Just joined, love the site
 

Hey im a college student from Burlington VT. I drive a 96 toyota tercel; which after some pointers from you guys i have gotten as high as 55 mpg :) (from what i found online it usually gets low thirties)
I am interested in making some aerodynamic mods and possibly some more engine mods(have already removed power steering and AC)
Any advice on how to make a front air dam etc would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks - Timely

With the snow we get here, I wonder how low you could make an air dam. Have you considered a belly pan?

How did you remove the power steering? Just disconnect the pump or did you remove the unit completely?

Oh, and welcome!

I guess in Vermont you could get away with it, but here in Virginia I would never consider removing my a/c. I make sure the a/c works in all of my vehicles.

Thanks for the responses :)
 

I removed the unit, pipes and all from the vehicle for both the power steering and the AC. They were being run by the same belt so i was able to get rid of that belt altogether :)

I had not considered the snow in the winter, thanks for the heads up. I am not sure what a belly pan would be. Do you mean some paneling that covered the underside of the car to smooth it out? I had considered this as an additional option but from my readings on the site decided that the air dam might be all i need. What do you guys think?
Thanks for the warm welcome.

a belly pan will yield you better results overall but the amount of time and labor involved in putting one on is more than your average guy wants to do.

I did the extended airdam and was a bit dissapointed though I didn't really measure it to see where it needed to be. I just kind of put it on. it scraped really bad too when I first put it on and I have trimmed it many times. I may have done better by just putting on a belly pan.

one material that a lot of guys like to use here is coroplast. it us corrugated plastic like the political signs on the side of the road. if you go to a custom sign shop, they will usually sell you a piece pretty cheap. I got a 4x8 foot piece for about $20 whe I originally was going to do a belly pan but decided that it was too much work so I donated my piece to a good cause (another user here) and just did the airdam.

if you do decide to do a bellypan, beware the exhaust system. it will melt coroplast pretty easy. not sure if it catches on fire but if it did, that would really suck.

Belly pan
 

Thanks for the advice and info, sounds great. I have already taken the measurements i need for the belly pan and have looked up a sign shop i could buy the coroplast from. One issue i am running into tho is coming up with a cheap idea on how to attach the coroplast to the underside of my car. Would a standard nut and bolt with washers work? im worried i might need a more flexible do-dad to attach the coroplast :-\ what have people done in the past?
Thanks again, Timely

I've heard stainless steel self tapping screw mentioned.

I personally would use plastic pieces like the ones that hold interior together.

I am opposed to metal screws because they will eventually fall out and if it doesn't get your tire, it will get the next guy. those are just my feelings.

on my airdam, I used a piece that presses in and has ridges so that it won't come back out. you simply drill the appropriate hole in both pieces and press it through. also, if you want to take it off, you just use a pair of dikes as the plastic is fairly soft.

a buddy of mine just said that self tapping screws aren't that bad. I still feel like it is a flat waiting to happen.

Maybe some thread locking compound?

You did cap off the steering rack right? With oil in it? They don't take kindly to being used dry.

There's no reason to expect screws to come out. In fact, what you can expect if you live somewhere that gets road salt is for the screws to never come out no matter how hard you try.

I've put probably a couple dozen screws in the underside of my pickup, mounting various accessories and grounding them. I've never had a screw come loose, and some of them have been on there for almost the whole 184,000 miles.

maybe I am a little too cautious about metal screws but I have messed up too many tires. I can't say where all of the screws and what not came from and I do live way out in the sticks (or at least I used to).

they are a lot cheaper than the plastic pieces I was talking about.

I have never used them on my vehicle so I can't really say (the metal screws that is) so maybe my concern is one of an overly cautious nature.

Ill most likely end up using regular screws for the job, but thanks for all the input.
Kyle I am particularly concerned about your comment; I simply took of the power steering unit. Im afraid I don't know what or where the steering rack is, and I definately did not add oil to it. :(
I remember after I took it off there were screws that could have been screwed back onto where it is mounted; could this be where I need to add oil and return the screws? Also what kind of oil should i use?
Thanks again for the gracious help.

Additional thought.
I am now experiencing a minor vibration and increased road noise(that goes away when i turn left). I diagnosed it as a bad bearing and am about to replace the strut and related assembly.
Could my road noise and vibration be a consequence of not putting the screws back where i took the power steering from?

I doubt the sound is from the bolts not being there unless they held something else on.

If you have no intention of putting the power steering pump back on you can simply refill the lines, hack the connectors off and connect the two hoses together, it'll just recycle. Power steering or transmission oil should be just fine. It just needs some oil in there and something to keep dirt and water from just going down into the rack. Unless it's raining or you go down dirt roads you are probably okay for a while, especially if you left the hoses attached and just lying where they went to the pump, but I'd recommend working on that in the next month or so.

Ok :) ill def be doing that. I appreciate your help.

Another thought.
What have people done in the past as far as "votex generators." I have seen them on the back of the car above the rear window. I am a little skeptical but for a cheap price i would do it. Any ideas on a cheap way of making some?

I have seen them made (on this site) from small pieces of aluminum , I think the aluminum from a soda can would be strong enough , just make sure to wear leather gloves when working witht that stuff it is sharp.

There are some good posts on DIY vortex generators.
https://www.google.com/cse?cx=0157303...rtex&sa=Search
I remember I liked one that had instructions for making them out of CDs.