$2.50 Wheel Skirts

[gascort]

Originally Posted by Bror Jace

Yes, green looks better than black. I'll have to see if they have a dark blue that will closely match my blue Civic.

I'm thinking of mocking up something on my '06 Civic using coat hangar wire and cardboard. If it it works, I'll try the same thing using sturdier materials.

Problem is, even if I paint the cardboard on both sides, one rainstorm will probably ruin them.

As for the roof rack, I'd use RTV to seal the holes. Will seal well, can last a long time and if you have to remove it, well, any screw or bolt can work its way through the stuff no problem.

1. I bet they do. I've heard WalMart has the best selection of Krylon Fusion plastic paint, so look there.
2. cardboard? No! I'm totally sold on coroplast. Made exactly like corrugated cardboard, but about 50% stronger, and WILL last through the rain!
3. I have some RTV and flexible Window-Weld to fill holes, but the issue with replacement is that the two beams that cross the top fit down into smooth pieces that I want to leave there (otherwise it would result in a very rough surface) and I think I'm going to cut the base of each beam to fit flush and RTV it to be smooth.

[justpassntime]

I made these from sheet metal from the roof of a S10 cab and pounded them out on a sand bag with a rubber mallet. The supports the attach to the car via brackets are 1/4" steel rod were given to me at the local steel yard. Time invested is one weekend of mostly trying to figure out how to do it. Doing it was easy.

[gascort]

justpassintime, I wanted to use sheet metal, but I couldn't find any cheaper than $1 per square foot. I tried to find a salvage box truck that I could cut from, but never thought of cutting it from a car in the junkyard! Looks nice.
My materials were technically $0 too, but I had to buy the sheet metal screws, washers, and duct tape since I was out at home.

Preliminary results for the grill block and wheel skirts: +2 mpg on the highway: New high - 47.2 mpg today!
Grill block:

[justpassntime]

Originally Posted by gascort

justpassintime, I wanted to use sheet metal, but I couldn't find any cheaper than $1 per square foot. I tried to find a salvage box truck that I could cut from, but never thought of cutting it from a car in the junkyard! Looks nice.
My materials were technically $0 too, but I had to buy the sheet metal screws, washers, and duct tape since I was out at home.

Preliminary results for the grill block and wheel skirts: +2 mpg on the highway: New high - 47.2 mpg today!
Grill block:

I have to finish them yet, I basically threw them together, wanted to make sure they were worth the time. I used regular rivets I want to replace them with flush rivets but need to order a dimpling tool for that. So by the time I get through fussing with them and get them painted. They won't be free anymore, but will pay for themselves many times over.

I want to do the grill block thing too but want to make it so it opens and closes when the fan comes on or I think it needs more air. I live in eastern Washington and it does get in the high 90s and even into the 100s at times.
This last saturday it was 102 in the shade.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by gascort

Preliminary results for the grill block and wheel skirts: +2 mpg on the highway: New high - 47.2 mpg today!

Nice! That's in line with what I'd expect to see from those mods. Skirts + grille block netted me about a 5.5% gain (yours is a 4.4% increase).

[gascort]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Nice! That's in line with what I'd expect to see from those mods. Skirts + grille block netted me about a 5.5% gain (yours is a 4.4% increase).

I'm working on re-doing the design for my grill block; I think I can do better. My stock front end is probably worse than the blackfly's, so I should see a better gain if I do it right.
The skirts are something that should come with the car, for almost every car. We should to an official count of all the wheel skirts in the Ecomodder fleet that you and SVOboy have initiated - it probably accounts for a decent reduction in fuel usage overall!