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Old 12-12-2007, 08:38 AM   This thread is in the EcoModder Project Library | #1 (permalink)
Stickboy
 
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Home-made grille block / bra

Can you take a picture of the bra you have on the front of Blackfly? Also, where did you get it? I figure that is the easiest way to close off the front of the geo without permanently changing it. I want to see how much improvement happens when the front end is closed off.

That spray foam would work well to completely close off the front fenders too. I was thinking of making new front fenders that completely go around the front fenders. I would need foam and fiberglass to make them and then maybe I could get someone to make a mold of them so they could be mass produced.


Jody

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Old 12-12-2007, 12:14 PM   #2 (permalink)
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Blackfly - '98 Geo Metro
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Hi Jody -

See the attached pic.



I made this one, actually. It's just a rectangle of outdoor appropriate black vinyl with:
  • a cord attatched at each corner with hooks on the ends to pull it taut horizontally towards the wheel arches
  • five "tabs" (2 top, 3 bottom) to stretch it taut vertically (you can see the 2 top tabs just inboard of the turn signals - they hook on the top aft edge of the bumper cover)
  • a hole for the block heater cord
  • one permanent cooling opening, about 6 in. by 4 in, with a mesh screen (which you can't really see in the pic)
  • there's a second cooling opening (outboard of the permanent one) that has a velcro secured trap door/flap. I put it there just in case, but I've never had to open it.
This took me about 1 to 2 hours to make, and materials cost maybe 15 bucks from a fabric shop.

If you can find a commercial bra designed to fit your car, that would be the easiest route. But you would obviously have to modify it (it would still have too many openings).
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Project MPGiata! Mods for getting 50+ MPG from a 1990 Miata
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Old 12-12-2007, 12:18 PM   #3 (permalink)
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Blackfly - '98 Geo Metro
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Even Fancier Metro - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage top spec
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Wait - I almost forgot! This mod cost me more than 15 bucks.

I removed my front licence plate to install it, and somehow (don't ask how) I lost the plate.

I got nabbed by the police in a routine traffic stop / roadside safety dragnet a year ago and was ticketed for the missing plate.

So in fact it cost me more like $110 total.
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Project MPGiata! Mods for getting 50+ MPG from a 1990 Miata
Honda mods: Ecomodding my $800 Honda Fit 5-speed beater
Mitsu mods: 70 MPG in my ecomodded, dirt cheap, 3-cylinder Mirage.
Ecodriving test: Manual vs. automatic transmission MPG showdown



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Old 12-12-2007, 01:22 PM   #4 (permalink)
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bra

That is a nice looking setup. I was thinking though I wanted to cover the entire front end all the way back to the front of the wheel openings. Then the only openings would be the headlights.
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Old 04-02-2010, 11:28 AM   #5 (permalink)
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Looks good.
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Old 04-05-2010, 02:27 PM   #6 (permalink)
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This is the best way IMHO to change the front of a car...

Inexpensive, reversible.

And if one used Styrofoam underneath the bra to make the shape better custom "noses"
could be created relatively cheaply.

This weekend all i did was cover the upper grill on my Camry with cotton fabric and sprayed it several times with old spray paint. Coolant temps at hwy speeds unchanged and only like 5 degrees higher at complete dead stop idle.

So far my mode has cost my only WTF looks from friends and family!

No A-B-A testing.
Tomorrow I will do my weekly 600 mile round trip from Maine to NYC area to work for 3 days. I also changed the gear oil in manual tranny to "mostly" synthetic. (Accidentally bought 1 qt total synthetic and 1 qt synthetic blend).

I digress, great bra, great idea. I plan on doing similar by summer.

Pete

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