How to Make Easy Ecomods Look Good!
 

There are multiple ways to mod your car to maximize mpg, but there are slight problems that keep a lot of us from doing them;

A: the mod looks hideous!
B: the mod requires a custom body shop pro to make it look right!
C: the cost to make it look right will never be rationalized by the mpg gain!

So I thought this thread would be good for those people who want easy, reasonably cheap ecomods that actually don't hurt, and may actually help the look of your car!

To start off; I got the idea for this thread when I saw a Nissan Altima coupe with a custom chrome grille; it looked like a solid chrome piece with round holes drilled in rows in it, and appeared to lower the amount of air allowed to enter!
I thought, "That actually looks cool! why couldn't Ecomodders do something like that instead of blocking off one side of the grille?" And I had just got some of these: http://hubcapmike.com/images/wheel-skins/prius-324x.jpg off of eBay, I plan on 'patching the holes' with black coroplast to create a "better looking than original' smooth wheel cover!
There are some ecomods that are known to be easy and look good; gap filling with foam weatherstripping, clear covers over bucket style headlights, then there are things like the belly pan that can't be seen, but there are others that are not easy to make look good, please try to find a way! :thumbup:

http://www.americatruckaccessories.c...s/24-3575_.jpg
http://www.mytightride.info/images/c...h-grille-a.jpg
https://www.theblingking.com/wp-cont...08-09-2010.jpg
https://billet-grilles.com/uploads/yBUICKp25.jpg

One more : http://www.autoamenity.com/images/GI-41inst9.jpg

All of these grille inserts aren't exactly cheap, so you won't be saving anything, but it does look professional.

Not exactly what I meant but it would some! The cost would be a little high! I was meaning make a metal full grille block, drill some holes in it in a pattern, and either paint it or clear coat it!

Oh - I thought you meant aftermarket parts.

Make your own ..yes - I like that idea.
http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/metal-sheet-15335772.jpg

Yes!!! But more closed up than that!

What I want this thread to show is easy diy mods that actually look good!

Window tint, and hidden antenna are my only mods that I would say have improved the appearance of my car.

Mods that don't hurt can also go on the list! I doubt your tire spats hurt!

Well there are mods that might as well be invisible. Block heaters, tire selection, p/s delete - kinda a stretch to be a plus, but no p/s whine on cold mornings or tight parking. Scangauge and kill switch aren't very noticeable from outside the car. Tire spats and grill blocked from behind would be more of a "less noticeable" mod

I think both the grill block and the mirrored moon discs improved the appearance of Ron Burgundy. I also really like the appearance of the tiny aero mirrors I put on it.

I was never a fan of the giant lower grill opening or the stock Insight rims, and the stock side view mirrors always seemed to be out of proportion with the car, so all three mods are an improvement to me.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...0&d=1441535907

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1441535942

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...2&d=1441535942

My father-in-law is leasing a brand new ram 1500. I was impressed with how well the aerodynamics around the front are done. They used a couple black plastic pieces behind the chrome parts to make the grill openings smaller, and then it reduces down to a screen type plastic as shown above.

My aero mods are invisible.
I have a deep spoiler, coroplast wheel covers, and gap fillers in the fender gap.
During the winter months, half of the opening in that grille gets blocked off as well.
http://i877.photobucket.com/albums/a...yb17/noway.jpg

With that paint, how would anyone see your mods? LOL:D

I agree!

Paint job hid Black Widow's grill block and wheel skirts pretty well

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...3&d=1441566078

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...4&d=1441566078

Black textrued lawn edging makes a pretty oem looking grill block, as long as you don't need more than 6" of height, but there are dozens of other similar materials, even just black coroplast.

All my mods to date have made my Kangoo look better, infact I saw a stock one a couple of days ago and my brother commented on how bad it looked compared to mine. I actually didn't really like the Kangoo until I made it my own.

none of my mods look good so i won't post them, but, Eddie25 is doing a fine job on his:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...9-a-32322.html

My brother made a new grill for his 97 Dodge Ram. His materials came from Tractor Supply and Home Depot, paint gloss black with Rustoleum, and it gets compliments everywhere! It is not for aero purposes, though he did try a partial grill block last winter :thumbup:

I'll see if I can get a pic on it up tomorrow.

My car was recently paint by the brother above, and he color matched my fender skirts!

http://s26.postimg.org/4pugl5315/IMG...815_125312.jpg

I like the way my car looks with no exterior mirrors. Mo' cleana!

Color matching the grill block and wheels covers would have been cool, but Rustoleum Gloss Black looks good too!

How about fiberglass layups? We used to do them in school. It wasn't overly difficult and most of the materials were pretty cheap.

If you were doing a rear wheel cover, put a piece of foam in there, shape it with a knife and sand paper, cover with bondo or plaster and then do a fiberglass layup on top of that. When you're done, remove the foam and you'll have a beautiful, durable, light weight piece to mount in place.

Some folks go even cheaper using old cotton rags instead of fiberglass, like it was done in the East-German Trabant. And since it's a renewable-sourced material and less energy-intensive than fiberglass production, it also makes sense from an "eco" standpoint.

How to...? Use only top brand stuff!

https://i.chzbgr.com/full/4448394496/hAE7FE22B/

;)

https://i.chzbgr.com/full/4448394496/hAE7FE22B/

"...the best...or nothing" !

I actually get a fair number of compliments on how my car looks, even from old-timers that are self professed to "hate ricers".

http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-da...2013-10-04.jpg

I think the moon caps compliment the silver car pretty well, and the ecomods/tint/trim are all black.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-fr...down-flood.jpg

A-numba-1: lower it.

darcane -- Nice mural. "Drive toward the light."

I've made small repairs to plastic trim parts using 5 minute epoxy and scraps of cloth but it hadn't occurred to me to make something larger using these materials. Thanks.

Yeah, it's pretty cool, and I new it would be an awesome spot for car pictures when I saw it being painted.

You're local, so I'm sure you recognize what is on the other side of that tunnel... It's there in real life too, on the other side of the building.

Where'd you take the pic of your bug?

I've been customizing! I now have a fully blocked upper grille, and a partially blocked lower grille! Both consist of silver painted aluminum flashing, attached with 3M tape and zipties on the lower grille block, and some silver pinstripes around the edge to hide seams! Oh, and a pointless aerodynamically but cool looking shark fin!:D

darcane -- In a city park under a bridge, in Lane County, OR. It was a while ago; the river was high at the time and I had to ford a small flood to get it there.

I hadn't answered because I was trying to think of something on-topic. How's this? I drove this Beetle for years during the 1980s. Patina'd Beetles became popular in the 90s or later (?)

http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-fr...4-11-26-01.png

I think it's an eco-modical finish, but possibly not everyone will think it looks as good as I do. I'd had those wheels 15 years at that point. Still do.

Some crude appearance may match a Beetle, but newer cars don't have the same "privilege" :D

In my experience, 1) Cheap 2) Easy 3) Looks good....pick 2

Upper Grill Block
Easy Version - Coroplast, Gorilla tape, Black spraypaint
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG2082.jpg

Not Easy - Fiberglass layup, bondo, sand, black spraypaint
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...006_181149.jpg


Lower Grill Block
Easy Version 1 - Black Coroplast
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG1804.jpg

Not easy - Fiberglass layup, bondo, sand, black spraypaint
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...104_173502.jpg

I totally agree with CD. Just paint over everything and most people won't even notice.
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...i/IMAG2437.jpg

I did mine with black tape surrounded by a red stripe tape.
Looks okay from a distance

I have found 3M tape and painted Aluminum Flashing to be cheap, easy, and nice looking!

I thought the Prius turned out pretty well, so far:

http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/...pskkrs0cub.jpg

Mirror-B-Gone.

What is really needed here are diffusing cones behind all of those nicely radiused holes. It may be easier to arrange an array of small diffusers and block some off than to build louvers that provide both a variable opening and efficient air flow.

Hmm. This was in reference to the 1st page illustration of perforated sheet metal.

Have a look at some 50s custom cars for fender skirt ideas. Most of the eco-mod rear skirts I've seen just try to fill the hole, but it was not designed for that. Re-shape the whole area with a large, flowing shape that covers the whole wheel-arch flare, and probably meets the bumper. On a 4-door, cut off the front and glue it to the door. I've thought of making molds for skirts that would fit many different cars. To do a one-off job, you can save time by making one, and then pulling a single skin of fiberglass off it as a mold. Then, turn the skin inside out, support it well, and add layers.

I used coroplast on my Cummins diesel & caravan; small improvement in mpg. I need to find black coroplast for the cummins because it won't stay painted. The front of the van I blocked off the lower grill using heavy black duct tape & trimmed it with curves to look natural. The rear I made a Kammback out of coroplast & covered in duct tape- 4 yrs later still holding up just fine.