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

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

I spent a hour this morning reading through this thread, apologies for not following it more closely. What I particularly appreciate is the attention to detail and a quality finished product in every respect.

You are the type of person who will succeed in life, with standards that surpass the "it's good enough" rationale in every respect.

I'll freely admit when I saw the "JDM styling" part of your thread title, I visualized one of those radical aero kits that I see on what's left of the "riced out" remains of Honda's of that era in the eastern Virginia area. Few of those left show any kind of appreciation for the quality of your build.

My only advice would be to avoid situations where you allow any other driver to destroy your gorgeous VX due to their (other drivers) total negligence of any consideration for other drivers. Keep a very close watch on your "6 oclock" position when on the highway.
It would truly be a crime to see this piece of automotive art destroyed. Personally I would want to rip off the arms of the offender and beat them to death with their former extremities.

deejaa's video of being rear ended by a tractor trailer came into mind when you posted about being tailgated by big rigs. Driving to Richmond yesterday in my wife's Sorento I had the cruise set on 78 MPH. 80 is wreckless in Va and I was still being passed regularly by traffic. I heard a motorcycle engine and looked in my rear view mirror to see a bike 6 feet behind my right tail lamp! Told the wife to look in her mirror. The bike rider was one brake application (by me) away from death and some people would be startled by his actions and hit the brakes, smearing him all over the highway.

Stay safe, even if it means a couple of MPG. Driving with a single purpose, fuel mileage, should NOT mean allowing a idiot to injure or kill you, and the early 90s lightweights don't stand a chance with the 5k+ monsters people drive like idiots on todays highways.
While it certainly is your right to drive slower than the flow of traffic, you can bet the irresponsible idiot that destroys your "Picasso" and possibly injures yourself or anyone else, will not have the financial capability to ever compensate you for the damage done.

regards
mech

+1 For sure. I tend to drive slower I my Mustang than I do in my insight due to this sort of thing. I have backed my Mustang into a pole 3 times so far and only scratched the paint a little bit, where as the insight I'm sure it would Crack the bumper. After how bad that 1991 F-150 messed me up, I don't even test with the newer models that weigh 2-3x as much.

[vrmouseyd15b]

Very well spoken, mech!

[user removed]

Originally Posted by OG VX

I found that interesting as well. I'm just trying to stay alive, mainly, ha!

I'm also trying to spread the word about hypermiling, and the benefits of driving...with control.

Ignorance abounds on the "internets", unfortunately.

I can speak from personal experience. Ignorance, jealousy, and all the others
had an almost infinite amount of time to malignate themselves on us before the internet existed.

Showing others that you can get fantastic mileage and look fine simultaneously, in the age of deception, and the internet only makes it more insulating to the insulter, will go a long way to show the uninformed that they can have their cake and eat it too.

Toss a chart on the hatch showing what it costs to drive your car a mile versus theirs, then multiply it by 100,000 or 2 or even 300,000 miles. You're at about 4 cents a mile. They could be at 30 cents a mile.

Get them to think about 30,000 gallons at $3 a gallon. Now your talking about a house you basically got for free.

regards
mech

[California98Civic]

Yes! I still have the original dealer-supplied keys as well. I even have the "valet" key. Hahaha! Nice sidemarkers.

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

Yes! I still have the original dealer-supplied keys as well. I even have the "valet" key. Hahaha! Nice sidemarkers.

I drive with the valet key haha. I didn't even know I was until I met up with Scott from IC a couple weeks ago, he was like 'Why are you driving with the valet key?'. I was like 'Huh?' so he explained it to me lol.

[samwichse]

Ah, you have the gray key for your insight?

Had that for my first one, found out the only difference is it doesn't open the hatch. Booooring.

[user removed]

Originally Posted by samwichse

Ah, you have the gray key for your insight?

Had that for my first one, found out the only difference is it doesn't open the hatch. Booooring.

It should also not open the glove box.

regards
mech

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

It should also not open the glove box.

regards
mech

Correct, no glove box of trunk.

[OG VX]

All, thanks for the kind words and feedback. Old Mechanic, thanks for taking the time to read through and I appreciate your encouragement. I drive as defensively as possible, and the sign is helping with that. All of that said, my life may have been spared this morning. I stopped at an intersection and turned off my engine. The light started to turn yellow for the other direction. So, like always, I started up my engine so it would be good to go by the time my light turned green. We'll, it started but then puttered out. Not by my own doing, it just doesn't move to a good idle and wants to die out if I don't give it an extra touch of gas. We'll this time, I didn't and it died. The light was now green for several seconds, and I turned the ignitition to re-fire the car up. All to the dismay of a few angered cars behind me. Nice! We'll, as I started to get the car in motion and move forward, a text-driver ran about 50 through the interstate, about 5 feet in front of me. I'm confident he would have creamed me had I not turned the engine off at the intersection to save some fuel. Yikes. Scary moment. Sad thing, I don't think he even realized what happened. I watch him pitter with his phone for another mile up the road. I was trying to get his attention to let him know what accident he nearly caused. I'm blessed to still be typing this. I'll look both directions, always, from now on. Even on MY green...that has been green for several seconds.

[OG VX]

Update 11/10/2014: Side Skirt Extensions

Hello all. After completing the front air dam in composite lawn edging, I had just enough material left to make some side skirts as well. Later, these will be used to bolt the undercarriage paneling up to.

Composite lawn edging is a strong and very durable material. I think it also has a neat appearance. But Iv'e found it a difficult material to work with and set into place, since it comes curled up and likes to stay that way...

In case anyone is wondering, here is the process I used to complete this project:

1. Un-roll and clamp composite edging to table. Cut to size (I measured 73” for the EG Chassis side skirts)
2. Pre-drill mounting holes every foot, about .5” down from the top of the edging.
3. Let sit in the sun/heat. Use a heat gun to further relax if needed.
4. Wait 4-5 hours.
5. Flip material over and re-clamp.
6. Overlay a shop rag (to serve as a buffer to protect the material from melting) and steam iron the strips to further straighten.
7. Drill small hole about ¾” from the top of OEM skirt. I found this the right length down to cause the extensions to lay flat. The OEM skirt is curved, and this length creates the correct angle.
8. Bolt up first hole from extension onto OEM skirt, using self-tapping flush mount screws.
9. Line up hole just beside this one; drill and mount that one as well.
10. Pull material to other end of OEM skirt. Bolt up here also.
11. Continue to bolt up all other pre-drilled holes in the extension (pre-drilled from earlier, measured every foot)
12. “Eye-Up” and drill holes in between each previously drilled/mounted hole. You should now have holes drilled/mounted evenly every 6”, for a uniform look.
13. Finish up by drilling an extra hole at each end, about 2” in from the current ending hole. The material likes to curl-up/bow at the edges, so the extra screw is necessary for strength/support.

Finished Pics:

















Thanks for EcoTuning in!