gtOmologato's mild-mannered build thread

[gtOmologato]

The supersport mirrors sound like a great idea, wish I'd have thought of that earlier!

Xist - The clear coat is burned through in a few places...and it is rusted over the rear tires, but if you ever want to trade for that manual and lean burn, you just let me know and the beaded seat cover isn't bad to sit on at all, I thought it might be uncomfy, but it's about the same as sitting on the seat.

Cali - Somewhere in the middle of stealing your your car an automatic transmission climbed up into it
Let me know what works for your schedule and I'll bring it by for a 5sp swap
I could get by with a SG, but the dash tach is nice to have, even with the auto.
I have been using an extra wiper blade to squeegee my windows off in the morning, but it is still dark when I leave, so they almost always fog up again.
Yep, your grill is almost exactly what I have been looking for, I might try to copy it this weekend...with a few tweaks...because I can't leave well enough alone...

[gtOmologato]

I started my belly pan...sort of. Until I get the time and motivation to install the axle seal I bought, this piece of coroplast with shop rags zip-tied to it will let me park without making an ATF mess in the driveway. I'm pretty sure I'm far enough away from the exhaust, but being new to coroplast, I threw a fire extinguisher in the trunk for good measure

Tomorrow will be the first day for the block heater on a timer. I'm starting with 1 hour and I'll see how it goes.

[gtOmologato]

Block heater has been giving me between 85-110F, I think I'll increase the on-time until I see diminishing returns.

I finally built my upper grill block last night. I started with a cardboard template and cut it down until it was (almost) exact. Then I transfered my template to .060 ABS. I had to shave off some plastic locating tabs from the chrome trim ring so it would sit (almost) flush. Then I just sandwiched it in between the trim ring and grill, using the original hardware. The Honda decal is not affixed yet. I was going to silicone it on (so it would be removable if needed) but the backside is more concave than I had anticipated, so I will probably use double-sided tape instead.

I know that it would have been more aerodynamic if it was in front of the trim ring, but for me, it was worth the slight aerodynamic compromise for the cleaner look.

[gtOmologato]

So I built a partial lower grill block. It isn't perfect, but it looks ok and it should be effective? Pre-blocks, my IAT has been ~10F over ambient and coolant has been~181F.

I started my lower block with a cardboard template. If you ever do this, get a contour gauge, I did not have one . I refined the shape until I was out of patience. I marked where my tabs should be and transferred my template to .060 ABS and cut it out (I flipped it over and cut one out for the other side too). Then I used a heat gun to bend the tabs over and massage them into shape. I had a tough time getting the holes drilled. I had to drill through the bottom of the bumper cover to put the holes where I needed them. Then I secured everything with Zip-Ties (they deserve to be capitalized ). It does not form a perfect seal, but if the bumper ever gets ripped off of the car...they will still be on there!

I will watch my temps and report back, I am guessing that the opening will be sufficient to keep the fans from kicking on. If not, I will cut a small rectangular hole on the passenger side.

[Ecky]

Here's the rate at which my block heater works:

[gtOmologato]

And here are pictures of it all done.
It does look a little buck-toothed, maybe I'll build a center section a perforate it...

[gtOmologato]

Thanks Ecky, it looks like an more than an hour will be beneficial.

[gtOmologato]

I ran some errands this evening and things got a little warm.

At 55mph and 65F, IAT was 87F, which I liked. But coolant temp slowly climbed to 204F before I turned the heat on. I haven't decided whether to tear the front bumper back off or drill some holes, right now I'm leaning towards drilling holes and cleaning it up later. 204F is probably doable, but it is supposed to be in the 80's this week.

[Stubby79]

Nice looking work.

Unless it's faulty, I'd let your cooling fan keep temps under control. The only time my cooling fan turns on is when I come to a stop/crawl after driving for a while.

[gtOmologato]

I ended up puling off the passenger side block. My intake temps were up 30F over ambient and my coolant was back to 181F. 37mpg to work, 41mpg on the way home, good numbers, but too soon to tell.

Oh, and warmup (from 110F) took about .75 instead of the usual 1.5 miles.