Mounting Coroplast for a Grill Block

[SVOboy]

Now, I'm going to pull my bumper today so I can respray the black portion of it to make it look spiffy, and I picking I'll grill it up as well. What do people usually use to mount the block on there? Is there anything that perhaps will not require mutilating my bumper?

[MetroMPG]

No mutilation, eh? Dan used screws on the Del Camino. Looks like basjoos siliconed his on :)

I ended up making a kind of bra for mine to avoid that same vexing issue.

[SVOboy]

I've never seen pictures of your bra, but I'm prollygoing to hot glue or something. I imagine it'll peel off...

[MetroMPG]

I just made it recently. It's not totally finished. When it is, I'll post some.

It's just a rectangle of black vinyl-ish material with a couple of square holes to let the air through where I want it. Works for me since my car's black. Keeps the bugs & stones off the paint too, I guess.

[lovemysan]

I made a piece of angled sheet metal and attached that to the bumper skin from the underside. I then screwed the coroplast to the angle pieces. For the bottom I used mastic tape. Mastic tape is a roofing product its sticky and stays malible, kind of like silly putty but stickier. Its also sold under the brand "tacky tape".

By doing it this way when I remove the block no screw holes will be visible.

[SVOboy]

I've figured out how I'll do it. Was about halfway through when I punctured my knee with the knife and went to the doctor's. I'll finish up tonight when I can walk around and stuff, :)

[lovemysan]

I've figured out how I'll do it. Was about halfway through when I punctured my knee with the knife and went to the doctor's. I'll finish up tonight when I can walk around and stuff, :)

Got any pics of this? You know we want to see.

[SVOboy]

Nah, that's okee. If you want to enjoy some good pain you can stab yourself.

[Ryland]

I attached my plastic grill block on with zip ties, and black pollyurithane roofing calk, the little bits are 100% held on with roofing calk, and the larger one is zip ties with roofing calk to make it look seamless, I caught a co-worker looking at it one day, baffled at how good it looked.

[Compaq888]

I still have to do the aero mods on my civic.:(

It will take hours to make a belly pan and the grill block.:mad:

[Kraig]

SVOBoy,
I knew a guy that was putting a shift kit in his C4 tranny and drilled a hole in his leg while drilling out a hole in the valve body separator plate :eek: He was in to big a hurry to go in his shed and use his work bench. Are you two related?

[Sean88]

I used the technique as outlined is this post.

http://www.gassavers.org/showthread.php?t=701

I had to drill small holes in the grill slats but the drywall screws seem to be secure. See the following link for pics.

http://servercage.com/wordpress/?cat=7

I cut the hole in front of the radiator ~3.5" x 4". I recently went through some hilly terain in VT and experienced some level of overheating. I had to put the heater on going up the longer hills. I might open it up a bt more but the temps are getting cooler around here.

Sean

[lovemysan]

Nah, that's okee. If you want to enjoy some good pain you can stab yourself.

Okay I'll let you suffer in piece. Would you want to see the pic of my arm that I burned a month ago. I lifted a walk behind blower into the truck and casual wrapped my arm around the muffler. On the inside of my elbow.

Of course I'm kidding. :)

[SVOboy]

Haha, go muffler burns. I took off part of my finger print the other day with one, :p

Pictures pretty soon!

[SVOboy]

Awful.

[MetroMPG]

Bras peeling off- is that a bad thing? :D

The first bra joke took a lot longer to materialize than I thought! :)

Maybe I should have called it the "bro"... or what's the name they used in that Sienfeld episode?

[SVOboy]

Manzier.

[SVOboy]

http://xs205.xs.to/xs205/06335/DSC00464.JPG (http://xs.to)
http://xs205.xs.to/xs205/06335/DSC00465.JPG (http://xs.to)
http://xs205.xs.to/xs205/06335/DSC00466.JPG (http://xs.to)
http://xs205.xs.to/xs205/06335/DSC00467.JPG (http://xs.to)
http://xs205.xs.to/xs205/06335/DSC00469.JPG (http://xs.to)
http://xs205.xs.to/xs205/06335/DSC00470.JPG (http://xs.to)
http://xs205.xs.to/xs205/06335/DSC00473.JPG (http://xs.to)

Ready for pizzaint.

[kickflipjr]

Looks good.

[SVOboy]

Thankee. I repainted a tiny part of my trim for practice and it looks lovely. Car will look brand new when I'm done, :p

[Sean88]

Excellent. How did you attach the foam and Coroplast?

[zpiloto]

Looking good! Are you going to make a section that you plug the hole in the winter time?

[SVOboy]

The foam was just to mock up more easily, but as you can see in the 5th photograph I put little wedges down in the two holes and glued those to the sides, then the coroplast to the top.

For the center part it just kinda rested and I glued from the back.

[SVOboy]

Looking good! Are you going to make a section that you plug the hole in the winter time?
The hole will mostly be covered by license plate anyway, :p

[SVOboy]

Bling:

http://xs305.xs.to/xs305/06341/DSC00490.JPG (http://xs.to)
http://xs305.xs.to/xs305/06341/DSC00492.JPG (http://xs.to)

[AmmoCatcher]

Sweet! I am looking to do the same to my del Sol. I can't wait to see your mileage delta from this mod.

Very nice work!

[SVOboy]

I'm not even sure if I'll be driving the car, :p, though I'd love to see a change!

Have you seen dan's grill block on the old del sol?

[SVOboy]

www.crxmpg.com/grillblock.html for the full write up. Won't post it in the diy section here since it's been covered enough, unless someone wants me too. (Besides, we already have this thread.)

[Jack]

Bumper is in my garage. Pick up my coroplast (corigated plastic as per the sign shop) tomorrow for $11.22 for the 4 x 8 sheet. Hope to have mine on this weekend. I am thinking of putting in no holes. Has anyone gone no holes?

[MetroMPG]

Your coroplast is cheaper than my coroplast

Just picked up another sheet for my undertray for $18 + tax. :(

And I'm going to have lots left over. I could have bought a bunch of little scraps and knitted them together into a patchwork, but decided to just do it big.

[Jack]

Just got 'er done. Got my foglights installed at the same time however I didnt yet wire those to the switch due to some problems getting the wire into the cabin.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/JackMiller/VXfogs001.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/JackMiller/VXfogs002.jpg

Yes I know it looks like crap zip-tied on but I am more for function than looks anyway.

[UfoTofU]

I plan to do this as soon as I can find some coroplast.

I have an 88 CRX and the front end looks nearly the same as Ben's over on his writeup :

http://crxmpg.com/grillblock.html

You can see from the pictures of his front bumber that Ben's intake space is divided into 3 horizontal sections. He covered his by leaving a square opening in the middle.

Mine is divided into two spaces :

http://xs106.xs.to/xs106/06366/DSC01187.JPG.xs.jpg (http://xs.to/xs.php?h=xs106&d=06366&f=DSC01187.JPG)

The red outlined portion is the area that I would like to block off rather than leave a square opening in the middle. I think it will look a bit cleaner. My radiator spans the whole width of the intake area and I would effectively be blocking off roughly half of the area.

I live in Maine and it's been average about 65 or so during the day and dropping to the forties at night. I have a 21 mile commute but never get up over 3k RPMs and usually cruise at 55 MPH @ 2.5k RPMs (I have an automatic). The temp gauge on my dash always reads at 1/3 of the way up. Do you guys think that it woudl be OK to do this?

Any comments or suggestions will be appreciated.

[Jack]

I plan to do this as soon as I can find some coroplast.

I have an 88 CRX and the front end looks nearly the same as Ben's over on his writeup :

http://crxmpg.com/grillblock.html

You can see from the pictures of his front bumber that Ben's intake space is divided into 3 horizontal sections. He covered his by leaving a square opening in the middle.

Mine is divided into two spaces :

http://xs106.xs.to/xs106/06366/DSC01187.JPG.xs.jpg (http://xs.to/xs.php?h=xs106&d=06366&f=DSC01187.JPG)

The red outlined portion is the area that I would like to block off rather than leave a square opening in the middle. I think it will look a bit cleaner. My radiator spans the whole width of the intake area and I would effectively be blocking off roughly half of the area.

I live in Maine and it's been average about 65 or so during the day and dropping to the forties at night. I have a 21 mile commute but never get up over 3k RPMs and usually cruise at 55 MPH @ 2.5k RPMs (I have an automatic). The temp gauge on my dash always reads at 1/3 of the way up. Do you guys think that it woudl be OK to do this?

Any comments or suggestions will be appreciated.

I am sure you will be ok leaving that space. I just blocked off all of mine. I am just going to watch my temp gauge a bit for a while. I have seen another civic here with the entire front blocked so I think I will be ok. If not time to cut in a hole.

[krousdb]

I have everything blocked except for a 4x2" area for the summer. I run completely blocked in the fall, winter and spring. You should have no problems.

[Jack]

I am sure you will be ok leaving that space. I just blocked off all of mine. I am just going to watch my temp gauge a bit for a while. I have seen another civic here with the entire front blocked so I think I will be ok. If not time to cut in a hole.

****UPDATE**** My second day of driving the VX I was keeping carefull watch of the Temp gauge and if I had not I would have overheated it. So I had to pull over and cut the grill block off and toss it in the back of the car. So now I will cut holes in it and have to put it back on.

[zpiloto]

****UPDATE**** My second day of driving the VX I was keeping carefull watch of the Temp gauge and if I had not I would have overheated it. So I had to pull over and cut the grill block off and toss it in the back of the car. So now I will cut holes in it and have to put it back on.
Can't really tell from the pic's but the red outline looks like you only blocked half the opening and it still over heated? Was it stop and go and how hot was the OAT. I've got a full block and it gets to 100 and the temps never gone over 213(the gauge never moves) which is where the fan kicks in. Most of the time it runs around 195-200.

[krousdb]

****UPDATE**** My second day of driving the VX I was keeping carefull watch of the Temp gauge and if I had not I would have overheated it. So I had to pull over and cut the grill block off and toss it in the back of the car. So now I will cut holes in it and have to put it back on.

That is surprising to me. I have both small side openings and the complete grill blocked except for 8 in2. My temp gauge didn't budge. What made you believe that you were about to overheat?

[Jack]

What made you believe that you were about to overheat?

I was going up a long hill and watched my temp gauge go from 2/5 (where all honda temp gauges seem to sit) to just under the red line (when I pulled over) in about 3 or 4 minutes) I am sure that if I continued I would have hit the red and bad things would have or could have happened.

[ZugyNA]

Danger Will Robinson!

I had my 3.0 L overheat in winter messing around with blocking the front.

Has an air dam and a rad that is slanted forward at about 45*. I covered the opening thru the dam where the air is forced in by the car's movement...but it was still open below it.

Problem is...this area is actually under a partial vacuum caused by the air dam.

No damage, but it was close.

If you don't see a lot of steam and bubbling it should mean that you didn't get it hot enough to create pockets of vapor...which is where the damage is done. Vapor doesn't remove heat.

[krousdb]

I'm just wondering if there isn't a problem with your cooling system. I have some long steep hills that I regularly drive with no problem.

[SVOboy]

Is your fan switch/fan working properly?

[Jack]

Is your fan switch/fan working properly?

I am not sure. I will look into that before I cut holes in the coroplast. I had it just zip-tied on so it was easy to get off. However I have to pull the bumper again to put it back on.

There also may be other problems with it. It is beyond ball-less. I have to go up some pretty steep hills on my way home and I have a hard time pulling them even down in 3rd gear. Like I said before I am still working on a tank of gas that half sat in the car for at least a year and a half diluted with Super. I am hoping some of my lack of power issues dissapear when I run this tank out and refill and change the fuel filter. I also dont forsee a very good tank for mileage this time. I am down to about half with 200 miles on it so I think I am looking at a sub-EPA tank.

Monday it is getting new timing belts, belts, brake flush, oil change, and major lube job. Hopefully I can burn the rest of my tank by then and drop in the new fuel filter all at once.

[krousdb]

Does your VTEC work? The balls show up between 2500 and 3000 rpm. If not, your VTEC solenoid may not be working. In my VX there are three distinct modes of operation as reported by the butt dyno..

- Lean Burn (ball-less)
- Non-lean burn, non VTEC (some balls)
- VTEC (balls to the wall).

But at 92 hp, balls to the wall for me might be ball-less to others. :p

[Jack]

Does your VTEC work? The balls show up between 2500 and 3000 rpm. If not, your VTEC solenoid may not be working. In my VX there are three distinct modes of operation as reported by the butt dyno..

- Lean Burn (ball-less)
- Non-lean burn, non VTEC (some balls)
- VTEC (balls to the wall).

But at 92 hp, balls to the wall for me might be ball-less to others. :p

Hummm. My butt dyno tells me that I have no "Balls to the Wall" I will have to look into that. I think I am at best getting "some balls".

Maybe I am just not getting the RPMS up high enough. I can say that my CRX was 100 times more ballsy than the VX.

Can you go up a fairly steep hill in a gear higher than 3rd? Thanks for your help and input.

Jack

[krousdb]

I can get up moderate hills in 3rd in lean burn. Steeper hills in third but not in lean burn without much problem. I rarely get the rpm's high enough to get VTEC.

As you approach 3000 rpm, you should feel a surge in power. If not the VTEC solenoid may be bad, stuck or clogged. Matt or SVOboy might be able to give you more info on the VTEC solenoid.

Keep in mind that your butt dyno might be calibrated differently than mine. You might have VTEC but not lean burn. Have you tested your O2 sensor?

[kickflipjr]

My temps are higher now that I have the grill block on. I just think the fan runs a bit more. I dosen't get to the red zone so i guess i an ok.

[ZugyNA]

Head to Radio Shack for a 12V LED and some wire...find the wire that's hot when the fan runs...splice in....to LED...to ground....you have a fan indicator.

Every time it runs...you lose mpg. The warmer your engine stays...the greater your mpg?

[Jack]

I can get up moderate hills in 3rd in lean burn. Steeper hills in third but not in lean burn without much problem. I rarely get the rpm's high enough to get VTEC.

As you approach 3000 rpm, you should feel a surge in power. If not the VTEC solenoid may be bad, stuck or clogged. Matt or SVOboy might be able to give you more info on the VTEC solenoid.

Keep in mind that your butt dyno might be calibrated differently than mine. You might have VTEC but not lean burn. Have you tested your O2 sensor?

Thanks for the info. As I approach about 2800 I get a BOGG down no surge. Something is amiss with the VTEC. I will look into that and the O2 on the weekend. Thanks

[krousdb]

A bog instead of a surge might mean that the ecu is sending extra fuel but the VTEC cam is not active and you dont get the extra valve lift. That could lead to a rich fuel mixture I would think. But I could be wrong about that.