Aeromodded Civic VX 72mpg (image heavy)

[j12piprius]

How did you decide on the 6 inch clearance? Most of the underbelly on my car is at 8 inches from the ground, with some at 7. Do you think it would help or hurt to have the airdam lower than the belly? What length of sheet metal screws did you use?

Thanks for all the great details and the link.

[ecoTex]

Thanks Aerohead for the great picture. You and Thenorm*have inspired me to make some modifications to my current front wheel aero.

Do you think this would also help to vent warm air from the engine compartment?

Thanks again!*

[ecoTex]

Here is our thought process on the 6 inch clearance on the air dam:

Before we added the belly pan the air dam was 2 inches lower(4 inches from ground level) and made from less durable material. I was frequently repairing it when I*hit stuff.

When we added the belly pan we wanted it to be lower than any under body part, totally flat from the tip of the air dam back to where it met the rear*diffuser*and level with the ground. This was done by putting all 4 wheels on 14 inch high plywood boxes and using a 6 foot level taped to a 1x1 square aluminum rod. by the time we got it level and added the framework of 1/8 inch x 2 inch flat aluminum*plus 10mm corplast panels, the belly pan had 6 inches of clearance to the ground.

I read somewhere on ecomodder that if you add a belly pan to your car, the air dam only needs to be as low as the pan. So that's how we ended up with 6 inches of air dam clearance. The added benefit to this height as far as I am concerned is I*haven't had to repair the front dam since. HA!

If you end up using the high density polyethylene, it is 22 inches wide so you can experiment with different*clearances.**

[basjoos]

On the aerocivic, I have a slot at the back of the front wheel well skirts that exhausts air out along the sides of the car. The only added temperature instrumentation is an LED that tells me when the radiator fan is running. Have gone through six years of South Carolina summers with air temps over 100F without any overheating problems since I added the second radiator air inlet to the nosepiece. When I had only one radiator air inlet I used to have some overheating problems when travelling at 70+mph on the interstates in hillly locations, but the second inlet cured this problem.

[ecoTex]

Thanks for that encouraging*information Basjoos. I will be monitoring my temps closely

[ecoTex]

John, the corplast panels are attached to the 1/8 inch X 2 inch wide aluminum framework with 1/4 X 1 1/4 inch hex head drill screws and a large fender washer. The 1/8 inch aluminum is thick enough that* the screws don't strip out even when removed and reinstalled.

[j12piprius]

Originally Posted by ecoTex

John, the corplast panels are attached to the 1/8 inch X 2 inch wide aluminum framework with 1/4 X 1 1/4 inch hex head drill screws and a large fender washer. The 1/8 inch aluminum is thick enough that* the screws don't strip out even when removed and reinstalled.

Thanks for those details. I'm curious of length of the #12 sheet metal screws that attach the hdpe airdam to the top and sides of the bumper. My guess would be 1 1/4 inches.

[NeilBlanchard]

Did your Dad get his EM account straightened out? It would be great to if he could get his fuel record online to go along with his excellent aero mods.

[ecoTex]

The fuel log is up, the car is called MULE VX. He made one log entry for the last three tanks, and will be updating again soon. Thanks

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by ecoTex

The fuel log is up, the car is called MULE VX. He made one log entry for the last three tanks, and will be updating again soon. Thanks

Awesome. That'll be fun to follow.