Woohoo !

[d0sitmatr]

started on my fog light cover/insert/delete today
this is stage 1, revision 2.0
revision 1.0 didnt work out quite how I expected, however I can save them if rev 2.0 doesnt work.
rev 1.0 was just putting my foil liner in, then filling the entire thing with expanding foam, which it did... a LOT, making them basically 2 times larger than where they are going to be placed, but that isnt such a bad thing as I can always trim down to fit it 2.0 doesnt work.

rev 2.0 is going to be 3-5 stages
stage 1 is the foil lined mold, with a coroplast brace in to help keep its form in the mold. the foil was tucked just a little behind the actual fog lamps, but not enough to catch when removed, more along the lines to help brace it once its all finished. in the image, you can see the forming, the brace and the foil lining.
basically just the inside outline here.
stage 2 will consist of filling in most of the center, but not fully, allowing some extra room for expansion of the foam. if the foam expands enough, I might be able to skip stage 3 and move to stage 4.
stage 4/3 will be bringing the foam out just past the edges to allow for trimming/smoothing, and filling in any possible gaps that may accrue from the expansion.

the final stage will just be covering the foam with a piece of coro or lexan (havent decided) and attaching holes/screws/clips to hold it in.
anyways, the foam Im using has a 24hr cure time, so I dont know how much more I will accomplish today, it really depends on both the cure time for such a small amount and the weather (have a t-storm coming in right now...)

so its going to be going for the final

[CigaR007]

Congrats on the new car. The Protege5 is a great platform.

[d0sitmatr]

Originally Posted by CigaR007

Congrats on the new car. The Protege5 is a great platform.

thanks, I love it, since getting the SG2 yesterday, Ive been able to really pay attention to my mileage, and have seen it hit 52mpg a couple of times, but it isnt consistent
I am a little disappointed by its gas mileage though, I was expecting at least 31mpg "out of the box" so to speak, and the only way Ive been able to achieve that is by using some hypermiling techniques, which means being able to reach my goal of 40mpg isnt going to be easy, not at all. the sad thing is that Im actually getting better mpg at the moment driving in the city than on the hwy, by really watching my acceleration and braking patterns, Im averaging about 32-33 in the city, but my hwy (@ 60-65mph) is a measly 29-30mpg at best.

found my answer in regards to swapping the 626 trans, it is a straight swap, but I have to use a 4 cyl trans, the 6cyl (which has the tallest gearing of the G-series trans) wont swap, all I can use from it is the 5th gear, which is a "plug n play" situation, thankfully

anyways, onto my current project, and up to stg 2

filled in the center and brought it out some, to the point of only needing some "filler" to bring it out beyond the edge for trimming, and wont be able to skip to stage 4, so it really will be a 5 stage project
however, nothing more will be accomplished for the rest of the day as this stuff (latex based polyurethane foam) literally takes forever to cure.
so tomorrow will be my next update, but at least its coming along nicely and should allow me to produce a fairly seamless transition.

[CigaR007]

I wouldn't worry too much about those preliminary MPG values. New car, new strategies and new discoveries in terms of efficiency. You're on the right track judging from those mods.

[d0sitmatr]

meh
rev 2.0 is a complete failure...
this stuff turns to dust when it cures, maybe I got a bad can of the product or something as it is supposed to be stronger than normal expanding foam once cured. but I cant see this stuff stiffening after a 24 hr mark considering its completely dry now. but I will wait a few more hours just to be on the safe side before scrapping it and moving back to rev 1.1 (trimming down my first attempt to fit)

anyways, what a disappointment to wake up to this morning.

[California98Civic]

Hey, I liked the silver screen grill blocks... you took them off for heat? I missed something in these pages? It looked cool. I'd love to see you test it ABA against the stock grill... would settle that old debate.

[d0sitmatr]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

Hey, I liked the silver screen grill blocks... you took them off for heat? I missed something in these pages? It looked cool. I'd love to see you test it ABA against the stock grill... would settle that old debate.

just painted the lower one black as the paint I had previously started flaking off
my guess is there is too much vibration for it
anyways, I sprayed it with the plasdip rubberized paint.
the upper is still the silver metallic that matched the car, but yes, due to heat I had to remove that one.
once it cools down, probably not until winter, I will do a full ABA test, with both off, then top on/bottom off, then bottom on/top off and then both on. I could probably do it now, but its just too darn hot outside
I also have a great road near me for it, has a good start incline of maybe 10 degrees for 1/4 mile, then 3 miles of completely straight, flat road, with very little/no traffic.

onto rev 3.0, stage 1
using the same technique as rev 2.0 but using the foam from 1.0 and going in layers, did my first outline of both the inside and the outer edge.
once that cures (maybe an hour) I will fill in the gap for the outside edge, which would still be basically stage 1.
stage 2 will consist of 2 fills.
one inner, let cure for an hour, then 1 outer to bring to the edge.
stage 3 will consist of trimming/sanding to smooth it out and match it to the edge I want to keep.
stage 4 will be attaching the colorplast cover and then attaching the entire thing to the bumper. Ive already invested in some sheathed galvanized wire for attaching the grill blocks, so all I really need to do is run that through the foaming and to the backside of the bumper cover.

all in all, Im hoping, even without rushing it, to be done today, at the latest tomorrow morning.

[A.J.]

Congratulations on the new car! From experience, it's definitely a fun car but the 2.0 engine is underpowered at low rpm and highway rpm is sky high. Good luck trying to reach 40 mpg highway.

[Bill in Houston]

Mike, I wonder if regular Great Stuff foam from a can would do what you need? It seems to set pretty hard and strong.

[d0sitmatr]

Originally Posted by A.J.

Congratulations on the new car! From experience, it's definitely a fun car but the 2.0 engine is underpowered at low rpm and highway rpm is sky high. Good luck trying to reach 40 mpg highway.

they are extremely high, 3300/3400 @ 70mph, which is our freeway speeds.
Ive done some research and there are 2 different gear types I can use, as mentioned above the 5th gear from the 6 cyl 626 is a straight swap, and I wouldnt even need to drop the trans or anything, its reachable from the top part of the trans.
but there is also a diesel trans available in Europe that is a straight swap that has significantly taller gears, someone on the mazda247 forums just bought one for $550.0 delivered !
once installed his hwy rpms should drop into the range of 2800 @ 70.
to me, that seems to be a viable option as I can imagine it would pay for itself within a year (heck, Ive already saved $34 above estimated fuel costs with simple hyperminling techniques)

Originally Posted by Bill in Houston

Mike, I wonder if regular Great Stuff foam from a can would do what you need? It seems to set pretty hard and strong.

thats exactly what Im using now Bill
the other stuff was dextek or something like that. supposed to be more dense in its application, but what ive found is it simply turns to dust upon any contact. which is what makes me think maybe I got a bad can of it.
but even so, Im happy with the foam Im using now as it cures very solid and will allow exactly what Im hoping to achieve.

I have a little delay as we have a pretty heavy t-storm right now, so it looks like tomorrow is going to be the finish date. I was able to complete the outer edges so the entire "framework" part is complete, now all that is left is filling it in.

and with luck, I can also use these as a mold for making fiberglass caps, and then sell them on the mazda protege forums