01 Civic Air Dam w/ Existing Trim

[bertb]

Not sure which room to post in (Ecomod, Aerodynamics, or DIY) but seems like a lot of mods going on in here.

This weekend my parents were visiting our babies and my dad was getting a little bored. One of my headlight bulbs was out so I told him I had a project for us. Knowing we'd be working on the front end I had us head to Home Depot for some colorplast just in case.

While working on the headlights we couldn't get to the bulbs without taking the lights out and we couldn't take the lights out without taking of the front plastic. This put us in a perfect spot to work on filling in the gaping air brake below the front bumper!!

I forgot to take a before shot but needless to say my front plastic had taken a huge beating over its life and has been "repaired" multiple times.

We used a skill saw to cut out the gnarly. While under there I noticed that there was a 1/4 inch lip that served no purpose but to catch the wind and slow me down so I cut in front of that line.

you can see the part that we cut out laying on the table.

Cut the colorplast to extend out past the hole on the ends and above the hole at the top (just below the molded license tag area). We had to overlap at about 1/4 of the length.
Using a role of "Gorilla" brand duct tape I started each strip well to the outside for more adhesion and cut each strip below the edges of the license tag area. This gave me a surface area for the tape that I was happy with.


Had to put in a pic of my lovely assistant (Dad)

Used Rust-oleum for Plastic to spray the exposed colorplast (all HD had was white).

Finished on the bench.

Finished on the car.
It turned out 100% better than I thought it would! Went to fill up when we were done and got 34mpg (city) on the last tank. Looking forward to improving that on this tank.

[mcrews]

nice job!

[bertb]

I've seen people blocking grill openings from the back but does that have any effect at all. Seems like it just creates an air brake?

[amullins]

Originally Posted by bertb

I've seen people blocking grill openings from the back but does that have any effect at all. Seems like it just creates an air brake?

I'm not an expert but I think it will help by keeping air out from under the car.

[bertb]

I think (math is not my strong suit) I am getting 1% better after this mod. Best tank so far was 35.91 but is now 36.08. I have a lot fewer highway miles in my commute now than I did then so I have to watch my stops and starts even more. So, not much of an improvement but its a move in the right direction. Next project is either moon caps and wheel skirts, or some sort of belly pan.

[jsatter]

Originally Posted by bertb

I've seen people blocking grill openings from the back but does that have any effect at all. Seems like it just creates an air brake?

It decreases warm up time and does help with aero as well. I think most people who do the block behind the grill want a stealthier block.

[Vman455]

I'm late to the party, and sorry for resurrecting an old thread, but is there any way you can rehost the pictures, bertb? I have an 05 Civic and am curious to see just what your airdam looks like.

[bertb]

Aw crap, unintentional consequence of changing web hosts. Thanks for asking, I'll get right on it.

[bertb]

The tape I used has drawn up a bit and is showing some of the white coroplast so I'll have to hit it again with the spray paint to cover. This makes me wonder if I'm going to be looking for another solution in the summer months when the temp gets above 100* here.