OG's VX Build: HyperMile Driving with some JDM Styling

[OG VX]

Originally Posted by jedi_sol

Clean as always. Any plans on smoothing out the edges with fiberglass and bondo?

Thanks guys. Yes, these will be smoothed out in the near future. I am on the look out for some stout (flat) plastic that I can cut and past on top of the existing grill/fog blocks. I'll then wrap the whole thing with Ebay Carbon Fiber-look wrap. At that point, I'll fix the little fitment issues in the corners with the plastic overlay to try and make things look as flush as possible. I've also thought about incorporating a vinyl/rubber trim around the fog blocks to try and smooth our their lines to the bumper. They are close to flush, but there are a few spots where the material was too thick to get it to contour to the bumper.

Originally Posted by vrmouseyd15b

I'd definitely go with the exposed bolts, that looks SICK! I'll show you my "ugly grill block" privately, no need to ugly up your thread

Thanks bro. Whatever, send me that grill block! I want to see it.

[OG VX]

Update 11/3/14: Front Air Dam Extension + LED Interior "Lighting Conversion"

It was a busy weekend full of fall fun for the family, but I did manage to get a couple of things knocked on this project. To complete the front bumper modifications and (hopefully) lower drag, I built a front air dam extension onto the OEM VX/Si front lip.

I started out with some of this stuff, which I got from Lowes. It was pricey, but I felt worth the extra $$ versus the flimsy plastic garden trim:




I used SS bolts and nylon nuts and washers to bolt everything up. I also drilled out recessed holes and flush-mounted bolt heads, to keep all of the bolts flush-mounted on the front side. I was pretty sick on my stomach when doing this project as I ate too much at a birthday party . As a result, below is the only process-pic I have from this project:





Basically, it entailed wrestling with the (curled up) composite trim and getting it to "un-roll" log enough to get succesfully bolted around the OEM lip. I used the existing mounting holes on the OEM lip as template to help me evenly space my new holes. I veered slightly on the outer-most corners, adding an extra screw, to help hold the shape/contour of that curve.

Ok, so here’s the finished results. I’ll be honest, I was grinning ear to ear when I bolted this up to the bumper.







I'm currently about 7.5" from the floor with this new air dam extension bolted up. That should give me room for a 2.5" drop later down the road, with about 4.5-5" of clearance at the front. Not great, but not terrible either. Definitely daily-drive able, I think.





..and here’s another picture of the fog covers, to give you an idea of how they make things flush with the bumper. No more recession on the fog holes.




I work a part-time job collecting waste from apartment complexes. So far, I've scored a fully functional vacuum (ours broke, so this was a huge blessing); a nice waste basket for the garage; some bulletin boards for the kids homeschooling; a 57" one-year old LED flat screen TV (needs $100 worth of repairs); and most recently, an awesome work bench/table that someone apparently did not need anymore. All that to say, my workspace just got a whole lot more awesome-er...




...and finally, sweet lil' update here. My LED Interior "conversion" came in. The VX only has one interior bulb, so the conversion was...rather simple

$1.57 on Ebay (shipped) from China. Took 3 weeks, but hey, at that price who can complain?

Old Stuff:





New Stuff:





Came with quality "M3M3M" tape, hahaha!

















More to come. As always, thanks for EcoTuning in!

[jedi_sol]

With the quality work you've done so far, I can't wait to see how you're underbelly tray and wheel skirts will turn out

[Daox]

Looks great. What exactly is the material you used?

[OG VX]

Thanks guys. Doax, the material used is a composite lawn edging that I picked up at Lowes. It's pictured in the post (first pic). Blue Hawk brand. Wasn't cheap, about $25 for a 25 ft. roll. Its very sturdy/thick, yet can easily be cut with a fine tooth saw. It drills/sands nicely as well. An additional bonus is the nice satin black, natural grain-type, finish that it comes with.

I still have plenty left. I may make side skirts to match. I just have to figure out how to get this material to lay perfectly flat first...

[Xist]

Your air dam looks fantastic! How well does it line up with your bumper? The lawn edging that I bought from Home Depot has flaps on each side. I cut off the edging right below the top one, but was not able to cut as straight as I wanted. I left the other flap to line up with the bottom of my bumper, but did not think to remove it for the corners, so it never fit very well. I used a heat ray and it improved somewhat, but then it started melting. I like my new one, but it still does not fit perfectly, and I am afraid to hit it with the ray gun again because I might make it worse.

[OG VX]

Originally Posted by jedi_sol

With the quality work you've done so far, I can't wait to see how you're underbelly tray and wheel skirts will turn out

Originally Posted by Xist

Your air dam looks fantastic! How well does it line up with your bumper? The lawn edging that I bought from Home Depot has flaps on each side. I cut off the edging right below the top one, but was not able to cut as straight as I wanted. I left the other flap to line up with the bottom of my bumper, but did not think to remove it for the corners, so it never fit very well. I used a heat ray and it improved somewhat, but then it started melting. I like my new one, but it still does not fit perfectly, and I am afraid to hit it with the ray gun again because I might make it worse.

Thanks so much fellas! Funny you mention that Jedi Sol. I just mailed a local politician earlier asking if (after tomorrow's election) he would donate a few of his MASSIVE (circa 4'x6') coroplast signs to me for my under-carraige. Ha! I even told him to consider using his signs to line the county police cars, if he indeed gets elected to Sheriff. Ahahahahaha! I crack myself up...

Fitment is actually pretty good on this, though certainly not store-bought perfect. I'm hoping the form will settle in a bit more on the corners over time/heat exposure, etc... But really, I'm quite happy with it, for an hour or so of elbow grease and some landscaping material. My personal favorite part about the outcome of this was...and this was strictly coincidence/me getting lucky...that the distance from the top of the black trim on the bumper to the beginning of the OEM VX lip is the exact same distance I decided to go down from the VX lip to the beginning of the lawn edging. It's about 1/4" for each, if you look in the pics. It's the mirror image of this measurement that I feel really ties in the design rather smoothly coming off of the bumper.

Here's some more pics. One side I did a decent job with the fitment in my cut as the bumper ends near the wheel-well (drivers side). The other side...missed it by about 1/8". Urggg. I didn't lose sleep over it last night, but I sure did think about it quite a few times!

[vrmouseyd15b]

Originally Posted by OG VX

Thanks bro. Whatever, send me that grill block! I want to see it.

Ok. You asked for it. disclaimer: this was real quick and dirty work. 20 minutes tops.

Enjoy:

[vrmouseyd15b]

Ha ha! Put that on top of the air dam, and that's almost an hour with paint.

You don't want me in your body shop, OG!

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by OG VX

Thanks guys. Doax, the material used is a composite lawn edging that I picked up at Lowes. It's pictured in the post (first pic). Blue Hawk brand. Wasn't cheap, about $25 for a 25 ft. roll. Its very sturdy/thick, yet can easily be cut with a fine tooth saw. It drills/sands nicely as well. An additional bonus is the nice satin black, natural grain-type, finish that it comes with.

I still have plenty left. I may make side skirts to match. I just have to figure out how to get this material to lay perfectly flat first...

Have you tried heating it up with a heat gun? Not sure if it would work for composite but, it worked on my plastic lawn edging (somewhat).

I love your work, please continue giving us updates!