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-   -   Lil' Red's Aero Mods (https://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/lil-reds-aero-mods-3931.html)

sohl 07-19-2008 11:16 PM

Lil' Red's Aero Mods
 
I'm starting this thread to track my aero mod(s?) to Lil' Red, my 2003 Mazda Protege. First up, the "Stealth Grille Block" ...

sohl 07-19-2008 11:38 PM

The Stealth Grille Block
 
I wanted to try an air block on my upper grill. Here is my original grille area:

http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o...nCarBefore.jpg

I wanted it to look clean not be too noticeable, but not take a lot of time to install and not be permanent in case I ran into cooling trouble (not likely in Michigan) or some other unexpected problem. I thought a while about various ways to do it, then got a really interesting idea today. Here's the grille block installed:

http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o...rilleBlock.jpg

See it? No, its not on the back side of the grille... ;) Here is a hint:

http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o...OverGrille.jpg

I wrapped the front of the grille in heat-shrinkable window film... the stuff you can use to add insulation to your house windows in winter.:D

To install it, I first studied up on how to remove a Protege grill and the glossy rim strip that runs along the top of the grille. Then I put the window film double-sided tape all around the outside edges of the grill (the parts that butt up against the bumper and trim. Then to improve air-tightness, I placed some foam tape around the bottom and sides:

http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o...peOnGrille.jpg

Here is the front with the trim strip along the top. Notice the camera flash off the surface of the film?:)

http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o...WindowFilm.jpg

I just installed this, so I need to drive it a few days and see if it will cause any obvious problems. It would be nice to do an ABA coast-down test, but it's hard enough to find time to squeeze in even quick projects like this one.

This window film stuff is fairly strong, though I'm sure a rock could punch a hole in it. And I don't know if the tape holding this on will be waterproof. So we'll how long it holds up. It only took about 45 to 60 minutes to install, so it's no big deal if I want to replace it after a while. Even if the window film does not hold up, if the grille block works well in terms of FE, maybe I could fashion a more permanent one. I do like how smooth and practically invisible this is for now. :thumbup:

Updates later on driving experiences and if it stays on over a few tanks of fuel, we'll see it's effects on my mpg's.

Will 07-19-2008 11:43 PM

I would wonder if a bug might punch through it at highway speeds... I really like that you are starting this thread on a sedan. I may soon be looking at tinkering with my wife's Century. I look forward to "borrowing" your ideas.

justpassntime 07-20-2008 12:03 AM

Looks good, it will be interesting to see how long it lasts. It lasts awhile on a house, but it's not going 60 down the highway.

Hmmm....If this works, I wonder if you could shrink wrap a whole car with the stuff they use for boat storage? Just cut holes in it for windows and you have an instant aero gap filled car. Sure would be smooth.

sohl 07-20-2008 10:09 PM

I'll be happy if I get a month or two from it. That way I'll go through a few tanks of gas and might see a change, although I'd expect the drag reduction will be slight, and I don't spend a lot of my miles at highway speed. But by then, after driving through the hot part of the summer, I'll know if an upper grille block is feasible in my Protege.

This upper grille is fairly small, and at least the film over the left and right edges away from the Mazda emblem are supported by the original grille structure, so I'd hope bugs and grit will not hurt too bad. However, the few inches around the emblem is kind of "tented" up, so a small stone or hard bug there might poke through. Or curious kids. We'll see!

Xringer 07-21-2008 12:05 AM

Neat idea and it looks great!
To make it tougher, I'll bet you could just add a couple of layers on top of each other..

MazdaMatt 07-21-2008 10:06 AM

I was thinking about something like that for my entire prot5 front bumper. I never thought about window film. Wise choice :)

sohl 07-21-2008 12:48 PM

The film has held up to around 25 miles up through now, including a few miles at freeway speed. I notice a few very small wrinkles today, so it might be getting a bit loose at a spot or two. I'll try a bit more hot air ;) to smooth it out.

Xringer: I actually had two layers when I first put it on, but the layers don't adhere to each other evenly, so you get a weird blotchy look. I'm thinking that it could be done with an even tougher film, like the mylar (?) used for model airplane construction.

MazdaMatt: If you want to try it, look up the grille removal discussion in some of the forums for Mazda-dedicated sites. I could dig up a URL if you can't find anything. The glossy/chrome strip along the top edge of the upper grille can be removed to help you wrap the film, but I think it's much better to do it after taking the upper grille off the car so you don't damage either part.

sohl 07-31-2008 01:06 AM

Black Upper Grille Block
 
Well, the window film grille block was still intact and doing its job, but it was starting to loosen a second time, and the latest hot air treatment only seemed to last about one day, so I decided to replace the film with black plastic.

The material was liberated from an expanding portfolio, and I think is some kind of polyethylene, maybe similar to what Craig Vetter is using on his Aero Helix scooter.

I made a paper template and used scissors mostly to cut the plastic.
http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o...ndToolAndP.jpg

I made the plastic in two sections. Here is the first side fastened.
http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o...neSideDone.jpg

I used zip ties to fasten the plastic, after drilling small holes (inside view):
http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o...lockInside.jpg

Here is both sides fastened. The black stock trim piece is used to hold the top portion of the grill block to the front of the grille. So I only used three zip ties on each side along the bottom to secure it. If it starts to come loose, I can add more zip ties later.
http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o...desAndTrim.jpg

Here is the re-blocked grill installed on my Lil' Red Protege:
http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o...kInstalled.jpg

Here you can see the open area inside and below the Mazda emblem:
http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o...emAreaOpen.jpg
The open area (about six inches of open area, I believe) will allow a bit more cooling air into the radiator, although I did not notice any temperature elevation from the window film block.

I may block the sides of the lower grille in the future, so I don't feel the need to fully block this upper grille right now.

Total time: about 2 hours, plus 30 minutes to post here :D.

digitaldissent 07-31-2008 02:07 AM

looks very nice :)

1337 01-20-2009 11:15 AM

sohl,

Where did you get the plastic?

Daox 01-20-2009 11:23 AM

Agreed, very nice. :thumbup:

sohl 07-05-2009 10:55 PM

Well, that didn't end well...
 
Hey, long time since I've posted, but I've been lurking occasionally.

A few weeks back I was driving a short stretch of freeway when I noticed my temp gauge pegged at the max! I was able to exit in a couple of miles and checked my coolant resevoir and found it empty... boiled over! I filled it with some cool water and made it the rest of the way home.

The next morning I needed even more water and I took it (a bit slowly) to a Mazda dealership for service. They told me my radiator was rusted and leaking near the cap. After they switched that out and ran a test, they saw the temp starting to elevate again. :( They kept it for another day. They suspected a gasket leak, but their diagnostic machine showed that was ok. They checked the thermostat again (which had passed some tests on the first day in the shop) and found it to be sticking intermittantly. So now I have a new radiator and a new thermostat. :rolleyes: Looking back, I probably did have at least a small leak. A week earlier I topped up the coolant fluid.

Now, I don't know for sure that my little grille block caused or contributed significantly to needing these repairs, but I have to wonder. The confusing thing is that for all this time, I did not notice a higher coolant temp on my dashboard gauge, and I did not notice the fan coming on much more frequently that it did before (but I do admit that I can't easily hear it except in my garage). But, in any case, I'm not going back to using a grille block on this car. I didn't see much benefit in the milage, and once bitten, I'm twice shy. I hope none of you using a grille block meet the same fate.
--
Sohl

stevey_frac 07-05-2009 11:48 PM

I'm sorry to hear about your troubles.

Sounds like the real problems here were the leak, and the sticking thermostat. The grill block wouldn't cause these problems. However, they might aggravate them.

However, I understand the caution. It's not worth worrying about it for a .5 MPG gain. I ran a block for a time too, and also removed it because it was interfering with AC performance.

cfg83 07-06-2009 02:27 AM

sohl -

Quote:

Originally Posted by sohl (Post 113936)
...

Now, I don't know for sure that my little grille block caused or contributed significantly to needing these repairs, but I have to wonder. The confusing thing is that for all this time, I did not notice a higher coolant temp on my dashboard guage, and I did not notice the fan coming on much more frequently that it did before (but I do admit that I can't easily hear it except in my garage). But, in any case, I'm not going back to using a grille block on this car. I didn't see much benefit in the milage, and once bitten, I'm twice shy. I hope none of you using a grille block meet the same fate.
--
Sohl

I'm also sorry to hear about your problem. I've replaced my radiator and my water pump in the last year :

New Radiator at 154K Miles ... - SaturnFans Forums
Classic water pump coolant leak? - SaturnFans Forums (175K miles)

However, no one at saturnfans was surprised at the mileage of these failures, so it's hard to make a definitive statement that my grille block was the culprit. S-Series Saturns like mine are known to overheat, so I have a manual fan radiator switch and I tend to be paranoid about the coolant temp (i.e. I watch it like a hawk on my ScanGauge in traffic jams).

How many miles do you have on your Protege? Would you classify this as a premature failure?

CarloSW2

99LeCouch 07-06-2009 04:54 PM

Tough luck! As others have said, this might not have been caused by the grille block, but it likely aggravated the problem.

I'm running with 3/4 of my upper grille blocked now, and the car is fine (knocks on wood) even with a hyper-sensitive engine computer that kicks in the high-speed fans with just a slight rise in engine temperature.

sohl 07-07-2009 01:19 PM

@cfg84: My Protege has about 55K miles... so I would definitely consider it premature, although it is about 6 years old now. This part of Michigan uses a lot of salt on the roads, so maybe corrosion helped to create a leak, but I don't hear many others having this kind of problem this early. Maybe I just had an abnormally weak radiator to begin with. I am surprised that I didn't see earlier warning signs in the dashboard temp gauge. Anyway, life goes on.
--
Sohl


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