My new econobox! (2000 Kia Sephia 1.8I4 16V DOHC 5 Speed)

[dirtydave]

Well my partial front chin belly pan thing is not good for lazy highway trips. After about 50 miles of constant 55mph driving she will overheat and not even the fan and zero grill block will help.On Sunday the belly pan chin came off on the side of the road and 10 minutes of the fan running and the hood up she was normal temperature and I did some very aggressive P&G to get back home safely.

I guess it was too aggressive. ..
I am headed down to Florida now on a job, my old KIA is going to get some major work when I get back!!

[dirtydave]

Random non-exciting pictures#!

Here you see the dash and my switches that control the fan. but I hope for them to be an alt on - off switch a kill switch and a starter switch. Also a small solar panel a multimeter/voltmeter a pokeball sticker and my scangauge.


Other Stickers. Mad props if you know all 3.



This is what she looks like today.


Mirror delete.


Wierd misaligned body panels and duct tape over the old spoiler bolt hole.


The next project will be make a belly pan and some tuft testing for a kammback #!

[dirtydave]

Finally got a chance to park next to this ridiculous truck. Next time will be even closer.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by dirtydave

Well my partial front chin belly pan thing is not good for lazy highway trips. After about 50 miles of constant 55mph driving she will overheat and not even the fan and zero grill block will help.

The cooling air had no easy exit, maybe?

[mbolton1990]

So. Much. Win. In. This. Thread.

[dirtydave]

I thought it would work and be ok with a less aggressive grill block. But nope. It must pull in air to cool down. Or maybe it needs air on the oil pan? I'll try to get some better pictures to show you soon. Maybe you guys can help. I would like to do some more mods if I ever have a day off work and it doesn't rain lol.

[dirtydave]

The grill block and hubcaps have come off for replacements and I would like to do it better and a little more permanent for winter.











Any ideas how to do this?

[MetroMPG]

Coroplast or sheet metal seems to be the simplest, if not the prettiest route.

[dirtydave]

Do you think I should start where the licence plate holes are on the bumper and work down or just do it how I did before and only cover the grill holes? I am thinking I will go a bit lower. As low as the lowest part of the car 5.5" from the ground. Should I curve it around the sides or make them a straight angle?

I will be using racecar parts ( sheet metal) that I got for free a few months ago!

[MetroMPG]

I respectfully disagree with the idea that an airdam should only be as low as the lowest underbody components. There are practical reasons for doing this (clearance), but it's easy to find examples of aero-optimized cars (Volt comes to mind, as just one example) with deeper air dams than their dangly underbits.

There's an advantage to doing it in 2 steps:

1) cover the grille holes
2) make an air dam that attaches to the factory bumper beneath, but extends further down & wraps around the sides

That way if (when) you hit the dam on something, you only have to straighten out that portion.