves. Really, just a bit, and if it were just that, it might work ok.
3. The grill arms are not actually level, so mounting to the grill with a fabricated bracket means that 1.) the bracket would need to adjust for that lack of level - not a problem there, but 2.) then the shifter body 'must' be fully behind the grill to have the range of movement to be made level, and when that happens you have the issue of where to mount the bracket - see below.
The right side fabricated mounting of the shifter was do-able, completely behind the grill and without obstructing the flow to the radiator, using a fabricated mount. The right shifter mount was attached to the upper radiator housing frame. That worked great for the right shifter and the radiator plastic shroud could be reinstalled perfectly. Same left side mounting is not possible as
4. there is a small change of frame shape for the left side fabricated mount/shifter- which then makes the mounting a bit more towards the center line of the car and the fabricated mount then obstructs with the reinstallation of the plastic shroud, which would then require cutting the plastic shroud.
I could not get easy assess to the down frame support, in front of the radiator, without removing the front skin assembly/grill. That would be a great location to attach a combo mounting bracket for both shifters.
5. the lower and upper portion of the grill arms do not have sufficient plastic ‘depth’ for the mounts to grab onto and keep the shifters back far enough to be hidden. Using the OEM mounts, which are really to tall, but position wise would have left the shifters sitting just outside - in front of the leading edge of the grill. Very ugly and visible. I had considered riveting a small additional piece of metal to the grill arm, which would then extend back towards the radiator, and allow for the shifters to sit back inside, but did not want to have any noticeable changes to the grill or permanent holes if I removed the system later.
I did fabricate up several mounts. The fabricated mount for the right side shifter, placing it in the second grill opening from the top worked fine - moved over a bit to avoid the curve/bend in the grill, then the mount attached to the upper radiator support mount and bending 90 degrees over/down, then the upper plastic cowling fit back perfectly over it. That was great. As detailed, the left shifter, mounted similarly was a no go.
I considered the radar portion inside the car, to big for my taste. I had also considered inside the light housing for the shifters, but thought there may to too much heat. Another consideration for the shifters was installing in the black plastic rectangular shapes to the outer sides of where the shifters are now, again requiring full removal of the front end skin piece. But that was at the same level height as their current location, though with better spread. Canceled for ‘use’ -vs- practicality for my needs (needing to remove the front skin/grill of the car).
Had I reasonable access to the down member frame, in front of the radiator, or left side of the inner grill framing, I would have fabricated up a mount in that manner. I considered removing the entire front end and grill, to fab up a mounting system. Owing to the fact I never speed, and the end practical use of the system, I ruled that out. I bought this just as a toy.
If I were a speeding guy, I'd a gone for removing the entire front end and fabricating up a mount for the second grill location. I did fabricate up a mount which attaches to the lower metal bumper frame, which has the radar pickup - the left upper gadget in the photo. That has a low enough profile that it does not obstruct the flow to the radiator - though I would like it higher. Without removing the grill, and as I understand the entire front end skin piece must be removed to remove the grill, I attempted to keep things simple. If I hear about a simple method to remove the grill, I would likely re-do the location for the shifters.
Hope this helps.
