Aero Block-off Plates for the DC5 Update

Photo taken from EvolutionM

Last time on Lexi.Laron I spoke about making plates that cover the lower-left and lower-right parts of the grille to prevent air from entering into the engine bay and making frontal lift and drag at high speeds.

Since sharing my idea with the readers of this wonderful blog I have made some significant progress.

For starters I picked up a new Dremel.  The one I bought was only sixty bucks and it came with a slew of attachments and accessories along with the ability to vary speeds-- which is extremely important.

Originally I started out with an acrylic sheet.  Using my dremel, I cut out the shape of the cardboard that I mocked up in my previous article.

Then I took out my heat gun and went out to the garage to start doing some testing.

I bent the edges to fit the bumper and I bent the far-right part of the acrylic to fit into the center part of the grille as well.  I used some tape to hold it on for mock up.  While mocking it up I formed around the edges to make it fit the bumper in a better manner.

As you all can see, the fitment was less than optimal.  Bending the edges with my fingers made ugly looking dimples all around the edges.  So, I tried to do it again with a sheet of Lexan (polycarbonate plastic)-- this time not molding with my fingers.

As you can see I used postage tape to mock up the block-off plates.  I then used a heat gun and a metal bar to bend the Lexan to shape.  However after enduring numerous jokes about postage tape being the fastest way around the track from some fellow members in ClubRSX.  I decided to scrap the idea of Lexan altogether as well.

I then set out to do some research.  I asked people what they wanted to see with the plates.  I made an Instagram Post to see if people would be interested in spending money on them.  I posted pictures of my progress to Facebook.  I posted pictures to ClubRSX's Track Chat Thread and to K20A...

And a lot of people wanted to see these mounted flush to the bumper, for one.  And another thing I found out was that people who would actually be using these to serve a functional purpose wouldn't even be running fog lights.  So I decided that making the block-off plates out of a clear material for fog lights would be useless anyway...right?

And since metal WOULD be easier to bend anyway...and since it IS thinner, the fitment would be flush and would leave tighter clearances...right?

So, I decided to use some aluminum instead!  Yes, aluminum is ductile (easy to mold or bend), it is a light metal, and it will definitely be functional, flush, and look pretty good for those interested.

Here you can see how the plate bends into the center part of the grille.  I used tape to mock it up and my bare, man hands to bend it in!

Then I trimmed around the edges where necessary and bent the plate around the edges toward the corner of the bumper and molded that as well..using tape, once again, to mock it up to the bumper.

Here is how the final fitment will look..when I finish the brackets that hold it on.

The brackets need to allow the user to take the plate off without removing the bumper for ease, while still holding the plate over the area firmly.  

With all of that in mind, I decided I needed a bracket with a hole on one side to allow for the user to first bolt the bracket onto the bumper, and with threads on the other side to allow the user to secondly bolt the block-off plate onto the bracket.

However, how in the hell would I get threads on one side of this bracket?  Speed nuts...but how would the speed nuts be kept in the bracket?

That's right, I soldered the speed nuts onto the bracket.  I sanded down the sheet metal, I sanded down the speed nut's edges (with a Dremel of course) and to test to see if my theory would work.  First I put a hole in the bracket.

Then I took my machine bolt and threaded it through the speed nut on one side of the bracket.

Then with that speed nut clamped down using the machine bolt I soldered the edges of the speed nut to the bracket.  It's my first go at this, so be kind with your words.

With all of that said and done, I'm currently working on a way to mount these brackets to the front of the car without having to drill any holes in the bumper.  This may require that the OEM duct cover (not the fog light) be used and drilled through for mounting points for this block-off plate.

However, given that it is difficult to do this fabrication I may end up using expansion nuts in drilled holes in the bumper.  This would require minimal modification and wouldn't look horrendous.

Until then I'm going to let you guys go.  I hope that you all keep up with the blog and stay tuned for more articles.  

I am proud to say that I am going to be doing a review for Private Label Mfg. for one of their race headers for the RSX and EP3!  This will be my first technical "sponsorship" and I hope that everyone is looking forward to reading up on this great company's product.

Until then, peace out readers!

Aero Block-off Plates for the DC5

Tactical Art EG6 with Aero Block-Off Plates-- Photo from The Chronicles

Aero Block-Off Plates for Project DC5

Hello all.

Welcome to another addition to the site.  In today's article I will be going over a new project for the DC5 which will be relatively low cost and partially for my own enjoyment and boredom.

Living in the country is no simple task for the semi-urban Philly Area boy that I am.  There is a lot of corn, there is plenty of beer and good fried food, a bunch of friendly people, some motor heads here and there who thoroughly enjoy the American muscle car, yet the atmosphere is much more relaxed than where I'm from.

And well, aside from coffee, the one thing that can help me speed things up a bit is cars.  However, cars cost money, money is a necessity, and necessities are...well, necessary.  So of course, there are always low cost projects and modifications that I'm looking for when it comes to my DC5.

Photo courtesy of Tahrek Nassab of Secret Society

It just so happens that racing encourages that type of attitude.  It is a sport in which slight modifications are encouraged to make the most out of your car while still staying in the same class.  

Yes, whether you're in auto-x, road racing, NASCAR, Formula 1, or on the Bonneville Flats, small changes can make big differences.  And that's what brings me to my next project-- fabricating aero block-off plates for the Lexi.Laron DC5.

Aerodynamics are extremely important for racing.  The faster you go, the more important aerodynamics become.  Things such as drag, down-force, and lift factor into how well your car can perform at the track.  And there are many modifications which one can do to change the way their car behaves aerodynamically.  

Take a look at the big wing on the back of the Loi-Spec ITR.  A wing can be used for added stability and extra down-force.

Photo courtesy of Honda Tuning

Since I am not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to aerodynamics I will use the help of some members from one of my favorite sites, K20A.org.  Therefore, I would like to thank BlackNDecker for his help before going any further with this article.

In a road racing thread on the forum meant for sharing track pictures, BlackNDecker and I began talking about the benefits of aero block-off plates.  In his response, he stated that these plates are used to prevent excess air from entering the engine bay which would increase drag, therefore slowing the car down, and would also increase frontal lift, decreasing front-end traction at high speeds.

A closer look at the Loi-Spec Aero Block-Off Plates-- Photo Courtesy of Project Onethirty

Another solution to this problem would be to route the air from the front of the car to a part of the car that needed the air for cooling.  This concept would apply to brake ducts which use frontal air to cool the brake rotors so that brake fade will  be reduced.  In my opinion this is a better option than the block-off plates, but I like my fog lights and so I would like to avoid removing them for brake ducts.

Brake ducts on a Miata-- Photo Courtesy of MiataTurbo.net

Another added benefit for me would be that these block-off plates will prevent rocks from kicking up and cracking my fog light lenses.  This is extremely useful for people who buy OEM fog lights or things like the JDM ion fog lights which cost around $300 on the forums.

So, why wouldn't I do this?  It's a relatively cheap project, it serves a purpose for function, and it will protect my fog lights.

With all of that being said, let's get to business.  I began with some poster board and started cutting away at it to try and get the right fitment on the front of my DC5.  Here's what the poster board looked like after a little while in the freezing cold with some scissors, some tape, a marker, and lots of clothing:

You'll notice that after I created this rendition I marked parts that needed to be changed for the next rendition.  After doing that I got some cardboard out and cut out the second rendition.  K is for Kelloggs (and K-Series)!

Then after some cutting, I test-fitted the second one on the car and made a third rendition to account for errors made on the second one.  I traced the THIRD one on a Cheerios box!

Then I added a little meat around the edges to ensure I'd have enough mounting space to get this to fit onto the bumper.

I was going to add these little round nubs to the edges of the block-off plate, but I decided that they wouldn't look good, so I just added an extra quarter inch or so to the edges.

After cutting out the third rendition I went out to the garage and test-fitted it on my bumper with some masking tape.

Then I bent in the inner part of the block-off plate and cut and trimmed the edges to make it fit well on the inner part of the grill.

When I continue this article I'm going to have the shapes cut out of acrylic and bent to fit on the front of the bumper.

Until then, any feedback is welcome.  I'll be updating the blog post to links with discussion about this on other forums.  Thanks guys!

Peace!