Civic Lower Grill Smooth Cover Panel

[brucepick]

I added this to the Civic in mid June 2012:


Bear in mind that the car already has a full length belly pan, flat wheel covers and a Kamm roof extension. However this project was the quickest and easiest of all of those.

It's made of 2.7 mm. lauan plywood, primed with oil base house paint. Cut with a box cutter. Fastened with #8 stainless sheet metal screws & fender washers. I like stainless for this kind of project; it costs just a few dollars more and won't look ugly after the first couple rainy days.

The panel outline is a curved shape, similar to a front windshield, angled down towards the front instead of up. You have to mark points or guide lines on the panel, then trim away carefully and recheck constantly to get the curves you need. I did enlarge the opening somewhat after taking this photo,and also adjusted the upper line so it appears more level.

This generation Civic has the radiator on passenger side, and the a/c condenser and cat converter/exhaust manifold on the driver's side. Thus the opening where you see it. A ScanGauge lets me keep an eye on temps.

The upper grill cover is good ol' duct tape, the 3M non-marring type. No residue.

[Weather Spotter]

looks good

now try a boat tail and join the club

[GRU]

Can you post pics of the kamm?

[brucepick]

Originally Posted by GRU

Can you post pics of the kamm?

Here's one:


And here's where you can see a few:
Civic rear Kamm extension pics

Really, it deserves its own thread. But it also deserves to be improved so I've put off writing that thread. I do believe it helps, but has a couple issues that I don't have fixes for yet. So it's kind of stuck in this "temporary but working" status.

[GRU]

cool. i was thinking about doing the exact same kamm. half way down the rear window that way i can still see what's behind me.

[brucepick]

Originally Posted by GRU

cool. i was thinking about doing the exact same kamm. half way down the rear window that way i can still see what's behind me.

Make it long enough so the raised trunk lid just clears it. My eyeball test shows - if your panel has same slope as mine - you will still see out thru all the defroster wire area. I figure the space above the wires, you don't need to see thru there. Mine is still 10" shorter than that because I didn't know I could go that far.

[brucepick]

Now, back to the Grill Block.

Recently added an "adjustable" cover panel to the lower cover opening. Velcro strips on the bumper panel, and velcro patches about 1" x 1/2" on the back side of the removable cover for the lower opening. So I can position it where I like depending on outside temperature.

Also see the plexiglass cover for the upper grill. I will need a different version of this upper cover for warmer weather that will let the radiator side of the grill breathe.



Now for some detail. Here's a closer shot of the lower adjustable cover panel:


And a closer shot of the plexiglass upper grill cover.

Needs one more screw in lower corner. The screws and fender washers are stainless. Regular galvanized ones get grubby looking pretty quickly where I live.

[Vman455]

That looks great!

[pletby]

I really like the look of that upper grille block! Nice work. Will take note on those stainless steel screws and washers too. I'm thinking mine will look pretty ratty come summer.

[nbleak21]

I love the plexi upper, and have been toying with the idea of using velcro on the lower of my Acura, using 3 pieces so I can remove 1 or two if need be. Did you use the "Industrial Grade" stuff or just the standard stuff (adhesive backed, I assume)?