Streamlining the Civic (2005 Civic EX coupe)

[Vman455]

I went with black for a few reasons--black was readily available, whereas factory matching color would have had to be ordered, and I thought it might look weird with the negative space of the stock grill and foglight hole covers turned red. I wasn't planning on extending the black that far out the sides, but I got carried away sanding. Plus, the black will match my eventual tail.

Originally Posted by Varn

Nice job Vman. How do you see out your side mirrors. Seems like there may be some safety issues. When I had an Illinois drivers license I was required to have outside mirrors. It is a fairly common restriction.

Do you have narrow mirrors in your flattish panels?

Nope, just some interior convex mirrors from Autozone. I can see just as well as with the stock mirrors, and Illinois only requires one mirror(!), "so located as to reflect to the driver a view of the highway for a distance of at least 200 feet to the rear of such motor vehicle." So, blocking the rear window would make the interior mirrors no-go, but as it sits it's legal (but not in Washington, where it's registered until the tabs expire later this year).

[NachtRitter]

Very nice work! Thank you for sharing

[TOOSTUBBORN2FAIL]

Looks good, did you do anything to the bumper to get the glass to adhere better? I almost did this back in 09, but the civic that did the foam/fiberglass bumper back then, he had problems with it cracking off of the bumper. The polyester resin doesnt stick to plastic very well. In the audio world, a lot of times, we'll drill a bunch of small holes through the plastic to get it to adhere better.

[Vman455]

Originally Posted by TOOSTUBBORN2FAIL

Looks good, did you do anything to the bumper to get the glass to adhere better? I almost did this back in 09, but the civic that did the foam/fiberglass bumper back then, he had problems with it cracking off of the bumper. The polyester resin doesnt stick to plastic very well. In the audio world, a lot of times, we'll drill a bunch of small holes through the plastic to get it to adhere better.

Actually, I used epoxy resin, which I understand has better adhesion properties than polyester resin to non-porous surfaces like plastics. I haven't had any problems so far (knock on wood).

[TOOSTUBBORN2FAIL]

You should be fine then, its rare people at home use epoxy resin. Not only should it adhere better, but its a little more flexible, so it should give a little more before breaking, in case anything hits it.

[Vman455]

Well, I haven't had time to build my tail, and I'm leaving Wednesday for New Jersey. I did get coroplast full pans on the front and rear of the car (with aluminum under the downpipe and catalytic converter in front after the plastic started melting!) and a couple panels in the middle to cover up the center tunnel. I'm also experimenting with 6 vortex generators on the rear window, after tuft testing without them, with 10, and then removing 4--they're keeping the flow attached now, but if they're having an effect on fuel economy, it's not significant enough to tell. I may try and fab up a temporary coroplast-and-tape box cavity tomorrow if I have time....

[3n3rgystar]

Looks slick, have a good trip!

[darcane]

Originally Posted by Vman455

Well, I haven't had time to build my tail, and I'm leaving Wednesday for New Jersey. I did get coroplast full pans on the front and rear of the car (with aluminum under the downpipe and catalytic converter in front after the plastic started melting!) and a couple panels in the middle to cover up the center tunnel. I'm also experimenting with 6 vortex generators on the rear window, after tuft testing without them, with 10, and then removing 4--they're keeping the flow attached now, but if they're having an effect on fuel economy, it's not significant enough to tell. I may try and fab up a temporary coroplast-and-tape box cavity tomorrow if I have time....

Any pictures of the belly pan?

I'm considering it on my '01 Civic, but not sure if it's worth the hassle.

[Vman455]

Originally Posted by darcane

Any pictures of the belly pan?

I'm considering it on my '01 Civic, but not sure if it's worth the hassle.

Once the weather warms up a little I can take some. I'm also planning on re-working the middle of the car with flat bar and more coroplast to make a smoother, full pan.

[RandomFact314]

Originally Posted by Vman455

And done! After removing the flashing, I filled the grill and lower fascia opening with expanding foam:





Cut off the excess with a kitchen knife:





Then fiberglassed:



After our hottest weekend of the year last week (97--and it's only in the 50s today), I noticed my temperature creeping up when the AC was running. So I made the radiator inlet slightly larger than what I had in the sheet metal:



Sanding:



Lots of sanding:



Painted:



And on the car!



I adhered to the 10-foot rule; it looks pretty good...from 10 feet away. If I have more time in the future I can go back and clean up some spots, but overall I'm happy with it for how much time I put in. And it looks much less conspicuous than the galvanized steel!

Wow, looks nice, time to photoshop my xA to see how it would look like that