I have managed to get some thick but flexible plastic using Ikea - its cuttable and bendable so it should be easily shaped. My plan is to fit an upper grill block to my Fabia. The upper grill comes to pieces easily and I can replace the slatted part with my plastic easily.
The engine is the familiar VW TDI 1.9 unit so the upper grill also has the air intake on the left hand side (viewed from behind the wheel, i.e. looking forwards).
First question is, do I need an opening to allow air into the engine ?
Assuming the answer to that is yes, then my plan is to start by drilling holes in the plastic where the intake is. That should allow air into this area but not disturb the superbly smooth airflow I am planning
If that seems like its not enough or I get a power / FE problem then I'll open these holes up into vertical slits again with the idea that the air is flowing vertically at this point so some can divert smoothly into the intake.
After this is sorted my next plan is to cover the fog lights under the bumper at each side. I have to allow an opening on the right hand side (again viewed from behind the wheel) as in this car space is at a premium so the intercooller is actually just ahead of the RHS front wheel. There must be a gain in shortening the flow to the IC but thats a longer project. There is a grill "looking" part in here but apart from the IC intake its all blocked up, so its a waste and could be smoothed.
Underneath the front the bumper extends to just ahead of the front axle line with skirts (roughly 1.5 inches depth) in front of each front wheel.
Part C of this masterplan is to look at a lower block but the engine being so big and the car so small most of the space at the front is basically radiator - its bigger than the engine. It must be there for a reason so I'll go for a 1/2 block first and monitor stuff before doing anything more serious.
Thoughts, suggestions, abuse ?
Cheers
A