Custom DIY Smooth Wheel Covers

[mikeyjd]

They've been on the agenda for a while. I finally got time today


Cutouts done first


Yay they fit!


Got them zip tied on after doing all the lug cutouts and paint done.


Tada!


What do you think?

[Prafeston]

Sweet! DIY is always good. Hope it gives a slight advantage to your MPG goals!

[200KGPGTP]

NOICE! Always wanted to do that on my 91

[mikeyjd]

Sweet! DIY is always good. Hope it gives a slight advantage to your MPG goals!

I'll report back with the results

[Bert]

I know that the Prius and some of the other fuel misers even go so far as to enclose the wheel wells. Every little bit helps and I do like/appreciate your current dedication to this. But somewhere along the way you will discover that removing the window wipers has much the same effect as covering over the wheel lugs. This fuel economy aspiration thing can quickly become anal retentive and have you waxing the paint (or dimpling the car like a golf ball), duct-taping door seams, removing mirrors etc until you realize that Festys themselves don't have much more aerodynamics than a cinder block. If you leave the car itself alone and concentrate on getting engine/transmission/drivetrain/wheels modifications down to an art, that in itself will accomplish many things plus set a standard for us ordinary folks of where to stop and start.
Case in point and entirely accidental: I carefully built a "slalom sprint race engine" (3/4 race cam, high compression, lightened pistons, ported and balanced etc) 4 cylinder engine 40 years ago and to ensure that it was 'broke in' properly, assembled it with a tiny carb, ordinary exhaust and no header for the first 1000 miles. There was no noticeable increase in power during that period of time but the fuel economy was spectacular (40+ mpg for OEM up to 52 mpg modified)! Four things were at work here; I was conscientiously (to the extreme) light-footed plus the motor was starving (not enough gas, not enough air and not enough revs). When the 1000 miles was up and the oversized twin carbs and performance exhaust went on (and I began to lean on the gas pedal) the mileage dropped like a stone.

[kumalaba]

great job & looks good also!

[mikeyjd]

I know that the Prius and some of the other fuel misers even go so far as to enclose the wheel wells. Every little bit helps and I do like/appreciate your current dedication to this. But somewhere along the way you will discover that removing the window wipers has much the same effect as covering over the wheel lugs. This fuel economy aspiration thing can quickly become anal retentive and have you waxing the paint (or dimpling the car like a golf ball), duct-taping door seams, removing mirrors etc until you realize that Festys themselves don't have much more aerodynamics than a cinder block. If you leave the car itself alone and concentrate on getting engine/transmission/drivetrain/wheels modifications down to an art, that in itself will accomplish many things plus set a standard for us ordinary folks of where to stop and start.
Case in point and entirely accidental: I carefully built a "slalom sprint race engine" (3/4 race cam, high compression, lightened pistons, ported and balanced etc) 4 cylinder engine 40 years ago and to ensure that it was 'broke in' properly, assembled it with a tiny carb, ordinary exhaust and no header for the first 1000 miles. There was no noticeable increase in power during that period of time but the fuel economy was spectacular (40+ mpg for OEM up to 52 mpg modified)! Four things were at work here; I was conscientiously (to the extreme) light-footed plus the motor was starving (not enough gas, not enough air and not enough revs). When the 1000 miles was up and the oversized twin carbs and performance exhaust went on (and I began to lean on the gas pedal) the mileage dropped like a stone.

I'm working on some nice looking rear wheel skirts for it . A well done study over on ecomodder.com has shown a real world fuel economy increase of 4.6% http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...-6-a-4368.html for smooth wheel covers. Not bad for a 2 1/2 hour project that makes the car look cooler too Of course I am looking into engine modifications too, but those are quite a bit more expensive. And doesn't the poor aerodynamics mean more room for improvement?