It's a start.

[hat_man]

Hello again.

I decided to make a new grille block for my Ranger. I grabbed a Splash grille and headlight trims at the pick and pull a couple of years ago. I liked the look better than the stock grille and trim. On the old grille I had installed a piece of clear plexi-glass to make a 100% grille block. It seemed to help and I saw a modest increase in MPG. When the fan clutch locked up it put such a drag on the engine I took off the grille block to let in more air and keep it from over heating. I then found the Splash parts and didn't want put screw holes in the grille so I've left it open for now.

Today I decided to take the old stock grille and start on another 100% grille block. I don't think I'll install it until I get an E-fan set up. Right now, even with the Splash grille, sitting at a fast food drive up makes the temp gauge visibly climb early to red-line. But I wanted to have it ready to put on when the E-fan or winter comes.

I took the old grille and had to modify the mounting because the Splash headlight trims are longer than the stock ones. A Dremel tool, a cut off wheel, and about 15 minutes and it fit nicely. I then took some super sticky "nuclear grade" duct tape and covered it vertically in half-lapped layers from the center out. Then covering it horizontally in half lapped layers added some strength. It's not done yet but I wanted to get it started and get a couple of pics to see what folks here thought.

The final product will be taking the block as it is now and shooting it with spray adhesive and laying a piece of cloth (cheap bed sheet material) on it. Then covering it in the two part fiberglass resin my brother uses on his race car to give it a nice smooth durable shell.

When I had the plexi-glass grille on it there was more than enough fresh air cooling from the small opening under the grille and the other opening in the bumper below the grille (until the fan clutch went out) that when the E-fan goes on I don't expect any overheating problems.

[hat_man]

I also had an unfortunate run in with a large orange barrel a few years ago. It took off my drivers side mirror. It looked really funny with just one mirror so I took the other side off. I figured it might help with aero a small amount, but I missed being able to see traffic in my drivers side blind spot. My solution.....I found these little mirrors at Auto Zone. A whole $3 and I'm back in business. The view is a bit small but I can see if a car is there or not. There really isn't a blind spot on the passenger side so no need for one over there.

[Daox]

Looks good. The grill block should definitely help out a fair amount. If 100% block is too much, why not just leave the lower slat open?

[whatmaycome14]

Looking good. Do you have any other plans for the truck?

[2009Toyotoad]

The other option on mirror is the 180 degree rearview mirrors from in sportman class racing.Panoramic Rear View Mirror: No More Blind Spots | WayCoolGadgets.com

[hat_man]

I have many more plans for the truck. Some are doable and some have already been done. Some are pipe dreams that I'll probably never be able to afford.

What do you all think? Should I start a "build thread" for the Lone Ranger? List what has been done and current mileage? Try and show my very un-scientific results?

[hat_man]

Daox... I used to run a 100% grille block and the plan is to do it again. I had the belt driven cooling fan at the time and I never overheated. Now without the belt I only overheat when at a prolonged idle. Most of my trips are long (45 miles+) so with the engine up to temp and moving I have no problems. There are additional openings above the bumper and in the bumper for fresh air. The problem comes if I pull over and get into a drive through or an unfortunate traffic jam I can over heat VERY quickly. Without at least an E-fan the problem is much worse. I didn't want to do the resin work twice so for now the grille block is getting finished and will be waiting on the shelf. The new lower valance/air dam project is underway, but I don't want to do too many mods at one time. I want to see how each affects my mileage individually. I am currently testing a 5.6k ohm resistor in-line with my IAT sensor. Too soon to tell if there are any improvements yet, but I'm hoping.