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

[Chrysler kid]

Also could you not have made the Kamm back out of lllexan as well for better rear visibility, or even finish the spoiler to the bumper in lexan?

[Fat Charlie]

Oooh. Clear material with paint on the sides past the driver's field of view!

[OG VX]

All, thanks for the feedback and support. Some really great suggestions.

92CivicVX, I'll try to get a few more pics up of the rear diffuser asap.

For the headlights, agreed that the "JDM" black housing lamps would certainly carry forth the black/red theme a bit more. However, I like the OEM look as much as possible, and the black housing lamps were never standard OEM Honda pieces. Accords and Integras had the black housing lamps, but never the Civics. The b-house units are more of an Ebay adaption to what tuners were looking for. However, I feel adding the OEM bra just above the lamps, and adding the SiR-rep corners does spice that area up enough for my tastes.

I do have plans for smooth wheel caps in the near future. Clear Lexan, held on by M6 Stainless allen head bolts with black anodized washers, with 40% tint overlay added to the face of the cap, and some custom decals atop. I've been working through emails for about a month now, back and forth, to design multiple custom decals for the VX. The wheel caps will get one of those designs we've been working out. The hope is that the black tint will give the "black look" to the caps, but still have the OEM wheel shape and color visible underneath (thus, the 40% tint, and not something more aggresive).

As for the Lexan aero pieces, I chose to go with the metal for a few reasons. I believe the metal gives a bit more of a solid look and feel to the finish product, a bit more "OEM" looking, if that's possible. However, mainly, the metal is very rigid (20ga). The 20ga sheet ended up not needing any back bracing on the kammback and/or wheel skirts. I had hope this would be the case when purchasing the thicker/heavier metal, and indeed, I ended up not needing any back bracing. I knew that the Lexan would be both cheaper and lighter, as well as easier to cut and work with. However, I gathered that any potential benefits in visiblity gained by building the aero with the Lexan would be comprimised slightly with the back bracing that would un-doubtably be needed to assure stability at speed.

Guys, I appreciate the support and community here. I post up because I enjoy getting the feedback. It's lonely out there on the streets as an Ecomodder, and on some forums as well (not here!). I feel like I'm in the "gray" a good bit with this build. Like, I want it to have show car looks, but the build is based upon performance in terms of fuel efficiency, which is new and not as "cool" to most motor heads. So, for instance, my feedback on my posts over at Honda Tec is slim and few, and (mostly) mis-understood (however, the view count is very high, which I find interesting...). On this site, I definitely feel at home and welcomed, but I'm a bit more material minded than I am eco-performance minded, at times. Anyway, I'm still having a blast. Of all of my projects, this is BY FAR my favorite build yet

[BabyDiesel]

Originally Posted by OG VX

However, in the interim, I’m kinda liking this satin black. We’ll see...What do you guys think? Leave it black, or add some OEM Milano Red accents?

Until next update, thank YOU for EcoTuning In!

You should keep it black and red. That way you, donkey CRX, kaiba and myself will have a theme going... I'll just be the only non-VXer

[OG VX]

Hahaha! That's awesome brother. Maybe so. I didn't think I'd like the striaght black panels as much as I do. Part of it is a bit of "victory" in that I fought for 6 days through painting in humid conditions to get the somewhat smooth finish the panels now have. I delt with crazy amounts of "blushing" and am ashamed to admit how many attempts I made, cans I used, and evil thoughts that went through my head in the process, ha! I DID, however, learn a lot about painting versus humidity, due to some google searching, so that was a big win.

Long story short, I'm going to wait a couple of weeks to think the idea of Milano paint over, and I'll be letting the black paint cure fully in the interim. This way, it won't pull off when/if I place painters tape on it for a few days to get the Milano accents on...

[OG VX]

Originally Posted by Baltothewolf

Hey OG, there is a company that makes an attachment for spray cans for spray painting things, that essentially turns the can into a spray gun. Trigger and all. It's extremely nice and convenient. I don't recall the company name, but I have one at home and will get it for you later on today. It's only like 7$.

Found it, tbh it's cheaply made, but I went through 6 cans and it till isn't broken. It should attach to any spray paint can. Don't delay. I know you have 7$.
https://www.dipyourcar.com/Spray-Trigger.html

Hey, meant to respond to this one Baltothewolf, my bad.

I actually tried something similar from WalMart years ago. Long story short, thing dropped the can right atop of my (wet) project. Went into the trash can 2 miliseconds later, ha! Of course, that WAS the WalMart version. I shouldn't talk though. WalMart has sponsored half of my project...

Seriously though, how well does this one grip the can?

[OG VX]

Update 4/25/15: CF Vinyl Finishing Applied to Front-End Aero Pieces

I’m playing Mr. Mom this weekend, as the wife is away on a ladies retreat with her friends from church. In between “I miss mommy” exclamations, as well as a barrage of “Where is mommy?” and “When is mommy coming home?” inquiries, I did manage to get one important item done on the project this weekend.

The title of this post says it all. Here’s the progress pics.








....and “behind the fence at Disney World” :





The wiper cowl, being the longest piece, proved to be the most difficult to wrap. I read a trick about spraying the piece to be wrapped and the underside of the vinyl with a soapy water mix prior to mating them. This, in combo with a heat gun to help seal the vinyl and dry the water layer in-between, REALLY helped!





Since the back side of the wiper cowl is visible once installed, unlike the grille and fog blocks, I opted to trim a small 1/4” edge off the perimeter of the cowl, leaving the backside as plain black. I felt that trimming flat against the metal edge would, surely, have caused the vinyl to peel back over time. Coming in 1/4” from the edge assured I could press the material down securely. Also, I think/hope the satin black “stroke” surrounding the CF vinyl creates a unique look.





Thanks to my friend Victor (“vrmouseyd15b” from Ecomodder), I was able to crown the wiper cowl in ROYAL fashion!





I also added some vinyl trim to the bottom side of the wiper cowl, tying it in to the look of the rear-end aero, and also preventing scratching to the hood surface.





...and voila. The complete front-end set, all ready to mount.





Not pictured here was hot-gluing the black gutter guard to the rear of the grille block. This was the exact same process I used for my first grille block, which can be found in THIS POST.


To get all of these pieces installed, I will need to complete fabricating a set of re-vamped wiper cowl brackets (my last set wasn't clean enough), and then paint them as well as the grille block back-braces I built a couple of weeks back. Once that’s done, I can bolt them all up.

In eco-performance news, I attained 58.7 this past tank. From what i can tell so far, the new rear-end components appear to be netting (very roughly) a 3.5 mpg gain using 93 octane gas. Now, I’ve driven about 60 miles on a new tank of 89 grade E0 (ethanol free gas). So far, the gains are even larger with the ethanol-free gas. Appears about 5 miles per gallon.

I do plan to A-B-A test these mods in May, to confirm all of this, of course.

I’ll be back with more progress soon.

Until then, thank YOU for ecoTuning in!

[oldtamiyaphile]

Originally Posted by OG VX

I also added some vinyl trim to the bottom side of the wiper cowl, tying it in to the look of the rear-end aero, and also preventing scratching to the hood surface.

Looks really good. Just some advice, if you don't want your aero add ons marring the paint, put some tape on the paint first. Otherwise grit will find it's way under your seals and will leave marks. "Helicopter Tape" available on eBay is ideal, but relatively pricey. I use helicopter tape anywhere something touches paint.

[OG VX]

Cool, thanks for the advice. Didn't even know it existed!

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by OG VX

Hey, meant to respond to this one Baltothewolf, my bad.

I actually tried something similar from WalMart years ago. Long story short, thing dropped the can right atop of my (wet) project. Went into the trash can 2 miliseconds later, ha! Of course, that WAS the WalMart version. I shouldn't talk though. WalMart has sponsored half of my project...

Seriously though, how well does this one grip the can?

I have to rip the can off every time. I would give it a 8-9/10 on grip. I swung mine around walking into the house at one point and the can didn't come off haha. And no problem, I thought it got overlooked :P.