Ok, it’s been way too long since I updated this thread. I have made some progress on my car, highlights as follows.
Note I already mentioned this in this thread, but the pictures show my 10% oversized tires I removed and the 4% tires I previously installed. This made the lowering and reinstallation of the wheel well liners possible.
Did a legal factory HID swap (housing and all from a wrecked car) on my headlights, building a new relay harness myself, utilizing all factory style connectors.
Removed a malfunctioning aftermarket alarm system and fixed the remainder of the electrical issues I inherited from the previous owner.
Completely rebuilt the suspension, new shocks, struts, sway bars, end links, bushings, etcetera.
Installed new springs, lowering approximately 1” all around.
Removed all suspension parts and sub frames, removed rust, primed, and painted.
Reassembled, replacing all rusty or worn bolts. Had the car aligned after all this work was done.
Built and installed the forced air intake I had previously posted out of coroplast.
Built and installed new coroplast grill blocks to go behind my aluminum grill screens. Painted these flat black. Note- everywhere you see the aluminum grill mesh is a 100% block, car intakes its air from the 2.5” gap at the bottom of the center grill opening.
Replaced my factory plastic wheel well liners.
Reinstalled my front aluminum belly pan covering the area before the radiator.
So after doing all of this work, the car gets better MPG than it has before, considering the temperature outside. I have set some personal bests, including a 43.4 MPG trip home yesterday with the temperature in the 60s.
The fuel log is not quite that good, as most of my trips are far less than ideal, but even so getting 38 MPG consistently lets me know my goal of 40+ consistently isn’t too far off.
