05 Civic Grillblock?

[DifferentPointofView]

man, i thought my block was a clean one nice job

[cerdmier]

Thanks Guys. We'll see how long it lasts till the plexi turns yellow or road debris tries to crack it. The hardest part was cutting it.

[DifferentPointofView]

Ever tried Meguiar's PlastX? it really works, and one bottle lasts forever. I've fixed many scratched cd's with it, and turned my headlights from nasty yellow to clear. It's also a polish as well, so even new cars show returns (mom's 07 caliber and grandma's 06 caravan were big surprises). anything clear and plastic it basically takes care of. no matter the color. works on tail lights too. you can buy it at wal-mart for like 3 or 4 bucks I think. and lasts forever. I've got a half bottle, and bought mine in 2007. I use it all the time. also, repells bugs from sticking on there too. takes off bugs better than bug remover as well. might wanna give it a try.

[Sandy]

On my '04 Civic, I followed your lead and used the foam insulation with black duct tape holding it in.
And I did it on the bottom too.
Not too impressed with the mileage increase,
until I had to 'get going' one time.
The mileage at 65-70 mph is better than at 55,
for my mostly highway commute.
I was able to bring the mileage up from 32 to 36 by going slower and DWL,
but now it's over 40mpg with 42 not being unusual
AND driving with the crowd at 65-70 instead of granny-ing it at 55 in the right lane.
So far (here in New England) the temps haven't gone up much,
but the mileage sure has.

[cerdmier]

That's great to hear! Living in Savannah, GA, I'm not sure I have the guts to completely block the lower grill yet. I might try blocking 50 or 60%, leaving the middle open. I already have the template cut. It might be a good weekend project.

[Daox]

If your going to block off that much you really need some sort of temperature monitor (scangauge) so you don't overheat.

Looks very nice BTW.

[DifferentPointofView]

So far (here in New England) the temps haven't gone up much,
but the mileage sure has.

I think everyone is switching to summer gasoline as well, so that helps some too. winter gas isn't as potent as summer gas because of the additives and things they put in it. Good to know the mileage is increasing

I know that i don't worry much about the coolant overheating because my mechanical fan keeps it under 200, and I've never been able to get it over 200, even while high rpm mudding sessions, but I do care about oil overheating. i monitor this by oil pressure. once when I had a full car, load and full grille block and driving at 65 and city driving, my oil pressure went down into the low teens and made the engine run really rough. then the lower block fell off somewhere and it's been good ever since. normal oil pressure is between 40-60 in my vehicle, and it's ok to be in the 20's if you've been hauling or doing heavy accelerations, but low teens isn't good.

Sandy and cerdmier
What do you drive mostly? highway or city?

cerdmier, if you drive mostly highway, you could probably get by with blocking the top one, which you have done already, and the big bottom one between the two "teeth" looking pillars. Just leave the two side ones open, and combined they make about half of the big bottom one. that should be a big enough opening for cooling.

[cerdmier]

I do mostly city. It's rare I have to go out of town. I don't have anything to measure with right now. I've just been watching my engine temp. It runs slightly above normal with the UGB. Less than half on the actual guage. Not sure what the temp is.

[DifferentPointofView]

I find it funny that my 13 year old vehicle has more gauges and info than new cars. I'm guessing that it's running around 190 right now. it's normal operating temp is probably 180. 260-280 is usually overheating. To measure load on the engine, I just use my volt meter. when the volts drop, theres more load on the engine. when the load is off, it creeps back up to 14+ volts. when I turn the a/c on it drops to about 13 volts, then when the compressor kicks off, it goes to 14 again.

You could probably still block off the middle lower one. won't help with aero much though, just heating the engine faster and causing air temps to be warmer, reducing pumping losses. it will help. if that's too much, block off the sides, and leave the middle open.

[Sandy]

Originally Posted by DifferentPointofView

Sandy and cerdmier
What do you drive mostly? highway or city?

Mine is mostly highway.
During 'rush' hour, so it could be 70mph or stop and crawl.
I made a new upper grill block out of some coro-plas,
but didn't put it on yet.
I want to see if running just the bottom block
will get me the better mileage or is it the top block doing the job.
The am commute was 39.5 mpg vs 41 recent average.
I'll run it home tonight and average them out.
Tomorrow the top will go on to see it it makes a difference.
I know I should be doing more controlled tests,
but for now, this is the best I can do.

cerdmier,
I like your plex cover,
what are you using to hold it on?
I can't see and fasteners in the pic.
I tried going over the H badge,
but it bulged too much,
so I had to cut a hole to let the H through.