Hi all,
This will be the main thread for our new project. We work in cycles so there will be periods of activity interspersed with silence. I expect it will take at least couple years to complete the list of desired modifications in between the rest of life.
We are putting together a vehicle we can afford to drive on trips. I have done all kinds of aero-mods to my vehicles over the years but I have never planned such mods in advance. In the past it has always been a case of mitigating an obvious deficiency or two on a daily ride or work vehicle.
This is the first time either of us have purchased a vehicle specifically for this purpose.
We looked concertedly for almost a year and intermittently for closer to two years.
We finally gave up looking for a manual transmission and purchased a 1991 Civic LX automatic that only had 118k original miles and was fairly well maintained mechanically. There was some severe rust around the rear wheel wells and rocker panels but the main pan and structural elements are in great condition. The original factory extended warranty maintenance records stamped right in the original manual from a local dealer that still exists were buried in the glove box. Only the last 3 years are not complete and we have many of those too.
We did a fairly extensive list of maintenance and stabilization procedures to get the car to a good point for the coming modifications. (All 100k maintenance items, new ignition components, timing belt, water pump, new rear brakes, removed those annoying metal weather seals from the back brakes that always rust, get bent and drag, plus checking condition and lubricity of axle bearings) We sealed the holes, stopped and stabilized the rust. Most of those areas will be covered by the coming mods so I will rebuild the rear wheel wells at that time.
Since we are doing this with long trips in mind we will not be doing anything to significantly reduce visibility, handling or safety.
That means we will not be deleting windshield wipers, experimenting with LED lighting, covering directionals or marker lights or things like that. The side view mirrors need to stay. I have been driving vans and work trucks for so long my brain does not even notice a rear view mirror. We will probably need them with the Kammback anyway,
It also means that we actually added to the weight of the car. We replaced the mini-spare with a full size spare. Added about 30 lbs of tools and emergency supplies not counting water.
It will always have two adults, running at about 340 lbs plus miscellaneous materials related to whatever we are dong. We are talking around 400 lb total payload back and forth to town and as much as 600 lbs on trips.
So far I have only done a mileage calculation on the first half a tank. That came out to 35mpg. I can not help but get my hopes up. I hope that ends up being a real number. We have a long drive on Tuesday that should get us a full tank calculation.
Because of the EPA rating on this car my initial goal was to shoot for 40mpg. If the 35 mpg holds up I will think about altering that goal.