Bonneville 2012 or Bust

[metromizer]

awesome progress! I'll look you up at Bonneville and say hi.

Not sure what I will be driving there, my metro, my beetle, or the minivan. Not sure if I'm even racing a car this year... but I'll bring my safety gear if the opportunity arises like last year.

[Tango Charlie]

You're the only guy I know that carries a fly swatter in the car. C'mon, man, hypermiling tip number FOUR. Just ribbin' ya.

The chin spoiler/air dam looks good! What material is it?
A bit of ducting may do the trick for running cooler. I've got a chunk of coro ducting on the Vibe, and I can get away with pretty aggressive blocking.

[JethroBodine]

Metromizer- The more the merrier.

TC- chin is aluminum. As to the flyswatter, you do know that the state bird for VT is the mosquito.

[JethroBodine]

Ran around some today. Definitely need to do something about the heat.

Got some living quarters work done.

WeatherSpotter- I got some of that carpet today at Home Depot. 6'x8' for $18, gray only. The other colors were smaller and $20, didn't get the sizes. I have a piece that's about 3'x6' left over if you want me to bring it along.



Carpet.



In the car.



I cut the old black carpet and laid it in the tool area to prevent rattling!



Also got the essentials running. I might be deaf(er) by the end of this trip. I'll mount them tomorrow. Nothing special about the speakers, I just had them kicking around.

[Weather Spotter]

I think i could give the carpet a try, if you have room for it.

Thanks

[Tango Charlie]

Originally Posted by JethroBodine

...you do know that the state bird for VT is the mosquito.

Ahhh, that explains it.
Hey, the carpet looks nice! You may not even want to pack a tent!

[JethroBodine]

Got a lot of work done today. Work is slow so I burned a vacation day and worked on the car. I wired the fuel pump to shut off when the fuel shutoff solenoid looses power. I also added some ducting to the front end...



I used the bottom of the chin as a template, cut it a little big for fit, and then installed it just below the two air holes on the front.



You can just make the shelf out below the hole. The screw is acting as a pin until the body glue sets. I might leave them in just for kicks.



As the view from below shows, you can't make duct work without the Handy-man's Secret Weapon, Duct Tape.



I also added a Cool Air Intake with some 2" coolant hose clamped on the air intake and some improvised backing behind the right side head light. She seems to like the cool breath of fresh air.

The ducting did help, but I think I need to seal it better.

New tires tomorrow, and, at last, the full belly pan afterwards.

[thomason2wheels]

Originally Posted by Frankencar

That's some great info! Makes me want to go! I just did some eco-unfriendly modding and now the car is faster - need to calm the right foot!

You know what they say.....its more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow :-)

[Frankencar]

Originally Posted by thomason2wheels

You know what they say.....its more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow :-)

I still think it's slow...

[JethroBodine]

Progress- Got the new tires, Sumico 185/60R14. They are H rated and have a sidewall pressure of 51 psi. I also had bolt in valve stems installed, per USFRA requirements. Driving from the tire place back to work, I could feel every micron of rubber I was leaving on the pavement. Come to find out, they inflated the tires to 32 psi. They are now at 60 and feel much better.

Since I didn't already have enough on my plate, I decided to fabricate/install aluminum rear skirts instead of reinstalling the ABS ones I already have. This, of course, meant that I now had to do some shaping behind the wheels, but got to leave out the steel backers that I had to use on the ABS ones. By the time that was done, I ran out of steam and came home without putting the belly pan on.

I can't seem to log into my photobucket account, so pics later.



Pic of tread,



Just-cause-I-needed-more-to-do skirts.