Terrible mpg's = new interest in old ideas.

[mhmitszach]

Originally Posted by Tygen1

Bummer to hear about the rear skirts. I was thinking of doing under car aero work before attempting skirts. It's a difficult mental barrier to over come, putting a skirt on my car

Got a new bolt for the coolant heater, I'll give it another attempt this weekend. There's no way to tell the impact of the heating pads because of volitile weather and such, but it ought to be a possitive gain. They only cost 10 bucks each with free shipping, it was a deal I couldn't pass up, and they are super easy to install, unlike the block heater. It would have been better to get the Ford block heater......

Are you ready for the ZX2 vs. ZX2 summer time mpg challenge I'm gearing up for some big numbers

I'm thinking up new ways to make side skirts. Still have wheel covers to attempt. I never did the air dam either...

I'm kinda fearing you'll out do me. Haha.

[Tygen1]

Don't worry too much, I'm mostly just talking a big game Truth is I got a baby on the way, due in April, a home addition that has been sitting all winter waiting for good weather to finish, so I'll be real busy with everything but Ecomodding this spring/summer. Maybe in the fall I can pick up some stuff. I'll just be refining my driving and such. However I do have a Scangauge in the budget, and some light wieght wheels. I'd like to do some undertrays, front and rear, but that might have to wait till fall.

I did get the freeze plug heater in and it doesn't seem to be leaking, so tommarow morning will be it's first try..... I've been noticing a clunking on my front drivers side strut, so I inspected it and it's leaking oil, so it's on it's way out. I'll have to start saving for some struts I guess

[mhmitszach]

I'm envious of your heaters. I regret not installing one this winter.

Got new side skirts figured out. Dad has the "hook up" at his old work. So he can get aluminum pieces cut on a water jet. Then (try) epoxy or similar resin to attach apprx 5 brackets to screw aluminum skirts into.

Should I make aluminum bigger so its flush with outside of car. Or have it actual size so it sits inside of wheel well?

I'll probably have aluminum cut for grill block too!

Btw. Your car has been around a bit more mileage wise than mine. But do you have any rust forming on the bottom of the wheel wells towards the front of the car?

[Tygen1]

No rust yet, fingers crossed....
Cutting the grill block out of AL might be difficult, not the cutting, but the bending to get it to fit nice. The lexan I used was just about right, nice and flexy and just the right thickness.
The only other ZX2 rear skirts I've read about used a plastic tube around the perimeter of the wheel well, just screwed right into the metal. Then he just screwed his plastic skirts into the plastic tube, easy to remove if you get a flat. He had them overlaping to get better transitions.
With all three heaters running for two hours prior to start up this morning, it reached full temp by a mile and half, which is about 2.5 miles quicker than normal. The ambient temp this morning was 40 and the coolant temp needle was right on the "C". Any idea what temp that represents, maybe your scangauge could help out?
I was hoping this tank would cross 40mpg with this next tank, but a bunch of errands this weekend have ruined my hopes.....maybe?

[mhmitszach]

I can't really be to critical of rust as I've only had this car the last 17k miles of its 122k mile life.

I'm have a serious problem with the trunk. Water is sitting underneath the spare tire. Lots of rust. Just took out the rubber plus so water stays drained out, but now that means water can get in easier.

The C is maybe 160. Middle is 200-220. It's a joke of a guage. I thought it was broke the first 3 months I owned my car. Winter weather never got it warmed up before.

Well, I can get really thin aluminum. I liked moorecomps grill block. http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-mo...rill-block.jpg

Yeah, I saw COZX2s like that. Can't remember whos , saturn?, i saw that used aluminum. It looked nice though.

So you say outside wheel well ? I was thinking outside of well so there is no seam.

Yep, Errands, short trips. I'd be getting at least 35 if it were for all the run around trips.

[Tygen1]

ZX2's are pretty durable because they are the last of the Escorts, a pretty well developed car by the time the ZX2 was made.
Water in spare tire well is a common problem, I starting to have issues with that. From what I understand, the common leaks are around the antena, the rubber seal against the trunk lid, or the windows. One guy, I read about, striped his trunk then sprayed the outside with a garden hose, on all the areas that could leak, then popped the trunk to see where water was seeping in. He found three leaks and easily fixed them with silicone.
I'm a little disappointed with this tank so far. Maybe the three short trips, adding up to 45 miles hurt the mpg's more than I thought. So far the gas gauge would lead me to believe there is no change, on track for 37-38mpg as normal. Although the warm up again this moring in 40 degree ambient temps, was also 1.5miles with minimal idle time before putting in gear. The big change I noticed is that it imeditatly settles into a normal 750rpm idle, rather than going up to 1200+ rpm for a little bit like normal. The motor sounds and feels "warm". I'm pleased with it, but still waiting for good results.
"C" is 160, I was thinking more like 90, are you sure? Even in the coldest of weather, I never had a problem getting up to full temp, maybe there is something wrong with your cooling system....

[mhmitszach]

I'll have to check my trunk that way.

I'll get back to you about temp guage but I'm positive it's more than 90. At minimum it's 120.

Well, I dont have that problem now. It was last winter. Before I fixed radiator leak, before I had a grill block, before I quit using defrost vent (which dumps temps from 210 to 170 in about 1 minute).

[mhmitszach]

Hey, how much did you pay for that lexan for the grill block?

Quick mock up of template for skirts.

I have it scaled in photoshop, so I can draw up a template with the cad cutter.

This is the "slightly" bigger than wheel well mock up. Do you think that will be able to bend flush with the car? Or should I go less? Don't forget back of wheel well has a curve so it'd be impossible to put it there. I think this way will work better, because I won't have to curve aluminum nearly as much to avoid wheel rubbing.

[Tygen1]

Your photoshop Skirt looks good. That's what I would be going after also. Make sure to leave plenty of extra material around the edges because as you bend metel, you will loose some length. Also make sure to have plenty of extra near the bottom because the fender bends in and you will want more material to help smooth the transition. I would discourage using aluminum, only because it is difficult to do compound bends and make it look nice, ie. without wrinkles.
The lexan was $75 for a large sheet. I used it to make a window for a pickup, that way it wouldn't break again. So I just used some left over. It is expensive, but works real nice.

[mhmitszach]

I'm going to try getting lexan for grill block hopefully.

Man. I just cannot figure out how you attached that air dam. I found a piece of yard trimming in the yard. Doesn't look as pretty as new stuff, but it beats spending 12 bucks on a roll of it. There are only 2 holes on the bumper to begin with.

Did you use zip ties and drill holes?