Some questions about building materials
 

Hello all,

I hope that this is the right place to post this.

So I drew and did some photochops last night, and I have an idea of what aeromods I want to start doing. So today when I got out of work I stopped by Home Depot, and confused the sales people sufficiently. :D

Anyway, I bought some Styrofoam panels to make my grille blocks (and maybe eventually Kammback). Now the paint on the front of my Camry has issues, so I thought that maybe once I got the placement of everything down right, I could bondo everything and paint it.

Does anyone have any thoughts on styrofoam with bondo? If so, that would be helpful; if not I'll experiment and then we'll know. I know that EM won't let me post photos until I hit 10 posts, but once I do I'll show you guys what I'm working with.

Thanks a bunch!

-Joe

I'm in the same spot.

I can do the designs easy enough it's just get the right building materials without spending a bunch of money that wouldn't make the mods justifiable in the first place.

Well, I'm gonna try giving it a start in the morning. I've given myself a budget of $100. (Excluding paint, seeing as I need to fo that anyway.) So far I've spent $26.74

Styrofoam and Gorilla Glue. :D

Now the real question is do I count tools in the budget, or as an investment?
(I've been needing a Dremel for years, and this project is going to push it...)

Mix some bondo in a stryofoam cup. I think you will find that the two materials an incompatible. There was an earlier discussion of materials here on this site, but I don't have the immediate link. Do a search.

On grill blocks, you don't want to do anything to make them permanent. Most folks have to remove all or part of their grill blocks in hot weather.

Though the following link does not address materials directly, there were several posts which did have valuable information on materials:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ght-12153.html

Coroplast is a very nice "sheet" type material. It is the corregated plastic used for signs. If you can find some old political signs you might FINALLY put them to good use ;-) Also, cardboard can be used for short term experiments.

I like the cup idea, that's really brilliant. I'm checking the link now, so thank you for that.

Quick question though, I remember reading through the AeroCivic thread, and he had a small opening on a line to open and close it and need be. You said that most people remove their grille blocks in warm weather. Is completely necessary to remove all of them, or just a small opening?

(As I'm typing this I'm thinking, why don't I jut try it and watch my temp gauge... But seeing as I've already typed the question I'll ask anyway :p)

Here's one data point for you.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1275058668

I fully blocked my upper grille with fiberglass and epoxy resin laid up over pink styrofoam insulation. The lower grille block is just fiberglass wetted out and laid up over the bumper, with no mold. My license plate is a movable aerodynamic device.

In this picture, the plate is in its winter position. It's good up to around 85°F on flat land at 60mph, or long gradual hills at 74mph and 65°F.

I moved the license plate to the passenger side of the bumper, exposing another 0.5 ft² of grille, and I haven't had overheating issues yet, not even on a fast interstate trip on a 90°F day.

Do keep an eye on your coolant temperature, though. A radiator fan won't save you when you're going 74mph. In fact, it doesn't really do much at all when you're going that fast.

Robert, is there any way to fix that hood? Jeez man, that gap on the passenger side light looks like a gaping hole to me...

Awesome work! Thanks for the inspiration! Today I'm making molds out of formboard, but I think that I'll try the pink installation now that I know it'll work! :)

Just remember that Robert used Fiberglass to give it some durability... I don't know how long you could stand the shame of driving around with pink styro sticking out of your grill... :D

Yeah, it's pretty bad aero. That's an old picture, with the fiberglass parts in gray primer.

Before I drove to Indiana, a buddy and I took a whack at it with a 2x4 and a rubber mallet, but it still needs more. I'd also like to move the driver's side headlight forward a half inch before I make major adjustments to the rest of it.

One big mistake I made: I didn't notice the "design language" of the bumper before I started sanding the upper grille block. Honda has the headlights set a few inches back from the bumper, and the grille block should have started back there. That's why mine ended up with a discontinuity to the left and right of the upper grille.

Fiberglass is a great material. It's lightweight, fairly easy to work with, weatherproof, and paintable. If you can get it smooth, and avoid any lumps or ridges where the fiberglass ends, you can make it look like it was meant to be there.

The cheaper / more common polyester resin eats styrofoam. I chose epoxy resin from USComposites.com.

Well the car is purple, so it would kinda match! :D
No, what I'm excited about is the fact that fiberglass will work with the insulation.

So, what I've done is make foamboard templates of what I want filled. Seeing has the front bumper needs some body work anyway, when the time comes I'll put my foamboard cutouts in place, and use the epoxy to fill in the gaps. Then bondo smooth, and paint.

Now, this is slightly off topic, but since I'm posting anyway...

If what I'm making is going to be permanent, I have to have a way to get some airflow. I've made a grille induction (similar to the one on the JDM EVO VIII). This leads right into the back of the radiator.

I want the forums opinion on this part before I do it...

While I was looking at the car today, I realized that that the Low-Beam in the driver's side headlight sits right in front of the intake. I don't think that it would be too expensive to pick up a new headlight. So I thought that I could open up that part of the light into a funnel ram-air. This may solve my (potential) over heating issue.
Thoughts? Suggestions?

(I think that this is my 10th post, so if it lets me, I'll post pictures to show what I'm doing).

Another post that may help with the foam/fiberglass work....

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...els-10638.html

Jim.

Bondo is just polyester resin as used for fiberglass with fillers pre-mixed in. It eats styrfoam. For bonding foam to metal, with gaps, use aerosol foam "caulking." Very sticky on a clean surface.

Excellent! Very helpful, and inspirational!
Great work!


Hmm.. well I guess that gives me the options of,
using the foamboard as a template
or
learning how to use the aerosol.

Is the aerosol able to be sanding and painted?

Thanks again guys!

Got pics?

I'm not sure if that question is posed to me, or to someone else.

But, if it's to me, then yes.

I'm in a rush out the door (or I would post them here too) but here's a link to my thread with pictures.