My new hopefully more aero Metro front bumper
 

Parts I used:
Colored Plastic Rolls, 25 Ft. - Speedway Motors, America's Oldest Speed Shop
3/16 Inch Back Up Washers - Speedway Motors, America's Oldest Speed Shop
Tru Rivets, 3/16 Inch Large Head - Speedway Motors, America's Oldest Speed Shop

Here is what the car looked like to start with. The mesh used is from a satellite dish. It looked pretty nice and blocked some air from going through but it wasn't good enough. Also the air dam was farther back than ideal so it wasn't really helping much.

http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8135f88b.jpg

I took that bumper off since it was nice and damage free to save it. I used the old bumper from the hybrid convertible metro that was pretty beat up already so nothing lost by cutting it up a bit more. First thing was fit it on the car.

http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...psa1acd0fe.jpg

Then get the plastic and get it more or less in position where I wanted it.

http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7eee82b3.jpg http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4fe6d7c2.jpg

Once I got it where I wanted I put a rivet in one corner and used a pair of vice grips and a ratchet strap to pull it tight over the bumper on the opposite corner. Once I adjusted it and got it sitting square. I put a rivet in the center top and the other side. That let me take the bumper off and put plenty of rivets across the top of it to make sure it is good and secure.

http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...ps33710510.jpg

It took a bit of trimming the top edge to get the lip exposed so I could remount it on the car.

http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...psf57a04db.jpg

Then to brace it up I used the aluminum frame from that same satellite dish since it was curved perfectly to match the curve of the car to build a lower brace. I used a couple of bolts and self tapping screws to mount it under the car.

http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...ps59a4ad54.jpg

After that all I had to do was trim up the sides and make some brackets to hold the bumper out to cover the front edge of the tires. I used a couple of shelf brackets I had laying around that fit and worked good. And I used another small section of dish frame to form the sides of the bumper.

http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...ps054ddcda.jpg

All that was left was cut out the signal light openings and mount the lights. I cut the mounts out of the old bumper before I riveted on the plastic. I used them to make paper templates and fit them to the car till they looked good and were level then cut them out. I used rivets to attach the signal mounts to the plastic and mounted the lights.

http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...ps77ece0ae.jpg http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0dbcf75f.jpg http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...ps32b3ac4e.jpg

I will have to see how well it works over the next few weeks. It looks pretty good so tomorrow while it is daylight I will get some good pictures of it.

Are you going to put sports lights in it like your avatar? :)

I'd say your in the running for some sort of prize, but ...a couple questions.

Are the ends of the aluminum brace rounded enough they're not going to poke dents in the plastic from the backside?

Why didn't you get the 10' roll?

The only thing I might add to that bumper is maybe a small grille opening if it needs it to keep the fan from cycling a lot. I will have to drive it for a while and see how it goes. The aluminum brace ends well before the corner. I didn't bother trying to make a frame in the corners that way if it hits something it might flex instead of crack hopefully. I got the 25ft roll so I have enough to use for my kit car Metro project sometime in the future when I get back to building on it. I did get a roll of white and am thinking since it is so easy to work with I might as well make a kammback.

I am hoping this helps the 181/181 cam I have in the car at highway speeds and can get me reliably over 60mpg on my normal commute. This car already has weight reduction and a slightly more aero back bumper. It is another leftover from the old Metro project :) At least it lets the air pass through better than a solid bumper.

http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...psde06e844.jpg

What is that red car in the lower right corner?

Coyote X lives!!

Patrick: it's a Manta kit car.

Coyote: that's along the same lines as the massive air dam/bumper I tested on my Firefly. I also angled mine to drop the stagnation point, though yours is a lot more cow catcher-y than mine was:

http://ecomodder.com/imgs/airdam-side-close.jpg

I A-B-A coastdown tested mine, and it showed promise: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...down-9732.html

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This is what I want to do to mine. Can't wait to see your results.



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Pretty sure that's a Coyote X (as per the user name. :D ). They used them for an old TV series called Hardcastle and McCormick. Awesome looking kit cars.

Interesting......

I was worried it may end up looking like this.

http://toyotacelicamodifications.com...eme_cars11.jpg

http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...psd00c2000.jpg http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/...ps920e1fb8.jpg

It actually sits higher than the stock bumper with the fiberglass lawn edging on the bottom so hopefully it won't drag on much.