Grill Block and Under Belly Skirt Aero Mods

[shiba]

So i'm planning on entering a MPG challenge this summer; the one at hybridfest, or whatever the new name is called, i'd assume some of you are familiar with this...which is the motivation behind these two mods.

All winter long i had some pink insulation foam blocking the front grill on my 98 tercel, and some plexiglass blocking the lower grill on the front bumper. Since its getting warmer out, I decided to remove the pink foam...plus i heard the radiator fan turn on one day when i pulled in my garage for the first time since i've owned the car.. From some motivation from a friend from our local EV car club, he mentioned another possible way that people do, so i thought i'd give it a try.


See pictures on my blog here.

you can still see one line of the pink foam, left it in there because it was the only full piece that had not fallen out/cracked...

What I really want to accomplish is eliminate as much aerodynamic drag from under the car as possible...with out going crazy.. apparently it is a bad zone for the car..

For pictures of my current cardboard mock-up, check here on my website: Index of /toyota/aero/underbelly

I'm planning on making it out of corrogated plastic/corroplast.. I'd like to know what you think about how far away from the exhaust system i need to keep the plastic; i'm obviously going to not cover it, but just go around..

Thanks!!
~Shiba

P.S. i got this crazy idea at about 4am this morning reading someone else's post on this, i think for an infinity? Not sure, but hey, its another project and it it helps any...then its worth the few $ for the plastic

[Bicycle Bob]

Clearance from Coroplast to exhaust depends on the hardest use you are likely to perform on the hottest day, the amount of air circulating between the hot bits and the plastic, and even the proximity of plastic supports, which help it soften without sagging. One approach is to outline the exhaust with aluminum flashing everywhere. Another is to try for reasonable clearance and ventilation, with maybe an extra heat shield, and then replace any bits that melt.

[mcrews]

I'm not sure if I'm flattered that you were reading my post at 4am!!!!????!!!

But hey....it's all good!
THe heat issue is important but I havn't had any problem with the edges that are close to the exhausst....yet.

[shiba]

Originally Posted by mcrews

I'm not sure if I'm flattered that you were reading my post at 4am!!!!????!!!

haha, yea, my sleep schedule gets messed up when i fall asleep with the tv on ...but if anything goes wrong, i can just blame you for giving me the idea

Originally Posted by mcrews

THe heat issue is important but I havn't had any problem with the edges that are close to the exhausst....yet.

did you have a general distance you were trying to keep, like 1/2" or something? Also, where did you get the corriplast? I emailed a place thats local that i found online...under some site for hamster cage making....yea...ik....4am....just keep that in mind

~Shiba

[wyatt]

all those campaign signs along the road are coroplast... all you have to do is email a bunch of campaigns and "volunteer" to help clean them up and dispose of them after the election is over. I emailed 4 campaigns, and got one to email back and give locations of 12 signs, I picked up 3, since the rest were gone when I got there. The total cost was that of the gas.

[shiba]

hmmm, thats a good idea....but i was hoping of getting a large sheet...but small ones would do well for wheel well covers (inside and out..)

i was just thinking while i was driving home, that if the holes in the coroplast went with the air flow, that i might just have a very slipstream-ed air flow right underneath the car :P though i doubt that will do anything productive, it sounds cool

[wyatt]

The ones I got are 4'x8' (4 foot by 8 foot), and I have used them for lots of different projects on my car. You can look here and see some of the things I have done, and I still have some left over.

[shiba]

really?!?!?! they got 4'x8' ones?? damn, all the ones around my area are the small yard ones....you must live somewhere where people REALLY feel stongly!!

how did you find the campaigns to call, some site online, or just by looking them up..or?? i'll definatly try and do that if they are that big!! (now my problem, how to fit them in my tercel :P)

[wyatt]

Big population center... our votes count! I just found their websites, emailed them to "volunteer", told them that I couldn't do anything until after the election, and wanted to help clean up the big signs for them, and would dispose of them also. Only one wrote back, but that has gotten me where I am today. What I did to keep them in "one piece" and still fit them in my little car was score them around 1/3 of the way from each end, then fold them over and stuff through my trunk and into my back seats. The 4x8 ones are the really big ones that you might see at intersections and such. If you contact a local sign shop, they may be able to get you full sheets also, or have some "discounted" misprints, or hard to move colors, or something like that. I would guess going the sign shop route you should be able to get them for under $20 a sheet.
Oh, you can also contact your local republican/democrat headquarters. I remember a while ago, someone had dropped out of a race and they had STACKS of big 4x8 signs all printed up and ready to be placed, just laying outside the headquarters going to be put in the dumpster. Someone here on Ecomodder snagged the whole lot of them. You might be able to do something like that, only after the election.

[mcrews]

I actually went to a sign wholesaler.....like going to coroplast heaven.
I bought 2 4x8 sheets and the scrapps of the solid yellow stuff. I was going for that 'normal.....yet abnormal' look.