Vibe mods: One man's quest to better 40mpg.

[i_am_socket]

Very clever idea. I'm going to have to get modding to keep up

[FunkSkunk]

Where's the teeth!? lol

[BrianAbington]

My wife, sister in law and I took the train from chi town to indiana a couple days before christmas this last year when our flights were cancled.

It was actualy pretty nice, and suprisingly quiet inside.

[Tango Charlie]

Yup, the El is not a bad way to travel. It really moves when the stops aren't too close together. I was surprised how quickly the trees were flashing by during a couple stretches. If there weren't a dozen stops between South Bend and Chicago, it would be a very quick trip.

Glad you like the ghetto coat hanger, Daox. I had bought a chunk of sheet steel that I was gonna hack up to fit in there, but thought I'd wait a couple days to see if inspiration struck.
It did.
Duh, use a coat hanger, Einstein. Some days it takes me awhile. I often find it difficult to remember the KISS principle in my designs.

FS, sorry no teeth. Olivia's a lover, not a fighter.

[superchow]

Looks like lowering the car should not affect your tire clearance... not so on my 07 Civic. I envy your wife's tolerance. My wife demands as much of a stock look as possible and also reveribility - in case we re-sell. Looking forward to your humorous progress reports!

[mwpiper]

The Ford Escape also has a very short rear bumper that will make fairing in rear wheel skirts a challenge. My first thought was rather than try to blend into the back of the wheel well, fair it all the way back to the end of the bumper. Although you have more bumper than the Escape does, a blunt round rear end can be counterproductive. Option 2 is to treat the wheel skirt as the end of the car. It can be flush (hee, hee. He said flush, too) with the body until about 45 degrees past vertical. Then just let the skirt separate and end square, not trying to blend into the bumper which would actually take a lot of sculpting. It would be simpler, and it may actually be aerodynamically cleaner to have the air separate abruptly.

[knowbodies]

Originally Posted by Tango Charlie

Here's a shot of the sun visor extension I mentioned earlier.



It works well, except that it tends to obscure the rear view mirror when flipped down in the normal position. I typically only use it swung over to the side for the late afternoon sun on the way home from work.

The visor on my Matrix slides rearward to cover the gap when blocking the side window. Is this different on the Vibe?

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi,

I made acrylic covers for my fog lights -- I made extensive use of the little abrasive cylinder on my Black & Decker rotary tool. Now, I just need to figure a way to hold them in place that looks better -- maybe clear silicon?

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...html#post43159

I like your grill block; it looks quite nice. Compared to mine (I'm now using Gorilla Tape) especially, yours is smooth and clean.

[Tango Charlie]

Hi, knowbodies, welcome to ecomodder!
No, the visor doesn't slide. I wish it did. It hits the RV mirror when flipped down, but works good to the side, which was the purpose of the extension.

Thanks, Neil. I was thinking silicone, too. It's pretty good at keeping things stuck together, and its flexibility would be a benefit as well.

Currently I'm experimenting with some Lexan that dentprone was kind enough to send me. It's really thick. Like quarter inch thick. If I'm successful, I'll have bullet-proof fog lights!

Let me put the kids to bed, then I'll post some pics.

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi Charlie,

I got the 1/8" (7/64"?) stuff from the local hardware store. It is pretty inexpensive, and great for this size. I tried it on my wheel skirts, and it was a no go really -- too brittle, too heavy, and not stiff enough. But for fog light covers, it is great.

I think that I will try silicon.