Monday, June 15, 2009
Alright, I finally got some work lined up, and some big money coming in, so I will be back on board for working on this project in a couple weeks. I will also get a camera, so I can show you the stuff I have done so far.
Fuel economy over the winter suffered, it was about 35 mpg, even dropping at one point to somewhere near 32 mpg. I thought it was perhaps the light-car-on-snow dilemma, but now I am noticing the clutch slips quite a bit so I guess that is probably it. Right now I am doing 42-44 mpg range, but when I change out the transmission in a couple weeks I think I could get 50+ mpg.
As soon as I have the transmission swapped, I will begin working on the interior and on some newly forming rust spots outside. Hopefully I will have the whole thing sealed up pretty well in preparation for winter, but I hope to get even more than that done this summer/early fall.
For fun, here is a list of modifications I plan on making, in a mostly linear fashion:
Swap transmission: Old one grinds into third, plus parts are hard to get, being so old, so I am putting in a '94
Fuel meter: Some sort of fuel economy measurer, I want to be able to export the data to my computer easily.
Exterior rust protection: There are only a few spots of rust, surprisingly, so I want to clean up those and prevent new ones.
Interior rust protection: The inside has quite a few spots of surface rust, I want to take care of those.
Interior decorating: Right now all the carpet has been stripped out, and the seats are ugly (and slightly smelly)
Rear wheel well covers: Some people say it looks like a space ship, but the fuel economy is much better (roughly +5 mpg on mine).
Front wheel covers: Much harder to make, but can add significant fuel economy, as well as weird looks.
Front grill cover: I have sketched out some ideas for a better air intake mechanism for cooling, it will make the front end a lot smoother.
Underpan: This will be made in multiple pieces for easier under car access, I hope to install the basic ones this summer.
I also am getting another Geo engine, which I will rebuild slowly, adding some modifications which I have designed to improve performance.
See you in a couple weeks!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Well, not much to report here: School is out in a few weeks, then things should heat back up. The clutch started slipping, along with third gear grinding really bad, so that is my first mission when I am done with school this semester.
Over the summer I would like to make an aerodynamic fairing for my car, a lot like this guys:
I mean, seriously, how awesome is that?!?! Check out his official page, he gets 95 mpg at 65 mph!
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