Help with my aero mods: 1.8L 05 Auto Toyota Corolla

[edbso]

a belt sander is your best friend

[Coyote X]

To monitor the engine fan most if not all cars with a single fan will have 2 wires going to the fan. The easiest way to monitor it would be get a 12v indicator light from somewhere like radio shack or a spare dashboard bulb and wire it to those wires and stick it under the hood near the wipers where you can see it from the drivers seat. Some cars with dual fans will run them in series for a low speed and parallel for a high speed setting. So you can still splice into one fan the same way and just watch the bulb, if it lights up dim they are on low and bright they are on high.

Once you get the grille block opening where you are happy with it you can take the light out easy since there are no wires going into the interior.

[blackjackel]

polywall for back skirts?

http://www.parklandplastics.com/polywall.shtml

Its flexible plastic thats used for wall paneling, would it work for skirts?

[ttoyoda]

This will cost money, but will tell you what is going on.
Look at the items here:
http://www.inotek.com/Catalog/fluke1th.html
Search for the best prices online,
Get a model 52 with 2 temperature imputs.
Get the Extension Wire Kits for whatever TC (J or K) comes with the meter, unless you are willing to make up your own long probes, not really hard, get J or K connectors to go with J or K wire. All needed parts are available at

http://www.omega.com/prodinfo/thermocouples.html

Tape one probe tight to the radiator outlet hose or tube. Tape a little insualtion over this probe, you dont want air over the surface of the hose to mess up you reading. Put the other probe in the airstream in from of your bumper. When you do tests, look at the temp diff between the airstream probe and the radiator outlet hose probe. That way air temp changes during the day will not affect your results as much.

Now you will know exactly what the temps are, and you can get a better idea how close you are to the point where the thermostat in the car is FULLY open and you have no more safety margin to play with.
You can test your thermostat in a pot of hot water on the stove, and characterize the amount it is open at different water temperatures.
Decide the max summer temp you will need your car to run in, and then you can calculate how high you can let the water temp get on your test days when you block off the grill.

This is all less hard than it sounds.

[kevlar]

Originally Posted by blackjackel

polywall for back skirts?

http://www.parklandplastics.com/polywall.shtml

Its flexible plastic thats used for wall paneling, would it work for skirts?

I used some "FRP" (fiberglass reinforced plastic) on mine, 4X8 sheets from Home Depot, and so far, three weeks no problems.....cut it with tin snips and shaped with a propane bottle.

[blackjackel]

Hmmm, yeah I saw the fiberglass stuff but I figured the fiberglass would be much harder to shape and bend...

Also, didn't taking a propane tank to it severely discolor and burn it?

[kevlar]

yes, the FRP is white fiber. I heated it slowly so as not to burn it, but I didn't care since I was painting it with .96 cent bigmart paint anyways.....

[blackjackel]

how far can that stuff bend? Can you make 90 degree bends if you heat it up enough for the purpose of being able to attach it to the inside of the wheel wells?

[kevlar]

I suppose you could bend it pretty sharp around a scraper or something, I just used some right angle clips around my fender bolts to attach it.

[blackjackel]

Anyone know where i can get really really really really really cheap wheels? I decided to go from 15 inch wheels to 14 inch wheels but I'm not sure if it will be absolutely permanent or if it will only be for one tire life... so I want to obtain a set of 14 inch wheels for as cheap as possible..... any tips?