[wagonman76]

Last Saturday the weather was temporarily warm, so I got to do some things. I found my old non-wing hinges and special bolts. The wife complains about me keeping these kinds of things, but I usually end up using them again some time or another. You can see the difference between the wing and non-wing hinges.

Then I removed the roof rack. I tried and it did not come apart at all. So I just removed the whole thing. I happened to find enough proper metric bolts in my bolt cans to plug all the threaded holes and keep the roof from leaking.

I was hoping to notice something, but Monday we had the worst storm of the season, and hence my worst mpg of the season, 22. Then the next couple days we had the highest winds of the season, 50-60 mph. I guess my mods seemed to work because despite the wind and storm I was able to get a tank of 27.

Then Thursday it cleared off, even though it was 0 deg F. We get these really heavy strips of laminated cardboard at work off the steel we buy. They are formed as an L shape. I took one and smashed it mostly flat, then cut it to the length of my existing cracked valence. I tried my best to gently form it to the curves, it still tore one layer. Then I screwed it on with a bunch of drywall screws. I figure if I damage it or if it gets soaked and falls apart, no big loss and it will be free to replace. It almost matches the bottom gray of the car, doesn't look too bad. I wanted it done to go downstate with on Friday.

Friday on the way to work, it seemed to make quite a difference. I noticed several things. First it would coast farther and more easily. Also my mpg with the foot off the gas was noticeably higher at the same speeds as before, not sure exactly why that is but I'll take it. I also got my best downstate mileage last night. There was still a lot of wind too. Engine temp is about the same as always. I did hit it on some frozen mud downstate but it hardly did anything to it. So far so good.