03-29-2006, 08:28 PM
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started working on my prototype front undertray this evening. spent about an hour under the front of the car - box cutter, cardboard and duct tape, of course
i'm optimistic i'll see a real improvement on this car because unlike the hondas, the metro has NO stock front undertray of any kind. all the guts of the engine bay (oil pan, transaxle, cat, control arms and stablizer bar) just jut down into the breeze, naked.
i stopped by the home depot to see if i could order a black sheet of coroplast, but they can only get it in white & off white. so white it will be. the rear panel will be visible from behind, thus the aesthetic considerations.
in the end, i figure i'll have:
- one piece in the front, from the bumper to the stabilizer bar (about in line with the rear of the front tires);
- in the middle, possibly 3 individual panels running lengthwise: one on each side of the car and maybe an aluminum panel to cover the center tunnel & the exhaust - though i haven't decided for sure if i'm going to cover the exhaust pipes
- one rear panel from the rear control arm area back to the rear bumper
one particular challenge will be whether i can do a proper test to compare the effects of the tray vs. none, since it looks like it will be a pretty labour intensive process to attach & remove it (not to mention designing & making it).
don't have any pics yet, but i'll post some when i'm a bit further along and have something to show.